Leisure & Resorts World Corporation Inrease in Capital Stock to P5.0 Billion

Leisure & Resorts World Corporation (LRWC) would like to announce that its Board of Directors had  approved a number of items in the Special Board meeting last January 22, 2013 that shall be included in the agenda during the Special Stockholders Meeting scheduled for 22 March 2013:

1. An increase in the authorized capital stock of LRWC to P5.0 billion.  This will be divided into 2.5 billion of common stock (par P1.00 per share) and 2.5 billion of preferred shares (par P1.00 per share).  Currently, the Company has an authorized capital stock of Php 1.6 billion.   

2. A stock dividend equivalent of 200 million shares.

3. Listing of the preferred shares and warrants on the Philippine Stock Exchange. 

4. Private placement of Php 1.75 billion through a perpetual preferred share issuance.  

The perpetual preferred shares will have a coupon rate of 8.5% per annum, paid semi-annually.  The 

Preferred shares are cumulative, non-voting and non-participating.     

As an added bonus, LRWC will also issue warrants.   Twenty (20) preferred shares will entitle each investor to one warrant.  Each warrant, if exercised at a price of P15.00 or the average weighted trading price for the three months prior (whichever is lower) will be converted to one common share. This option will be exercisable starting on the 5th year. 

Pending approval, the preferred shares as well as the warrants will be listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange. 

The preferred share offering will be used to finance the following:

1.      Belle Grande Integrated Resort and Casino project.   LRWC’s wholly-owned subsidiary, AB Leisure Global Inc (AB Global) signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Belle Resources and Premium Leisure Amusement Inc in July 2012.

2.      Midas Hotel and Casino project.   In November 2012, LRWC bought 51% of the outstanding shares of Hotel Enterprises Philippines, Inc. (HEPI).   HEPI owns the property and building assets where Midas Hotel is located.  The Company is looking to expand the facilities of the hotel.

3.      Techzone project.   LRWC’s subsidiary, First Cagayan Leisure and Resorts Corporation (First Cagayan) is negotiating with a developer for the construction of a world-class BPO building in Makati.  Theproject, called Techzone, will house the licensees and locators of First Cagayan.

4.      Acquisition and roll-out of additional bingo sites.  The company is focused on rolling out more sites with the electronic variants of its bingo games.  In its existing bingo sites, more electronic bingo games (EBG) and Rapid Bingo machines are being deployed.   The Company’s Bingo Boutique outlets, which contain only electronic games, are also being set up and deployed.  Currently, there are 23 Bingo Boutique sites.  The Company plans to add between 30 – 40 new sites this year. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

For more details, contact:

Mr. Freddie B. Reyes

Investor Relations Head

0917.5275499

Why Invest in Real Estate In the Philippines - Top Cities to Invest In

Why and Which Cities to Invest in the Philippines

You should invest in the Philippines. Here's why. Whether it be in the stock market or real estate, the global market is bullish about investing in the Philippines. Reuters thinks you should. So as Bloomberg and Businessweek. The list goes on. 

Real Estate Property Business in the Philippines: Poised to Rise

Enrique Soriano, Ateneo program director for real estate and senior adviser for Wong+Bernstein Business Advisory, said: “Five years after the financial crisis triggered by a housing bubble, the global economy is convalescing. The Philippine economy is poised to move up. Real estate markets in all segments will grow. Some developers will fail and others will do better because they have a strategy and they have found exactly the right position.” (Source)

Okay, so you're sold with the idea of investing in the Philippines. Now you're wondering where exactly in the Philippines are the best and perhaps the most livable cities to invest in. When investing, it's important that you put the following factors into serious consideration:

5 Factors to Consider When Investing in Real Estate in the Philippines

1. Accessibility

Whether you're investing in the place for your retirement or simply for business, it's important that the place you will be investing in is easily accessible. You wouldn't want to be stuck in an island that doesn't have proper transportation system.

2. Technology (Especially Electricity)

While most cities in the Philippines have access to electricity (especially Manila), there are smaller cities which have issues with their electricity system. Be sure to check whether the place you're planning to invest in has a good and affordable one.

3. Safety

No matter how paradisiacal a place may be and it's not safe, by all means, stay away from it! It's not worth it.

4. Business-friendly

No one wants to invest in a place where you couldn't make money in the long run. Check whether there's a potential to start up a business in the area or to sold the property for a higher price. You may want to check out the World Bank: Doing Business Index that measures which cities in the Philippines ranks well as the best cities to easily start a business in. General Santos is currently on top of the list (as of  writing, 2013).

5. Livable 

When a place is livable, it's profitable. Check out this list of the top 20 liveable cities in the Philippines.

Top Best Cities to Invest in the Philippines

Now for the top cities that you must invest in. Once done considering those factors mentioned above, it's time to decide where exactly in the Philippines should you invest in? The Business Processing Association Philippines, shared the "Next Wave Cities™”, a joint project undertaken with the Commission on Information & Communications Technology and the Department of Trade & Industry. 

