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The Department of Agriculture (DA) has acknowledged that the high prices of ginger in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces is caused by rising demand for the commodity from manufacturers, coupled by low supply due to slower importation.
The Liberal Democrats have launched their Party manifesto which pledges to maintain the State Pension Triple Lock, in a move similar to that of Labour and the Conservatives. They have also pledged to ensure women born in the 1950s, who have been affected by changes to the State Pension age, are “finally treated fairly and properly compensated”.
CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple has jumped into the race to bring generative artificial intelligence to the masses, spotlighting a slew of features Monday designed to soup up the iPhone, iPad and Mac.
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Jurors will resume deliberations Tuesday in the criminal case against President Joe Biden’s son over a gun Hunter Biden bought in 2018 when prosecutors say he was in the throes of a crack cocaine addiction.
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl knocked Florida’s Aleksander Barkov out of the game. The Panthers made sure they responded by landing the bigger blow.
DoubleDragon [DD 11.98 ?4.0%; 23% avgVol] [link] notified that its board approved a measure to sell up to P10 billion in a retail bond issuance, with a PhilRatings score of PRS Aaa. DD said that it expects to have more than P100 billion in total equity before the end of 2024.MB BOTTOM-LINE: I have to admit that the press release was a little light on where this money would actually be going. I mean, considering DD’s huge Hotel101 plan I have a few logical guesses as to where they might want to put this cash to work, but I think the issue here is that I’m stuck guessing. Maybe they’re planning to do something exciting with the cash, or maybe they’re going to refinance a bunch of short-term and long-term debt to get better terms or extended maturities. It will be interesting to see what kind of interest rate these bonds will pay, but we’ll have to wait for that kind of info until a later phase in the offering.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) [link] re-edited its projected FY24 GDP growth for the Philippines to 6.0% due to weakness in household consumption and investment. The IMF started the year projecting a 6.0% GDP growth rate, but revised that projection up to 6.2% in April after what it called “carryover from a better-than-expected outturn in the last quarter of 2023.” The IMF projects FY25 GDP growth to be 6.2% due to stronger consumer demand, higher investments, and better exports. The IMF has made some assumptions in this projection, namely that “price inflation will come down faster due to the recently announced lower import tariffs on rice”; the IMF is expecting that policy shift to be implemented before the end of FY24.MB BOTTOM-LINE: So the confluence of high inflation, expensive debt, and lagging wages haven’t been great for consumption? I’m honestly surprised that household consumption has been as good as it is, though I’m sure readers are tired of hearing how my own anecdotal experience has been filled with stories of hardship and suffering. I don’t know any family that is living the YOLO life right now; most are playing defense and trying to regain a sense of stability. People are traveling and the blowout parties are back, but I don’t have anyone in my orbit setting any Big Hairy Audacious Goals.
RL Commercial REIT [RCR 5.21 ?0.2%; 46% avgVol] [link] was halted for one hour, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m,, as per Section 5 of the Additional Listing Rule. Section 5 of this rule calls for the halting of a stock when any transaction results in a listed company (in this case, RCR) issuing new voting shares to any party (in this case, Robinsons Land [RLC 15.50 ?1.5%; 16% avgVol]), amounting to at least 10% (but not more than 35%) of its total issued and outstanding stock.