Highlights of the Week: News, events and updates that are likely to affect your investments and trades in the Philippines stock market.
GMA-7 stock sizzles amid talk of sale
MANILA, Philippines - Persistent rumors that the group of TV5 chair Manuel V. Pangilinan and the GMA Network Inc. controlling owners are in talks for a deal have helped boost the stock price of the 2nd biggest television network in the country.
GMA-7's stock was only trading at P6.50 a share on December 27, 2011 when the newest set of deal talks commenced and picked up by social media users, making it one of the top trending topics on Twitter in the Philippines.
Fresh investments approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) in the first half of the year reached P104.745 billion, or 12 percent higher compared to new projects registered in the same period last year amounting to P90.135 billion.
Elmer San Pascual, head of Peza’s promotions group, said the agency is on track of meeting its full-year target of generating P300 billion in fresh investments as more big-ticket projects are expected to register this second semester.
5 foreign banks shut down Philippine offices
Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - American Express Bank and four other foreign institutions have shut down their offices in the Philippines as the financial woes in the United States and Europe prompted them to sell off their offshore assets.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP or Central Bank of the Philippines) said the asset sale was meant to help the financially troubled parent firms generate liquidity.
In a circular notifying the local banking industry, the BSP said the five foreign banks have already packed up and left. Apart from American Express Bank, the others were Societe General, Union Bank of California N.A., First International Bank and Fortis Bank.
Societe Generale is based in Paris, while First International Bank is based in North Dakota. Fortis Bank is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, which operates mainly out of Belgium.
5 foreign banks shut down Philippine offices
Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - American Express Bank and four other foreign institutions have shut down their offices in the Philippines as the financial woes in the United States and Europe prompted them to sell off their offshore assets.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP or Central Bank of the Philippines) said the asset sale was meant to help the financially troubled parent firms generate liquidity.
In a circular notifying the local banking industry, the BSP said the five foreign banks have already packed up and left. Apart from American Express Bank, the others were Societe General, Union Bank of California N.A., First International Bank and Fortis Bank.
Societe Generale is based in Paris, while First International Bank is based in North Dakota. Fortis Bank is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, which operates mainly out of Belgium.