It is an annual report on the best locations for information technology and business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) in the Philippines. While most investors automatically set to Metro Manila and Cebu for their investments, the list highlights some other cities which are worth considering when you're planning to invest in less-crowded cities in the Philippines. 

Iloilo as the Most cost-efficient city to invest in and 3rd among the "Next Wave Cities" in the Philippines.

1. Metro Laguna: Best place for IT-BPO operations outside Metro Manila and Metro Cebu
2. Metro Cavite: Emerging urban center outside Metro Manila
3. Iloilo City: Most cost-efficient city
4. Davao City: More than a million people
5. Bacolod City: Best business environment
6. Metro Pampanga: Best infrastructure
7. Bulacan East and West: Manila’s northern neighbors—untapped centers between bustling hubs
8. Cagayan de Oro City: Most cost-competitive city
9. Lipa City: Proven host with potential for growth

The graph below shows which cities in the Philippines have the absorptive capacity and enough manpower or skilled employees - two important factors to consider when looking to start a business in a city. 

The Information and Communications Technology Office has released their updated Next Wave Citiest 2012 Report (Source) and below are the list of cities that made it to the top 10. 

1. Davao City,

2. Santa Rosa City,

3. Bacolod City,

4. Iloilo City,

5. Metro Cavite (Bacoor, Dasmariñas City, Imus)

6. Lipa City,

7. Cagayan de Oro City,

8. Malolos City,

9. Baguio City,

10. Dumaguete City

The lists above are just guidelines as to which cities in the Philippines the infrastructures and technologies are reasonably priced and considered to be livable cities. You still have to decide on your own depending on your specific preferences as to which among the cities in the Philippines you would want to invest or start a business in.

Should you have any questions, feel free to connect with me on Twitter, Facebook or email me at: jonharules [at] gmail [dot] com. 

Highlight of the Week: PH is World’s 5th Most Improved Country, According to A Study

Stock Market News - Philippines

Highlights of the Week: News, events and updates that are likely to affect your investments and trades in the Philippines stock market.

PH is world’s 5th most improved country, says study

The Philippines was cited as the fifth most improved country in the world, rising two notches to rank 133 from 135th last year, in the 2012 Global Peace Index (GPI).

Pilipinas Shell plans to build LNG facility in Philippines

PILIPINAS Shell Petroleum Corp., the local arm of Royal Dutch Shell Plc., is planning to set up a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facility in the Philippines, the first in Southeast Asia.

San Miguel power subsidiary strengthens hold on Meralco

DIVERSIFIED CONGLOMERATE San Miguel Corp. has strengthened its hold over Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) after its subsidiary finalized an earlier purchase of P56.67 billion worth of shares previously held by the Social Security System (SSS).

San Miguel, through SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., has thus hiked its stake in the utility to 32.39% from a previous 21.46% as of end-March, keeping the conglomerate as the second largest shareholder after Pangilinan-led Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc. which holds 42.25%, based on data from the local bourse.

Good News and Bad News for the Philippines This Week

Highlights of the Week: News, events and updates that are likely to affect your investments and trades in the Philippines stock market.

Good News and Bad News for the Philippines This Week

There had been a mix of good news and bad news for the Philippine economy and politics this week. For the good news, the UK government assures Philippines of more investments. British Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday assured Philippine President Benigno Aquino of his government's continued support for the Philippines' public-private partnership program (PPP) and said he looked forward to more British companies investing in the country.

Another good news is that Moody's unit raises Philippines growth forecast. The research arm of Moody's Investors Services has raised its economic growth forecast for the Philippines this year to 4.7 per cent from 4 per cent, citing the government's ant-corruption drive and big push for infrastructure development that will aid efforts to attract investors.

However, the bad news is that the Philippines risks joining money-laundering blacklist. The Philippines faces the risk of joining a global money-laundering blacklist after it failed to approve all required amendments to legislation on illegal movement of money, threatening its ability to attract foreign investment.

Ending up on the Financial Action Task Force blacklist would also make it difficult for Filipinos abroad to send money home and for local banks to transact business overseas.

Thoughts About the News

It's a good thing that our government and our country in general is getting more investments, better forecasts and good ratings. It means more investors would be encouraged to invest in our country. However, it bothers me that our current administration has focused too much on putting its now former Chief Justice Renato Corona on an exhausting and somewhat politically vindictive trial.

Our policy makers could have spent more time, effort and our nation's resources on much more pressing and rather important issues such as trying as much as we can not to be at risk of joining the money-laundering blacklist.

Or maybe passing necessary bills to improve our educational system or maybe focus on making it easier for local entrepreneurs to setup businesses which could eventually help in pumping more investments on our local market thus would result into creating more jobs. It's not that I feel the issue about Corona shouldn't have been resolved or be avoided, I just felt that there are many other pressing issues that could have been given more focus and attention to. 

