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Friday, March 29, 2024

Philex disappoints; La Presa surprises

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The shares of Philex Mining Co. are wallowing in the stock market on lower metal prices and poor ore grades from its copper-gold mine in Benguet province.

It will not be a surprise, thus, if Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. books a significant non-cash and non-recurring impairment provisions with respect to its investments in Philex.

First Pacific managing director and chief executive Manuel V. Pangilinan, or MVP, in  a statement posted on the group’s Web site last week, said the impairment provision could reach as much as $190 million (P8.4 billion) based on a preliminary review.

The amount is significant but First Pacific assured shareholders that the non-recurring impairment provision would have no impact on the consolidated recurring profit of the group for the year ending December 31, 2014, nor would it alter the company’s dividend policy.

First Pacific currently holds a 31.2-percent economic interest in Philex, while affiliate Two Rivers Pacific Holdings Corp. owns an additional 15 percent.

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The share price of Philex opened 2014 at P8.01 apiece. It hit P12.88 sometime in July but slowly dropped in the second half of the year, before closing at P7.59 apiece as metal prices remained weak.

Now at P8.48 per share, Philex shares are way off from the P21 acquisition price of First Pacific when it purchased the shares from businessman Walter W. Brown, former trade minister Roberto V. Ongpin and the Development Bank of the Philippines five years ago. Jenniffer B. Austria

 

Baguio’s new tourism draw

A television teleserye has unexpectedly developed a new tourist attraction in Benguet province, with Baguio City, the summer capital of the Philippines, serving as the jump-off point.

Hotels and bed-and-breakfast inns in Baguio City are getting bookings from Filipino tourists seeking to visit Sitio La Presa in Tuba, Benguet. The quaint village found near the peak of Mount Cabuyao in Tuba municipality is the site of the location shooting of Forevermore, the popular romantic comedy television series aired in the evening on free TV Channel 2 from Monday to Friday.

Tourists flock to the village to see for themselves the lowly abode of Agnes (played by Lisa Soberrano), the heroine in the TV series, and the strawberry farm she tends with her family. ABS-CBN Corp.’s TV series has developed a huge following, mainly because of the rich boy-poor girl romance  theme of the show. La Presa tourists, who are now familiar with Agnes and Xander (Enrique Gil), the scion of a hotel chain and her romantic interest in the series, emphatize with her poor background, and perhaps want to experience the life of strawberry farmers as depicted in the melodrama hit.

But there’s more to Sitio La Presa and its surroundings, which tourists may want to learn. The road to the location site of Forevermore is surprisingly well-paved and offers a scenic view of Baguio City. Mount Cabuyao, commonly mistaken as Mount Santo Tomas (a taller mountain beside it), rises to over 2,000 meters above sea level.

A number of communications companies constructed relay stations at the summit of Mount Cabuyao because of its high elevation. Two of these big relay stations can be seen from Marcos Highway.

A private observatory and AA radar station, once operated by the US Armed Forces stationed in the Philippines, is also found here, where a small community of farmers live at the top of the mountain.

The two large satellite dishes at the summit have become a landmark in Baguio City. The summit offers a good vantage point for trekkers and bikers. One can see the whole city of Baguio to the east and partially see the province of Pangasinan to the west. One can also observe cargo ships sailing through the West Philippine Sea in a fair weather. Ray S. Eñano

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