00:49.6
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. now in Washington for the trilateral summit with the U.S. and Japan.
00:54.7
He's expected to bag at least $100 billion in investment pledges.
01:00.0
We're also waiting for February's jobs numbers out any time now.
01:06.5
We're coming from 4.5% unemployment rate and 13.9% underemployment rate from January.
01:13.1
We'll bring you the numbers as soon as they become available.
01:17.7
And a talk on jobs and wages in the Philippines with Ebon Foundation's Executive Director, Sunny Africa, later on in the program.
01:27.6
We begin with the President's trip to America.
01:30.0
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has arrived in Washington.
01:32.8
He arrived around 8 a.m. Manila time for that historic trilateral summit with the U.S. and Japan.
01:39.0
That summit is widely expected to focus on China's maritime incursions
01:43.3
as the three countries seek to deter Beijing's aggressive behavior.
01:48.3
Marcos earlier said the Philippines will strengthen its cooperation with the two countries
01:53.1
both on the economic and security fronts.
01:56.4
Aside from the trilateral summit, Marcos will also hold a bilateral summit.
01:60.0
He will also hold a bilateral meeting with Biden and meet with American investors during the trip.
02:05.9
It is my intention also to exchange views with my U.S. and Japanese counterparts
02:10.9
on various regional security issues of mutual concern
02:14.3
while continuing to reiterate the importance of upholding the rule of law
02:19.8
and preserving the rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region.
02:25.8
I intend to explore ways of advancing cooperation,
02:30.0
especially in the areas of critical infrastructure, semiconductors,
02:34.9
digitalization and cyber security, critical minerals,
02:39.2
renewable energy, as well as defense and maritime cooperation.
02:46.1
The Philippines, seen bagging huge investment deals during the historic trilateral summit in Washington.
02:52.2
Philippine Ambassador to the U.S. Jose Manuel Ramaldez says the U.S. and Japan
02:55.9
are expected to pour in at least $100 billion into the country's infrastructure.
02:60.0
Over the next 5 to 10 years, the investment package will cover various sectors
03:05.3
including energy, semiconductor and infrastructure.
03:11.3
This meeting is not only important but it is also significant.
03:17.6
Aside from the defense strategies that we have put in place,
03:21.9
the enhancement of our economic cooperation with Japan and the United States is just as important.
03:27.7
The energy exploration...
03:30.0
of course, which involves the West Philippine Sea is part and parcel of what we are looking at
03:36.8
to bump up our energy requirements, which is increasing every year.
03:45.3
Washington was Manila's fourth largest source of foreign direct investments last year,
03:50.6
amounting to $110 million.
03:53.0
It also ranked as the Philippines' third biggest trading partner
03:55.6
with a total trade of nearly $20 billion.
03:58.9
Japan, meanwhile,
03:60.0
is the Philippines' largest source of official development assistance or ODA
04:04.5
with nearly $13 billion in aid or about 40% of the country's total portfolio.
04:11.2
Welcome news, especially since the Philippines is coming from FDI net inflows
04:15.7
that actually jumped 90% in January to $907 million.
04:24.7
President Marcos also seeking investments from nuclear power companies
04:28.4
on the sidelines of the trilateral trade war.
04:29.3
President Marcos is also seeking investments from nuclear power companies on the sidelines of the trilateral trade war.
04:29.3
President Marcos is also seeking investments from nuclear power companies on the sidelines of the trilateral trade war.
04:30.0
President Marcos is also seeking investments from nuclear power companies on the sidelines of the trilateral trade war.
04:60.0
President Marcos is also seeking investments from nuclear power companies on the sidelines of the trilateral trade war.
04:60.0
President Marcos is also seeking investments from nuclear power companies on the sidelines of the trilateral trade war.
05:00.0
President Marcos is also seeking investments from nuclear power companies on the sidelines of the trilateral trade war.
05:00.4
President Marcos is also seeking investments from nuclear power companies on the sidelines of the trilateral trade war.
05:28.9
President Marcos is also seeking investments from nuclear power companies on the sidelines of the trilateral trade war.
05:29.8
President Marcos is also seeking investments from nuclear power companies on the sidelines of the trilateral trade war.