Highlight of the Week: Economist: Philippines Is Number One

Highlights of the Week: News, events and updates that are likely to affect your investments and trades in the Philippines stock market.

Economist: Philippines Is Number One

MANILA, Philippines --- The Philippines is the most attractive global provider of IT-BPO services in Asia, followed by China and India — in that order — according to the results of a survey by the Economist Corporate Network (Economist). Forty-five percent of respondents said the Philippines was an attractive services provider, while 35% said the same for China. Only 25% of respondents said India was an attractive provider of IT-BPO services, in general.

Stock market climbs back into 5,000-pt territory

MANILA, Philippines - Local stocks climbed for the third straight day due to continuous bargain hunting, propelling the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) past the 5,000 mark for the first time since mid-May.

SEC Approves URC Plans To Go Into Fuel Ethanol Production

MANILA, Philippines --- The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the amendment of the Articles of Incorporation of Universal Robina Corporation (URC) to allow the firm to engage in the business of production of fuel ethanol.

URC president Lance Gokongwei said URC is investing about $27 million for the construction of an ethanol plant in Mahhuyod, Negros Oriental as part of the firm’s URSUMCO sugar mill.

Pangilinan Assumes As Meralco Chairman

MANILA, Philippines --- With the decision of Ambassador Manuel M. Lopez to step down from his post at the country’s largest power distribution utility, management changes formally paved the way for the installation of Manuel V. Pangilinan as chairman of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco), following yesterday’s stockholders meeting.

SM Prime Issuing P7.5-B Notes

MANILA, Philippines --- SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SM Prime) has signed a P7.5 billion notes facility agreement for the refinancing of existing obligations, to partially fund capital expenditures and/or other general corporate requirements.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SM Prime said the notes facility consists of five- and ten-year floating rate notes and five- and ten-year fixed rate notes.

Sun Cellular Posts Highest 1st Quarter Growth Rate in Telco Industry

Sun Cellular Posts Highest 1st Quarter Growth Rate in Telco Industry

Sun Cellular sustained its positive streak as it registered a 17% growth in its net service revenues for the first quarter of 2012 of Php4.2B compared with Php3.6B for the same period last year. This is the highest growth rate for any local telco this year.

Sun Cellular President and Chief Executive Officer Orlando Vea attributes the strong growth to the positive response of the market to the continued improvement of Sun’s networkpowered  by synergies with  parent company, PLDT. “We are elated by the market’s continued take-up of Sun’s services, and they can expect even better products and services to be offered to ensure that this momentum will be sustained,” he says.

Revenue from Sun Cellular’s postpaid segment in the first quarter of 2012 grew by 20% compared with the same period last year. 2G postpaid subscribers at the end of Marchincreased to 1.41 million, up 26% from 1.12 million in the same period last year. According to Sun Cellular’s Chief Operating Officer Charles Lim, this is largely because of new subscriptions to higher plans such as the Plan 450 Call and Surf,and the introduction of innovative new postpaid plans like the Plan 250 launched in selected areas in Luzon and Mindanao.  “The timing of the launch of these new plans was great as it was complemented by the stronger network that we now have,” Lim explains.

Plan 450 Call and Surf gives customers with smartphones allows unlimited calling and texting within the Sun network plus 20 hours of free mobile internet access so they can maximize the use of their gadget. The Plan 250 is a special postpaid subscription plan for specific regions. These plans, which are more affordable compared to mainstream product offerings, entice would-be subscribers with the free handset that comes with it.

Lim further shared that the prepaid market continues to be robust for Sun Cellular as this segment grew by 10% percent in the first quarter to Php2.2B compared with Php2B for the same period last year. “Since our network has improved, our subscribers are starting to use their line more often. Consequently, people are starting to load in higher denominations such as our Text Unlimited 150 and 200. Also, our newly-launched “TRIO” bucket loads that allow calling and texting among Sun, Smart, and Talk and Textsubscribers at affordable ratesare picking-up in terms of demand” Lim explained.

Lim also revealed that wireless broadband business continued to perform strongly, registering a 54% rise in net service revenues to Php487.1 million for the first quarter this year.  “Our broadband subscriber base at the end of March climbed by 54%for postpaid subscribers and 73% for prepaid subscribers respectively compared with the same period last year.We are expecting these numbers to rise steadily given the market’s greater demand for mobility.”

He further shared that Sun Cellular started offering SIM-only plans to cater to subscribers who want to use Sun Cellular’s broadband service in their various gadgets, in anticipation of the continuing growing demand for broadband access.

When PLDT acquired Sun Cellular from the JG Summit group last year, it made a commitment to continue offering the unlimited products and services that Sun Cellular has always been known for.In addition, initiatives to integrate  the PLDT, Smart and Sun networks are being pursued to support these service offerings. “We would like to make  sure that our existing and potential subscribers are   able to take advantage of the synergies available within the PLDT group, and we are very glad that theseare starting to pay off,” Lim concluded.

 Sun Cellular is a member of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company Group (PSE: TEL).