B 2


business The Manila Times SATURDAY December 4, 2010


Smart pins growth on smartphones S


BY DARWIN G. AMOJELAR REPORTER


MART Communications Inc. (Smart) expects to acquire more subscribers with its new unlimited data plans


for smartphones.


In a briefing, Tricia Dizon, Smart head for postpaid and prepaid serv- ices, said “there’s a lot of opportu- nities” in the mobile broadband services as the small percentage of


Citi to set up local research platform


CITIGROUP said it will put up a research platform in the Philippines to support the growth of its local capital market activities. In a statement, Citigroup said this new initiative is part of the firm’s continued expansion in the South- east Asian markets. “This investment underlines our


commitment to the Philippines market. The presence of a research platform will further enhance our ability to offer our clients and help raise the Philippines corporates with global investors,” Sanjiv Vohra, Citi Philippines chief executive, said. Citi has been covering the Philippines’ macroeconomics since 2000 when it appointed Jun Trinidad as country chief economist. Along with Trinidad’s house views, Citi currently provides research coverage on two sectors in the Philippines through its regional analysts based in Singapore and Hong Kong. LAILANY P. GOMEZ


subscribers are accessing the Internet through their handsets. Dizon said only 3 percent of


Smart’s total 44.1 million sub- scribers are using Internet


through mobile phone.


Smartphones that are included in the unlimited data plan are the Samsung Galaxy Tab, HTC Mozart, Blackberry Torch 9800, Acer Ferrari Liquid, Nokia N8 Sony Ericsson’s Eperia Line. Danilo Mojica, head of Smart’s consumer wireless division, said the unlimited data plans are perfect for such devices that need constant Internet connectivity to fully maxi- mize user experience.


“Smart Gold has packaged a wide array of handsets with our flexible


selection of monthly plans…we’re even giving the people the chance to get most of these devices at a lower plan,” Mojica said. Earlier, Smart expanded its network capacity to accommodate the rising demand for mobile broadband services. The country’s leading mobile phone service provider had said more than 83 million subscribers now have access to the Internet through the nationwide broadband and cellular networks.


Of the total, Smart Broadband Jolliville increases holdings in water subsidiary


JOLLIVILLE Holdings Corp. has in- creased its stake in its water unit, Calapan Equity Ventures Inc. (CEVI). In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the holding firm said it acquired 3.33 million shares each from Febra Resources Corp., A- Net Resources Corp., Kenly Re- sources Corp. and Oltru Holdings Corp. for P1.44 per share. This will allow the Jolliville to hike its interest in CEVI from 59.18


percent to 70.28 percent. CEVI controls Calapan Water Works Corp., which owns, operates and man- ages the water system of Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro. It also operates and manages the water distribution system in Tabuk City, Kalinga. Late last year, the company an- nounced that it would declare a 32- percent property dividend in the form of CEVI shares, paving the way for the unit to be qualified to list by


introduction in the local bourse. Jolliville recently hiked its stake in its subsidiary, Ormin Power from 46.8 percent to 60 percent. Last week, Jolliville announced plans to build a 10-megawaat hydro- electric power plant in Mindoro through subsidiary Ormin Power Inc. The P1.5-million hydropowerplant, which will be operational by 2012, will use the Inabasan River and benefit the municipality of San Teodoro in Ori-


Metrobank cited as best local lender


THE Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank) said it was cited as best Phil- ippine bank for the third time this year by The Banker.


The London-based publication has de- clared Metrobank as Bank of the Year in the Philippines for 2010. The Banker is a publication of The Financial Times. “We are honored to receive this award from The Banker,” said Metrobank presi- dent Arthur Ty. This year’s The Banker Awards high- lighted the banks that were able to man- age the previous year’s crisis and gained a strong position to capitalize on the new banking landscape.


Metrobank was cited for its “strong management, sound business model, and prudent risk approach.” “This year, we began aiming for growth and focused more on our customers


through enhancements in service quality, operational efficiency and workplace pro- ductivity. We also remained cautiously op- timistic, maintaining a prudent approach to risk-taking as we seized new business opportunities,” Ty said.


Metrobank was also accorded two top


bank awards for 2010, namely “Best Bank in the Philippines” by Euromoney and “Best Domestic Bank in the Philippines” by Asiamoney.


The lender reported consolidated in- come of P6 billion for the first three quar- ters this year, or 44 percent higher than the P4.2 billion in the same period last year. Metrobank has a consolidated network that spans more than 1,300 automated teller machines (ATMs) nationwide, over 740 lo- cal branches, and 42 foreign branches, sub- sidiaries and representative offices. LAILANY P. GOMEZ


■ STOCKS FROM B1


US housing data lift local stocks


ental Mindoro.


In the first nine months, Jolliville posted a net income of P46.7 mil- lion from P18.7 million in the same period last year.


The group has principal business interests in leasing, management serv- ices, property development and land banking, and waterworks system. Jolliville shares were unchanged


at P2.50 each. KRISTA ANGELA M. MONTEALEGRE


Inc. (SBI) served more than 1.3 mil- lion subscribers, while about seven million Smart subscribers surf the Web and access other Internet-na- tive services through their post- or prepaid mobile subscription. Smart said the rising number of broadband users is expected to help hike the number of Internet users in the country. According to www.internetworldstats.com,


there are 29.7 million Internet users or about 30 percent of the country’s estimated 2010 population of almost 100 million Filipinos.


EEI bags contract in Saudi Arabia


A SUBSIDIARY of EEI Corp. has bagged the contract to construct a portion of a clean fuels project in Saudi Arabia.


In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said its subsidiary, Al Rushaid Construction Company Limited (ARCC), has been selected by WorleyParsons to execute the construction of Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company’s (SAMREF) clean fuels project in Yanbu Al-Sinaiyah, Saudi Arabia. The $200-million project will


involve significant modification to SAMREF’s refinery to comply with future mandatory sulfur levels of 10 parts per million in gasoline and diesel.


The phased construction project is expected to begin start-up opera- tions in 2013. WorleyParsons’ scope of work in- cludes front-end engineering design and full responsibility for engineer- ing, procurement and construction of the facilities. The construction segment will be facilitated by ARCC. “We are delighted that Worley-


Parsons and SAMREF have chosen ARCC for this major undertaking,” Roberto Castillo, EEI chief executive officer, said.


“This project affirms our place as one of the world’s premier compa- nies serving the hydrocarbons con- struction industry and represents our direct link with WorleyParsons,” he added.


Massive government stimulus plans, while alleviating the


worst ravages of the downturn, have failed to bring unemploy- ment levels into line with those seen over the last decade. During the 2000s, unemployment rates largely bounced be-


tween four and six percent until the Great Recession. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke this week warned that entrenched high levels of unemployment could have a “very long-term effect” on the US economy. Job creation, he said, is “probably the most important eco- nomic issue facing America today.” With nearly 40 percent of the jobless unemployed for more than six months, fears are growing that high jobless rates may be more than a temporary result of a brutal recession. “This is very unusual and very worrisome,” Bernanke said,


warning workers could become detached from the workforce, skills could erode over time and firms become more skeptical about the unemployed.


WITH REPORT FROM AFP


Samref is a joint venture between the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and Mobil Yanbu Re- fining Company Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corp. Samref’s refinery complex was formed for the development, con- struction, ownership and operation of crude oil refining facilities in Saudi Arabia.


In the first nine months, EEI re- ported an 8-percent improvement in unaudited consolidated net income to P452.89 million from the P418.69 million.


EEI shares rose from P3.85 to


Thursday to P3.91 each on Friday. KRISTA ANGELA M. MONTEALEGRE


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