05:29.8
President Marcos is also seeking investments from nuclear power companies on the sidelines of the trilateral trade war.
05:29.9
President Marcos is also seeking investments from nuclear power companies on the sidelines of the trilateral trade war.
05:30.0
U.S. inflation print supported the view
05:31.9
that the Federal Reserve will keep
05:34.0
rates higher for longer with markets
05:36.1
pricing in just two cuts this year
05:38.1
starting September that is less
05:40.1
than the most recent Fed dot plot indicated.
05:42.7
Taking a look at the board now,
05:44.3
wow, bleeding across the board
05:47.7
to South Korea to Australia
05:50.0
all in the red. Even futures for Hong Kong
05:52.3
tumbling this morning. Asian
05:54.0
currencies as well, mostly softer
05:56.1
against the greenback. Now on tap
05:58.1
for today would be Australian inflation
06:00.1
expectations, consumer and
06:02.1
producer prices for China as well
06:04.1
as trade figures from the Philippines
06:06.2
while markets in Indonesia, Malaysia,
06:08.5
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
06:10.1
and Bangladesh are closed for
06:12.0
holiday. Stateside, U.S.
06:14.0
futures are also pointing lower.
06:19.4
U.S. stocks fell sharply on Wednesday
06:21.9
after key inflation data for March came in
06:23.8
hotter than expected. The consumer price
06:25.8
index increasing to three and a
06:28.0
half percent year over
06:30.0
year. That is the highest since
06:32.1
September. It's also up
06:34.0
from just 3.2 percent in February.
06:36.7
That's as elevated housing inflation
06:38.3
and higher gasoline prices
06:40.3
kept readings stubbornly
06:42.1
high. And because it remains above
06:44.0
policymakers' long-term target
06:45.9
of 2 percent, there is growing speculation
06:48.2
that the much-anticipated rate
06:50.1
cuts will happen later and
06:52.0
less. U.S. President Joe Biden, however,
06:58.0
I do stand by my prediction that before
06:59.9
the year is out to be a rate cut, this may
07:01.7
delay it a month or so. I'm not sure of that.
07:04.5
We don't know what the
07:05.9
Fed is going to do for certain.
07:07.7
But look, we have dramatically reduced
07:10.0
inflation from 9 percent down
07:11.9
to close to 3 percent.
07:13.9
We're in a situation where we're
07:15.9
better situated than we were when we
07:17.9
took office, where inflation
07:20.1
was skyrocketing. And we
07:22.0
have a plan to deal with it.
07:26.0
this world market is as expected.
07:28.0
The Dow seeing the biggest drop of
07:30.0
about 1.1 percent.
07:32.4
The S&P also sliding nearly
07:34.0
by 1 percent. And the tech-heavy Nasdaq
07:36.1
tumbled over eight-tenths of 1
07:38.1
percent. Equity prices were
07:40.0
further pressured by benchmark Treasury
07:41.8
yields, which breached 4.5 percent
07:44.3
to touch the highest
07:46.1
level since November.
07:49.9
Markets are really moving all on the
07:51.9
inflation data, where investors
07:54.2
are really having to grapple with
07:55.9
the potential for many fewer
07:57.7
Fed rate cuts, which is pushing interest
07:59.5
rates up along with higher inflation
08:01.2
expectations. And on the equity side
08:03.5
of the ledger, despite the fact
08:05.7
that we had good earnings coming out of
08:07.3
Delta, the challenge is
08:09.5
higher interest rates mean lower
08:11.7
price earnings multiples. And that's really where
08:13.6
the pressure is showing up today.
08:16.4
Now, in highlights
08:17.5
from corporate America, U.S. President Joe Biden
08:19.6
reiterating his support for
08:21.5
American workers' opposition to Nippon Steel's
08:23.9
bid to acquire U.S. Steel,
08:25.1
while stopping short of calling again
08:27.7
for continued domestic ownership.
08:29.4
We're also watching meta-platforms
08:31.4
deploying a new homegrown chip
08:33.4
to help power its artificial intelligence
08:35.4
services. Plus, Taiwan Semiconductor
08:37.4
Manufacturing, or TSMC's,
08:39.4
quarterly revenue grew at its fastest
08:41.4
pace in more than a year.
