Highlight News of the Week: Ramon Ang vows to Turn PAL around in 1 year

For our second part of our Weekly Highlights. These are the news which are likely to affect your investments and trades in the Philippines.

Stocks breach 5,300, hit new record high

PHILIPPINE STOCKS soared to a new historic high yesterday, piercing the psychological 5,300 mark as rosy economic expectations fueled broad investor buying.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) rose by 1.37% or 71.57 points to close at 5,300.41, while the broader all-share index advanced 1.08% or 37.32 points to 3,505.62.

Inflation accelerates in April; rates expected to stay steady
INFLATION accelerated to 3% in April, the government reported on Friday, as most commodity groups saw higher price increases from a year ago.

The result, up from March’s 2.6%, topped analysts’ expectations. It also hit the higher end of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 2.1-3% forecast, but was still lower than the 4.7% rate logged in April last year.

Month-on-month, prices also rose faster, by 0.8% in April compared with 0.2% in March.

"The uptrend can be attributed to higher annual increments recorded in all the commodity groups except in the transport, communication and education indices," the National Statistics Office (NSO) said.

Ang vows to turn PAL around in 1 year

MANILA, Philippines - Maverick businessman Ramon S. Ang, who heads diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) and has now taken over the helm of Philippine Airlines, has vowed to turn Asia’s oldest carrier around in a year and create a new breed of air service.

In an interview following the annual stockholders meeting of SMC’s liquor unit Ginebra San Miguel yesterday, Ang said his goal is to keep the struggling airline flying and turn it into a five-star value carrier.

“PAL is a good airline and brand. We’re confident we can turn PAL and its sister budget carrier Air Philippines around in a year. Give me a year or two, PAL will have the most beautiful FAs (flight attendants) and the best service,” said Ang, who earned a reputation for engineering business turnarounds.

Philippine Airline seen getting back in the black in a year

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Flag carrier Philippine Airlines can turn profitable again in just one year, even by just using the existing fleet now under the management control of San Miguel Corp., SMC chief Ramon S. Ang said.

"Based on the existing fleet, we are already confident we can turn it around," Ang told reporters Thursday after the stockholders' meeting of SMC's hard liquor unit, Ginebra San Miguel Inc.
"PAL is a very good company and a very good brand," he said.

PAL's return to profitability one year after SMC's takeover, Ang said, would be achieved through the implementation of a better sales and ticketing system and reduction in cost through higher utilization of aircraft.