PSE Points to Ponder

Someone has said that in deal making, if you are a buyer pretend to be a seller and if you are a seller pretend to be a buyer. After Business World has reported that the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) green-lit DMC Urban Property Developers, Inc.’s acquisition of Smart Towers, the Makati-based office building assets of PLDT Inc. ( TEL ), another news outfit the Philippine Star/PhilStar Global has r eported that MVP Group’s PLDT is vying for Lopez owned Sky Cable . Business World and the Philippine Star are units of Hastings Holdings, Inc. and according to the disclosure in the Business World report, Hastings Holdings, Inc. – a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. — maintains interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls. Hastings is a wholly-owned subsidiary of MediaQuest and holds all the print-related investments of MediaQuest, including equity interests in the three leading newspapers: The Philippine S...

ABS-CBN Corporation ( ABS ) has finally submitted its first half 2020 (1H 2020) results. The results showed that it has the financial strength to continue its operations. It has cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments of 18 Billion Pesos as of end of 1H 2020 while debts due in the next 12 months is only 0.5 Billion Pesos. In the 1H 2020 it was able to generate cash from operations of 1.7 Billion Pesos which has been more than enough to service it debts. The losses of 3.2 Billion for the period 1H 2020 can be attributed to the inefficiency of a bigger organization (the administrative and general expenses/GAEX) with a smaller revenue stream. But this inefficiency is now being addressed. ABS has adopted and continues to implement cost control measures, reducing general and administrative expenses (GAEX) or overhead, rationalizing capital expenditures, and streamlining its manpower requirements. Given the reduced operations, ABS is reviewing its current business models, struc...

MM surge in value could not be justified by fundamentals. Before the public offering (IPO), MM’s balance sheet is at 915 Million Pesos. The proceeds of the IPO at 1,500 Million Pesos (1.5 Billion) doubles MM’s balance sheet. However, the balance sheet growth will not translate into a magnificent net income growth. There is a high barrier to entry in the non-discretionary retail industry. The dominant players are well entrenched and have long established an economy of scale in their operations. SM Investments ( SM ) is well entrenched not just in SM Malls but also in third party-owned locations with Save More, Watsons, SM Supermarket, Waltermart, and Alfamart. It is not just SM but also Robinson Retail Holdings ( RRHI ) with Robinson Supermarket, Ministop, The Generics Pharmacy, Rustan’s, etc.; Puregold ( PGOLD ) with Puregold, S & R, ThreeSixty Pharmacy, etc.; Philippine Seven Corporation ( SEVN ) with7-11; Metro Retail Stores Group, Inc. ( MRSGI ) with Met...