08:46.4
Back here at home, BMI, a unit of
08:48.4
Fitch Solutions, sticking to its forecast
08:50.4
for 75 basis points of rate cuts
08:52.4
by the Banco Central to still
08:54.4
materialize in the second half of this year,
08:56.4
despite sticking to its
08:57.7
pre-inflation and bets that the
08:59.5
Federal Reserve will likely start cutting
09:01.5
later and less. The BSP left its benchmark
09:04.4
policy rate unchanged at a near 17-year high
09:06.8
of 6.5 percent just this Monday, despite a
09:09.9
second month of acceleration in CPI. BMI notes
09:13.5
the recent uptick is due to upside surprises
09:16.2
in food prices and will prompt the BSP to
09:19.0
stand pat again when it meets on May 16 or
09:22.0
until inflation is more firmly anchored within
09:24.3
its target range of 2 to 4 percent. It adds,
09:27.7
Sustained resilience in the economy and weakness in the peso will also mean that the BSP will be in no hurry to loosen monetary policy
09:35.6
and instead continue taking cues from the Fed and cut rates only when the Fed does so.
09:41.2
Now on the currency, the Philippine peso has depreciated against the greenback by about 3.1% in the year to date
09:48.7
with uncertainty surrounding the interest rate trajectory in the U.S. leading to much volatility in many emerging market currencies.
09:55.7
But BMI notes any preemptive loosening could exacerbate weakness in the peso, something that the BSP will be mindful to avoid.
10:06.0
And we have this just in. This is from the Asian Development Banks, their ADB Outlook report for April 2024.
10:16.9
They actually lowered Philippine GDP forecast to 6% this year.
10:22.1
Coming from their earlier ADO report,
10:25.7
from December, which expected this year to see a growth of 6.2. So they lowered it to 6%.
10:31.1
They're also seeing the Philippine economy growing 6.2% for next year.
10:36.9
All right. And this is for, this is their outlook. This is for the Asian Development Outlook, April 2024.
10:42.2
For developing Asia, where the Philippines is included, as you can see, the forecast is for this year, we are growing, the region at least, 4.9%.
10:50.9
And steady at 4.9 still for next year.
10:54.7
Let's take a look at the next report.
10:55.7
I think the next chart is for inflation. There you go.
10:58.8
They're expecting inflation for developing Asia, which also includes the Philippines, to ease this year, averaging 3.2% for 2024, easing further to 3% in 2025.
11:11.5
Again, zeroing in on the Philippines, the Asian Development Outlook report for April this year, lowering its growth forecast for the Philippines this year to 6%
11:21.9
instead of the initial expectation of 6.2%.
11:25.7
Now, that's 6.2%. We will see, not this year, but next year, 2025.
11:31.9
A lot of breaking news. We also have this just in.
11:34.8
Unemployment in the Philippines hitting 3.5% in February.
11:39.6
It actually eased from, let's see, 4.5% in January.
11:45.0
That is equal to 1.8 million jobless Filipinos.
11:50.5
Well, underemployment, which covers those who have jobs, but still want an additional job.
11:55.7
Or hours of work, which is an indicator, really, of the quality of work, is at 12.4%, also easing from 13.9% in January.
12:25.7
Following the jobs report, let's shift our focus to wage issues.
12:30.7
According to think tank Ibon Foundation, across all regions in the country, the average minimum wage as of March is only 440 pesos,
12:38.4
or just a little over one-third of the average family living wage for a family of five, which is 1,207 pesos.
12:46.2
Family living wage refers to the amount of family income needed to provide for the cost of living, which includes food and non-food requirements.
12:53.9
The think tank adds,
12:54.6
The low wages and income,
12:55.7
The low wages and income,
12:55.8
of many Filipinos are not enough to keep up with the rising costs in basic goods and services.
13:01.6
To talk to us more about that, we have with us Ibon Foundation's Executive Director, Sonny Africa.
13:06.7
Hi, Sonny. Welcome back to Market Edge. Good morning.
13:09.8
Hi, morning, Mimi.
13:11.1
Sonny, great timing to have you on the show.
13:13.4
We just got our jobs report, unemployment and underemployment rates, both easing in the month of February from January.
