Companies

Listed mass-housing developer 8990 Holdings Inc. is set to launch nine projects mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao to beef up its inventory of housing units. In addition to the new projects, the 10 ongoing projects will provide a total of 19 projects equivalent to 11,083 housing units for a total gross value of P10 billion this year.

The local bourse will start using its new trading system, the PSEtrade XTS, on June 1, 2015, which is a trading engine developed by American stock exchange Nasdaq.

Regional property developer 8990 Holdings Inc., which has been the leader in the development of low- and middle-cost housing since 1995, continues to expand its reach to various locations in the country.

Reforms launched last April 14 to ease the conduct of doing business in the country have been rolled out successfully in its first month of operation, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Listed Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) said electricity bills for May will be reduced by 70 centavos per kilowatt hour (kWh) or P140 for an average household with a consumption of 200 kilowatt hours (kWh).

EastWest Banking Corp. reported a 32-percent jump in net income in the first quarter to P600 million from P456 million a year ago, driven by strong growth in recurring revenue base. The bank’s total assets increased by 20 percent to P184.7 billion from P153.8 billion in the same period last year.

Globe Telecom recently launched a co-branded service with du, the Middle East’s fastest growing telecommunications company that’s based in the United Arab Emirates(UAE). With approximately 7.3 million mobile subscribers, the Kabayan offer of du allows their prepaid mobile subscribers to call Globe and TM for 20 percent less than the cost of calls to other networks in the Philippines.

Megaworld, the country’s leader and pioneer in developing integrated urban townships, is opening two new hotels this year in its two townships in Metro Manila and Iloilo. Richmonde Hotel Iloilo, which will occupy eight levels of the 12-storey Richmonde Tower in the 72-hectare Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo City, is set to open in June this year.

GT Capital Holdings Inc.’s (GTCAP) property development arm, Federal Land Inc., has entered into a joint venture agreement with Alveo Land Corp., a fully owned subsidiary of Ayala Land Inc., for the development of a 45-hectare property along Laguna Boulevard in Biñan, Laguna province.

By Jerry Maglunog Many are ecstatic about the 8,000-plus Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi), as they believe it is one of the indications that the Philippine economy is really growing.