Bank of Philippine Island (BPI)

[obelix]

Surpirse no thread on this one yet.

[obelix]

MANILA (XFN-ASIA) - Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has clinched a deal to sell 2.4 bln pesos-worth of non-performing loans (NPLs) to the Amroc group, a US-based private debt trading and investment management firm, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported, citing a BPI official.
The newspaper quoted Senen Matoto, BPI senior vice-president for asset recovery management, as saying that the agreement does not qualify for fiscal incentives under the Special Purpose Asset Vehicle (SPAV) Act, which expired in April. But he said the deal does not need fiscal incentives to push through.
"The portfolio sold consisted of unsecured NPLs, so that the kind of transaction costs are not significant compared to the transfer costs if the loans were secured," Matoto was quoted as saying.
This is the second time that the bank has made a bulk sale of its bad assets. Last year, it sold 8.6 bln pesos-worth of NPLs to Philippine Asset Investment, a unit of Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets.
It was done under the SPAV framework, wherein buyers purchase the idle assets at substantial discounts, although some taxes and fees associated with the sale or transfer are waived.

[Yamada Jiro]

Kaya no thread on this one, bos obie, siguro kasi it's not an exciting stock?

[obelix]

Once it goes below 40s, pwede na. Not saying it will but delicious level.

[Jerbax]

yup it's already very attractive at its current price. I heard that they're going to merge with prudential. i don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing

[piolo]

How true is BPI buying Yuchengco's RCBC? I just read it in a Phil Star- Business Tsismis Section

[obelix]

If the price is right, anything is for sale.

[Philinvestor]

Yes, BPI and RCBC may make sense given the continued consolidation of banks. We may see the top 3 or 4 banks having at least 60% market share in a few years time as a resuklt of consolidation.

[copilgrim]

I heard that BPI buying RCBC is a smoke screen. What BPI is really after is SECB. Can anybody find out if this is true?

[obelix]

Just spoke w/ a Senior Officer of RCBC. No truth to any rumour that RCBC is for sale or to be merged soon w/ anyone.

[obelix]

By Rocel C. Felix
The Philippine Star

The Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) recently approved for commercial production the fourth biotech corn variety known as "stacked-trait corn" or Mon810/NK developed by Monsanto Philippines.

According to the BPI, the stacked-train corn is a superior variety, since it is both resistant to insects while tolerant with herbicides.

Through genetic engineering, the company introduced the Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) gene that enables the corn plant to resist the attacks of Asiatic corn borer, a dreaded insect pest that can cause as much as 80-percent yield reduction.

Monsanto Philippines also incorporated into the corn variety, the EPSPS (5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase) gene, a naturally-occurring bacteria in the soils which allows the corn plant to continuously produce essential aromatic amino acids even with the presence of glyphosate, a non-selective herbicide.

Thus, glyphosate kills the weeds without harming the corn plant, unlike conventional corn plants when sprayed with glyphosate, stop producing the aromatic amino acids that are essential to their survival.

The EPSPS enzyme can be found in all plants, bacteria and fungi. Animals do not produce its own aromatic amino acids; thus, they need to obtain it from plants for survival.

This latest corn variety also combines the traits of two earlier approved biotech corn varieties developed by Monsanto – the Roundup Ready corn and Bt corn.

In 2002, the Philippines approved Bt corn Mon 810. This gene is incorporated into the different commercial local corn varieties of Monsanto and Pioneer Hi-bred Philippines.

Locally, the Monsanto Bt corn hybrids are known as Dekalb(DK) 818YG, DK9161YG, and DK9051YG. On the other hand, the local Bt corn hybrid varieties of Pioneer Hi-bred Philippines are sold as 30Y84, 30Y50, 30Y80, 30Y73, and 30Y34.

Earlier this year, the BPI approved the Bt 11 of Syngenta Philippines for planting. The biotech crop products of Syngenta Philippines are marketed under the Agrisure trade name. For the approved Bt 11, its commercial variety is sold as NK 5447Bt.

Monsanto’s Corn NK 603 or Roundup Ready corn was approved for commercial use also this year and introduced the EPSPS gene into the chromosome of the corn plant. It is sold as DK818RRC2.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is endorsing the use of biotech corn in its bid to be self-sufficient in corn, the second major staple of the Philippines next to rice.

Since commercial planting of Bt corn in 2003, there are now an estimated aggregate area of 70,000 hectares planted to insect-protected corn.

The introduction of new high-yielding biotech corn varieties is expected to encourage more farmers to shift to Bt corn.

Corn areas in the country planted to genetically-modified Bt corn variety is projected to double to 100,000 hectares this year from 54,668 hectares in 2004.

Randy Hautea, global coordinator of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications said there is no reversing the trend as more corn farmers realize the benefits of shifting to planting Bt corn.

"The initial apprehensions of planting Bt corn is being gradually replaced by more corn farmers wanting to also experience the gains made by the first planters when they shifted to planting this pest resistant corn variety," said Hautea.

[rexdflex]

boss obi, i think your BPI refers to "Bureau of Plant Industry" and not "Bank of the philippine Islands"

[obelix]

Oppppppppsssssss.