13:22.0
But when you look at the charts that you have, it doesn't add up.
13:25.7
It kind of adds up if we reinterpret the figures properly.
13:31.6
The thing about employment in the Philippines, because we have so much informality, even among wage earners,
13:37.4
being employed doesn't mean being gainfully employed.
13:40.5
So I think that's one important qualification in terms of the quality of work.
13:44.6
Unfortunately, even what you mentioned about underemployment, it's an indirect measure of the quality of work.
13:50.9
But unfortunately, if people, despite needing more work, have stopped looking for more work,
13:55.7
because they know it's nowhere to be found, even if they do objectively need more work, they wouldn't be counted as underemployed.
14:02.2
So I think even the 12% or so underemployment rate, that's not right now a precise indicator of the quality of jobs.
14:09.8
If anything, it shows that there are so poor job prospects.
14:13.9
There are Filipinos who are looking for work, who want more work, but aren't looking because they know it's a waste of their effort.
14:21.2
So what are they doing if they're not looking?
14:24.5
They're struggling to make.
14:25.7
I think it's very, like you said, it's good timing.
14:30.6
The government, since the end of last year, has been talking about supposedly the lowest unemployment rate since about 2005.
14:37.5
I think at the same time, they should accept that even the Banco Central, the number of families without savings has increased actually by 600,000 in 2023.
14:48.5
Over 19 million families don't have savings.
14:52.0
Self-rated poverty surveys, private, more frequent than the government.
14:55.7
As noted, an increase in the number of poor and borderline poor Filipinos to, I think, as of last count, about 22 million.
15:02.8
So basically, at the end of last year, when the government was saying that unemployment is the best in about 20 years since 2005,
15:11.2
the number of families without savings, the number of families self-declaring themselves as poor or borderline poor has increased to about 7 to 8 of Filipino families.
15:20.6
And I think that's the bottom line right now.
15:23.8
The numbers add up.
15:25.1
They only don't...
15:25.7
It doesn't add up if we think that being employed means earning enough to not be poor.
15:30.8
Being employed and gainfully employed, a world of a difference.
15:34.5
Sunny, I want to pull up a graphic.
15:36.1
Let's start with an interesting one.
15:38.4
Let's start with those living in Metro Manila, the NCR family living wage.
15:43.8
You're saying that a family of five living in Metro Manila should receive a wage of 1,197 per day or 26,000.
15:56.7
And you're saying that a family of five living in Metro Manila should receive a wage of 1,197 per day or 26,000.
15:59.2
And you're saying that a family of five living in Metro Manila should receive a wage of 1,197 per day or 26,000.
16:00.3
We computed that.
16:01.4
We were inflating the official figures by the National Wages and Productivity Council.
16:05.6
Unfortunately, for some inexplicable reason, the NWPC, an agency of the Department of Labor, stopped computing the family living wage in September 2008.
16:15.7
What we have been doing basically is that not just in NCR, across all 17 regions, the last official family living wage in 2008,
16:24.5
we've been inflating it.
16:25.7
We've been inflating it to the monthly officially reported inflation rates.
16:29.7
And that's how we got the current NCR rate of 1,197 compared to the actual minimum wage of 610 pesos.
16:38.9
So you really cannot have a single income household.
16:41.8
It doesn't make sense.
16:42.7
It's not possible.
16:44.5
You can't have a single income household.
16:46.9
And unfortunately, even in Metro Manila, which has the highest minimum wage across the regions,
16:51.9
you can't even have two minimum wage earners.
16:54.4
And then reach the family living wage.
16:56.7
I mean, it's a problem not just in Metro Manila.
17:00.8
I think it's much more problematic in the regions.
17:03.6
Like I said, the 610 pesos minimum wage is the highest in Metro Manila.
17:08.2
The average minimum wage is only 440 pesos.
17:11.3
But the average family living wage is about 1,207 pesos across 17 regions.
17:16.3
So like you mentioned earlier, that wage gap of about 762 pesos,
17:21.5
that's felt most keenly in outside Metro Manila.
17:24.7
And those most beneficial, well, not really beneficial,
17:28.1
those doing best are not doing, aren't doing actually that well in NCR.
