The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business

The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Inc. (AmCham) has announced its new set of officers for next year.

By Riza Lozada Listed DoubleDragon Proper­ties Corp. reported successfully tapping the retail bond market with its maiden issuance of P5.3 billion worth of 10-year Fixed Rate Retail Bonds due 2026, which listed on the PDEX board on December 15, 2016.

A fully booked Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight to Cebu carrying mostly Filipinos ar­rived from Singapore early Saturday morning, signaling the start of a new scheduled passenger service between the two countries.

By Riza Lozada The Department of Energy (DOE) has found that some gas stations are using methanol or methyl alcohol, which is corrosive, instead of ethanol in the blended fuel they sell.

By Riza Lozada BDO Unibank Inc. (BDO) seeks to raise up to P60 billion in additional core capital through a stock rights offer to finance the bank’s medium-term growth plans and provide a buffer on higher capital requirements imposed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Pizza chain Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc. (Spavi), which is seeking to raise P3.96 billion through an initial public offer (IPO), targets to put up 20 new stores next year, as it embarks on an ambitious expansion plan.

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp (PSPC) will pursue its $13-mil­lion (P624-million) upgrade of the Tabangao Refinery to pro­duce bitumen.

Last Dec. 15, Jollibee opened its first store in Winnipeg, Canada, home to over 70,000 Filipinos. The pioneer location was chosen as Winnipeg is home for several Filipinos with Ta­galog being the second-most common language spoken. In typical Jollibee fashion, the store was welcomed by long queues with people lining up as early as 10:30 PM the night before the …

New generation cur­rency (NGC) bank notes that have the signature of Presi­dent Duterte will start circulat­ing this week.

By Riza Lozada The Bangko Sentral ng Pili­pinas (BSP) recently revised foreign exchange regulations amid the entry of more foreign banks in the country includ­ing a requirement that foreign currency capital of a foreign bank’s branch be converted to pesos at the prevailing ex­change rate at the time of the remittance.