#IntheKnow

Business News Summaries by Joaquin Francisco

Peso hits record low amongst Duterte rhetoric
The peso had recently hit a record low of P48.35 against the dollar, its
lowest in 7 years before closing at P48.33. Partly attributable to this has
been President Rodrigo Dutertes rhetoric particularly against the United
States as well as the international criticism he has been receiving regarding
his administrations war on drugs. Consequently, rating agencies Standard &
Poor and Fitch Ratings have expressed pessimistic outlooks on the countrys
economic predicament, saying that the country is unlikely to experience any
increase in credit rating over the next two years.
Source: http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/29/16/peso-weakens-furtheras-duterte-stirs-investor-worry-poll

Shell IPO approved

As of September 27, the Securities Exchange Commission has
approved the Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. initial public offering (IPO),
possibly the Philippines largest IPO to date offering as much as 330 million
primary and secondary shares. These shares, if offered at their set maximum
price of P90 per share would bring the company a collective share value of
P29.7 billion and a market capitalization as large as P151.52 billion. The
companys pricing date is scheduled on October 13, its IPO period from
October 19 to 25 and listing on November 3, with 18.6 percent of the
outstanding capital stock to be made available with a maximum of P20,000
worth of stock made available to local small investors.

Sources: http://business.inquirer.net/215798/shell-ipo-may-be-biggest-yet
http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/27/16/sec-approves-pilipinas-shells-p297-billion-ipo

Net outflow bleeding grows to $701.1 million in first half of September

A net outflow of foreign portfolio investment worth $701.1 million for
September 1 to 16 was reported according to latest economic data released
by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Some of the perceived reasons for
the continuing withdrawal of foreign direct investment include some of
President Rodrigo Dutertes controversial comments on the European Union
(EU) and the US as well as the fear amongst investors over the US Feds

imminent rate hike. Amidst market fears and volatility however,

macroeconomic stability is still very much there according to Economic
Planning Secretary Ernesto M. Pernia who says that the net outflow is just
hot money, not hard investment, and that though [t]he stock market is
volatilethats typically the case, but foreign investors are not pulling out
their factories and equipment.
Source: http://business.inquirer.net/215847/net-outflow-of-hot-money-hits701m#ixzz4LvJiosL8
20 mining companies face threat of suspension by DENR
According to the results of the mining audit conducted by the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), twenty mines
failed to comply with the safety standards set by the departments industrywide audit. Currently, the DENR has suspended 10 nickel mining operations,
all of which account to 60 percent of the countrys nickel output. An
estimated 700,000 mining workers are expected to lose their jobs should the
suspension of 20 companies push through.
Sources: http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/27/16/20-mines-fail-denr-audit-facesuspension-lopez
http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/09/30/16/denrs-lopez-govt-stand-on-mining-is-nonnegotiable
http://news.abs-cbn.com/video/business/09/28/16/mahigit-700000-minero-maaringmawalan-ng-trabaho