17:32.8
Because, and you broke it down, you've got food expenses, house rental value,
17:38.1
water, electricity, gas, miscellaneous goods, transport, furnishing, communications,
17:44.0
health expenses, savings, well, savings is at 400,
17:48.2
alcoholic beverages, education, special family occasion.
17:51.7
Good that they still have budget for special family occasion.
17:55.0
Durable furniture, equipment, clothing, and footwear.
17:57.6
And with inflation proving to be stickier than initially hoped for,
18:02.5
are you expecting these numbers to worsen for the rest of the year?
18:07.6
Unfortunately, yes.
18:08.9
The record of the Philippines in terms of minimum wages is pretty bad.
18:12.1
We have been tracking minimum wages since 1989, actually since 1987.
18:17.3
I don't think very many people know that the average minimum wage,
18:21.7
the real minimum wage now, is actually less than in 1989.
18:27.2
Only NCR has seen a slight increase by about one-third of 1% compared to 1989.
18:34.2
But I think that's a dramatic problem to have out of 17 regions,
18:38.8
16 regions have lower minimum wages now in real terms than in 1989.
18:43.6
And the only increase is a negligible increase of 0.3% in NCR.
18:48.4
And in all likelihood, when the inflation figures come out,
18:50.9
the next month's inflation figures come out,
18:54.4
and 3% will probably wipe out.
18:56.3
And by next month, categorically, we'll be very definite.
18:59.9
Minimum wages in the Philippines are lower than they were in 1989
19:03.1
in real terms, adjusting for inflation.
19:06.0
So do you support the calls to increase the national minimum wage,
19:10.8
600 per month, to be added?
19:13.5
Actually, yes, we are.
19:15.3
IBON has been participating in all wage hearings in Congress.
19:18.3
And we did present our latest data computed using the biggest, I think,
19:23.4
enterprise service.
19:24.4
It's a survey by the PSA,
19:25.7
the Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry.
19:28.7
It's a survey with about, I think, a sampling size of 38,000.
19:32.8
By that survey, as of 2021, the latest figure,
19:36.8
less than 11% of total expenses actually goes to compensation,
19:41.5
including salaries and benefits.
19:43.5
So with less than 11% of total expenses of all establishments of all sizes
19:48.8
across the whole Philippines, being on average less than 11%,
19:52.6
we believe quite easily,
19:54.4
the 100-peso wage increase proposed in the Senate,
19:58.1
not just the minimum wage earners, even applying that across the board,
20:01.1
the 150, the lowest proposed in Congress right now,
20:04.6
and actually even the higher wage increases,
20:06.8
are doable without increasing prices.
20:10.2
This is the catch.
20:11.3
If only employers take it out of their profits instead of passing it on to consumers.
20:15.6
And I think that's the key point right now.
20:18.0
A large wage increase is definitely urgent because they're the lowest since 1989.
20:22.8
They're even lower than 1989.
20:24.4
They're doable if employers accept a small cut in their profits.
20:28.9
And actually, they are necessary because, like you said,
20:31.5
even if inflation seems to be lower than a year ago,
20:36.6
it does still mean that prices are rising and wages of working-class families
20:40.8
really aren't keeping up with the rising cost of living.
20:43.7
Sonny, I'm going to play devil's advocate here.
20:46.3
When you talk to businesses, and many of them are small, medium enterprises,
20:50.3
they're saying, we can't do that.
20:51.9
We cannot take that from profit.
20:53.4
We're going to lose money.
20:54.4
And end up closing or shutting down or just letting go of employees
20:57.8
and just preferring to not hire because it's easy to hire but very difficult to fire.
21:04.6
And they're saying, why do we have to carry the burden here?
21:08.4
I mean, everything else is so expensive, doing business in the Philippines.
21:11.7
Electricity, which is a big chunk of the cost, is so expensive here.
21:15.8
The cost of doing business is high.
21:17.5
And then there's corruption.
21:19.1
Raw materials, we don't have the strong supply chains and the logistics
21:21.9
to give us affordable.
21:24.4
And services, so everything adds up.
21:26.8
And we can no longer take this on, an additional wage hike.
21:30.4
That's what they're saying.
21:31.6
What do you say to that?
