Companies

Communications giant Globe Telecom is investing close to $500 million (P23.5 billion) over five years beginning 2016 to expand its corporate data network to meet the ever-increasing bandwidth requirements of corporate and enterprise clients.

The Lucio Tan group’s Asia Brewery Inc., producer of the famous Tanduay rum since 1937, signed a joint venture agreement with famous Dutch brewer Heineken International B.V. for the local production and distribution of the premium beer and cider drinks under the famous Heineken brand for a still-undisclosed amount.

Effective this school year, at least 3,200 public elementary pupils from Pandacan in Manila and San Pascual municipality in Batangas will enjoy learning from well-trained teachers in world-class computer laboratories. 

By Riza Lozada The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) reported a net income of P164.73 million in the first quarter of 2016, down by 13.9 percent from a year ago, due mainly to lower trading-related income and service fees as the stock market registered lower total value turnover during the quarter. 

Listed Phoenix Semiconductor Philippines Corp. (PSPC) has signed with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung) and SFA Semicon Co., Ltd (SSK), formerly known as STS Semiconductor Telecommunications Co., Ltd., (STS) a master agreement for the production of memory chips for Samsung of South Korea.

Diversified engineering company Megawide Construction Corp. (Megawide) increased its first-quarter net income by 55 percent driven mainly by its core construction business. 

Communications giant Globe Telecom’s mobile data revenues continued to underpin growth in the first three months of the year amid continuing demand for data services and the popularity of data-driven products and applications. 

By Riza Lozada Corporate regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the International Finance Corp. (IFC) of the World Bank signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to strengthen the country’s regulatory framework and corporate governance practices.

Diversified Asian conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) reported that its first-quarter profit soared more than twofold to P13.5 billion, driven by its core food, beverage and packaging businesses. 

The Department of Energy (DOE) has approved the revised rules for the electricity spot market that that expanded the authority of technical committee of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) to detect incidences of violation of trading rules and distortion to the spot market, whether intended or not.