21:33.6
I think it would be good if they actually showed their figures.
21:37.3
Because like I said, Ibon has been attending the hearings in the House.
21:40.9
And it's very striking for us.
21:42.3
Whenever the workers speak, there are the numbers.
21:45.6
They do show the numbers about the affordability necessary for wage hike.
21:49.2
But when businesses present their case, it's usually a statement.
21:54.1
That is taken at face value.
21:56.0
So I think it's very hard.
21:57.8
I mean, we have like hundreds of thousands, over a million enterprises in the Philippines.
22:01.6
It is, of course, very hard to generalize across all of them.
22:04.4
But it's very, very striking for us.
22:06.0
Even in discussions like visual wage boards.
22:08.7
Why does it seem to be enough for an employer to say, we can't afford it?
22:11.6
For the government to say, okay, you can't afford it.
22:14.3
Our basic point is, if it is really unaffordable,
22:17.8
I think the employers should show their books.
22:22.5
And again, to be clear,
22:24.1
Ibon's computation is based on the annual survey of the Philippine business industry.
22:28.3
It's a survey of 38,000 firms.
22:30.7
The names of firms are suppressed.
22:32.7
So there's no getting internal information.
22:35.5
Using the biggest survey of establishments in the Philippines,
22:38.3
the latest survey in 2021,
22:40.3
it's like post-COVID, so they were just recovering.
22:42.7
For instance, the 100 peso wage hike proposed by the Senate,
22:47.0
even if applied across the board,
22:48.9
not just for minimum wage earners,
22:50.7
for micro enterprises, it's only prevalent to 7.9% of the world.
22:54.1
The profits for small enterprises, it's 7.6%.
22:57.9
For medium enterprises, even less, 6.7, also 6.7% for large.
23:02.6
So we would argue, again, it's very difficult to generalize across all firms,
23:07.4
but taking them collectively,
23:09.4
it does seem that they can afford much higher wage hikes than being passed right now
23:14.0
by the regional wage boards, hence the need to go to Congress.
23:18.3
We hope we could invite some of these employers to share their numbers.
23:23.8
I wanted to pull in the other graphics from Ybon Foundation
23:27.1
because we have some viewers who have been asking to see
23:29.7
the comparison between the minimum wage
23:32.3
and the family living wage per region, which you talked about earlier.
23:36.1
I think we can pull out that graphics now.
23:39.1
You actually listed down...
23:42.3
Okay, we're trying to pull in the graphics.
23:44.7
No, it's the other one.
23:49.8
Okay, anyways, you have a map of the Philippines
23:52.7
and you ranked it.
23:53.7
NCR car all the way to BARMM.
23:57.1
And really, the biggest gap, apparently, is in BARMM.
24:07.4
But that is crazy though, isn't it?
24:09.7
We looked at the family living wage in BARM in September 2008,
24:13.6
again, the last official figure with NWBC,
24:16.4
using a simple process of applying the inflation rate, the CPI, since 2008.
24:23.7
The family living wage in BARMM is almost Php 2,100.
24:27.9
Yet, they have the lowest minimum wage of about Php 361.
24:34.4
So I think it's...
24:36.3
But the thing is, I want to stress one thing.
24:38.7
If that chart, if you look at it,
24:40.7
most regions actually cluster around the Php 1,100 to Php 1,200 family living wage.
24:47.1
The outliers are just, I think, Region 8 and BARMM.
24:50.2
But taking out those two outliers,
24:52.9
I think this graph is important because it affirms that there is actually a basis for national minimum wage,
24:59.8
like we did have before 1989.
25:02.6
And the statements that conditions are so different between regions,
25:07.5
it tends to be exaggerated, again, apart from two or three outliers.
25:12.3
So I think it is important to get the national minimum wage.
25:15.4
Workers shouldn't have to be competing in the race to the bottom to be in the region with the highest wages.
25:22.1
And I think there is a strong case for right now, a national minimum wage.
25:26.3
And right now, pegging it at the family living wage, it's about Php 1,207 nationwide.
25:33.3
On that note, Sunny, pleasure to speak with you.
25:35.5
Thank you so much for humanizing, giving us the human side of these numbers that we talk about so often.
25:41.7
Thank you again for the time and the insights.
25:43.1
We'll see you soon.
25:46.6
Philippine Transport officials in talks with bus firm Victory Liner to establish an integrated exchange terminal
25:52.0
Philippine Transport officials in talks with bus firm Victory Liner to establish an integrated exchange terminal
25:52.0
Philippine Transport officials in talks with bus firm Victory Liner to establish an integrated exchange terminal
25:52.3
in northern Metro Manila similar to the Padanaque Integrated Terminal Exchange or PTEX.
25:57.6
Transport Secretary Jimmy Bautista says it's considering a public-private partnership model for that project,
26:04.4
which will be set up on the bus company's seven-hectare property.
26:09.1
Aside from this, the Bautista says the government is planning for a bigger project in
Taguig, this time with the Ayala Group.
26:19.0
In other news, the Metro Manila Council has just passed
26:22.0
Solution shifting work hours in government offices from the current 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the 8 to 5, that's moving a little bit earlier by an hour to 7 a.m. until 4 in the afternoon.
26:32.4
Of course, in the bid to ease road conditions during peak hours, that shift will take effect on April 15, that is next Monday.
26:40.6
The local government of Mountain Province urged to be cautious after a blacklisted firm almost bagged over 8 million pesos for an irrigation project.
26:54.5
A commission and audit report reveals two of the three small-scale irrigation projects in the province were originally awarded to ADL General Construction in August 2023.
27:05.7
But it was later discovered that the firm was included in the blacklist report of the Government Procurement Policy Board.
27:10.6
In the meantime, we're now showing you live footage from the Philippine Stock Exchange.
27:16.8
Counting down, let's listen in.
27:28.6
Congratulations once again to Double Dragon Corporation on celebrating 10 years as a publicly listed company.
27:36.4
Thank you to our on-site and virtual guests for joining us.
27:40.6
Congratulations to Double Dragon, 10 years as a listed company.
27:45.7
Of course, this celebration comes ahead of its listing on the NASDAQ later this year.
27:52.4
It just signed a merger deal with a SPAC company there to list on the NASDAQ, giving it a valuation of I think $2.3 billion.
28:02.9
That is not for Double Dragon.
28:04.6
That's Double Dragon's Hotel 101 subsidiary.
28:07.2
But for Double Dragon, for those who have been watching this,
28:10.6
over the last 10 years, we remember that it sold, its IPO was priced at 2 pesos per share.
28:19.2
The offer size was at 1.16 billion pesos, right at the maximum level considered by the property developer.
28:27.0
Of course, this is a joint venture between Mang Inasel founder, Edgar Injapsia, and Jolby Group founder, Tony Tangkaktyong.
28:35.1
And they're now considered among the country's property powerhouses,
28:38.3
given the strong demand for the office.
28:40.6
Again, it was a very strong IPO.
28:42.9
I remember oversubscribed.
28:45.5
They're saying it was four times, 14 times oversubscribed at that time.
28:51.3
Congratulations again.
28:53.4
Since then, you know, this partnership between Injapsia and Tony Tangkaktyong has blossomed into other ventures.
29:00.3
This celebration of their 10th year listing anniversary at the Philippine Stock Exchange
29:04.3
happening at a time or ahead of that listing for one of their subsidiaries, Hotel 101.
29:10.6
Global on the Nasdaq.
29:13.1
Now, here is a quick look at the other stories we're tracking in the newsroom today.
29:16.9
As we reported, President Marcos is now in Washington for that historic trilateral summit with the U.S. and Japan.
29:22.7
On the agenda today is a visit to the Philippine Embassy there,
29:26.9
a press conference with National Secretary Communications Advisor John Kirby,
29:31.3
and a visit to the Joint Base Andrews Airport.
29:33.9
Now, we're also covering COPE Thunder Philippines 2024.
29:37.0
That's the military exercises between the Philippines and the U.S.
29:40.5
armed forces happening at BASA Air Base in Florida, Blanca, Pampanga.
29:45.9
Happening within the hour, the USAID also holding a roundtable discussion
29:49.5
with NEDA and the Philippine Competition Commission over artificial intelligence.
29:54.8
While at 10 a.m., we already announced this, but they're officially releasing the numbers
29:59.2
and doing a press briefing for the Asian Development Bank release of the Asian Development Outlook for April 2024
30:05.7
where they're going to give their thoughts on forecasts and projections
30:09.7
for the Philippine economy.
30:10.5
Which we already announced, they actually lowered their growth forecast for this year
30:15.5
from 6.2% in their initial estimates to 6%.
30:18.7
But we are growing 6.2, but that's for next year, 2025.
30:23.1
For 10 o'clock, we're also expecting transport groups.
30:26.3
To all the press conferences, the consolidation deadline for the POV modernization program nears.
30:33.7
We are going on a quick break.
30:35.5
Coming up, the PSEI's opening numbers following that two-day holiday break
30:38.8
with Abby Chu of BSU.
30:40.5
We'll be right back.
30:59.6
You're still watching Market Edge.
31:01.4
The headlines, all eyes at the White House as leaders of the U.S., Japan, and the Philippines
31:06.4
meet for a historic trilateral summit.
31:10.5
Tokyo and Washington seem to invest at least $100 billion in the Philippines
31:17.2
over the next 5 to 10 years.
31:22.4
And three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniye killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip.
31:34.1
Philippine shares coming back online today after a two-day break,
31:37.2
getting their first chance to react belatedly
31:40.5
to the BSP's hawkish pause that came out after trading hours on Monday.
31:43.8
To be fair, it was expected.
31:45.9
The PSEI index kicking off from 67.41.
31:49.4
We were down less than a tenth of 1% for Friday.
31:53.6
Joining us this morning for more on the markets is Abby Chu.
31:56.1
She's head of research at BDO Securities.
31:59.4
Hi, Abby. Good morning.
32:01.3
Hi. Good morning, Mimi.
32:02.6
All right. Abby, just wanted to bring in the opening numbers,
32:05.5
the PSEI in the red from the get-go.
32:08.5
We're about nine minutes into trade.
32:10.1
The index is at $1.00.
32:10.7
The index is down right now by half of 1%.
32:12.7
36 points. We're at 67.05.
32:16.1
It looks like it's going to be a challenge to defend the 6,700 level.
32:20.3
Everybody's in the red except for three.
32:22.4
Some indices, mining and oil, which is up half a percent.
32:25.4
Services up by four-tenths.
32:27.4
And holding firms up by a tenth of 1%.
32:30.2
Of course, Abby, the big story today globally
32:33.5
is the hotter-than-expected March CPI print for the U.S.
32:37.3
rattling Wall Street.
32:38.4
Are you expecting big ripples here?
32:40.5
In Asia, the Philippines in particular,
32:42.9
or do you think there are other local factors moving the needle here?
32:48.8
Yes, market will certainly react to the number from the web
32:55.0
and will continue to monitor risks to the inflation outlook locally
32:59.5
given that the worries that El Nino and geopolitics
33:04.1
will continue to exert price pressures on key commodities
33:06.8
like rice and oil and delayed anticipated rate cuts.
33:10.5
From central banks.
33:12.0
And the concern is that prolonged periods of high inflation
33:15.1
and interest rates will somehow weaken consumption demand,
33:19.3
economic growth, and corporate earnings.
33:22.5
However, hopes of easing inflation in the second half
33:25.8
wherein central banks are largely expected
33:28.7
to start lowering borrowing costs
33:30.7
may help restore market sentiment for equities.
33:35.1
Additionally, Philippine GDP growth estimates of 5.5 to 6%
33:40.5
are still better than most economies
33:43.2
and this bodes well for Philippine stocks.
33:46.3
We also are looking ahead for earnings reports
33:49.8
in the subsequent quarters
33:51.1
which may help improve sentiment
33:53.5
as we expect most sectors to still deliver
33:56.9
double-digit earnings growth
33:58.3
especially for the conglomerates, property, consumer, and power sectors.
34:04.8
In fact, we recently raised our base case N2024 PSEC
34:10.5
I-Target to 7,300 from 7,000 previously
34:15.3
as we recalibrated our 2024 earnings growth estimate to 10.5
34:20.0
from 9.1% previously following the fourth quarter earnings season.
34:25.0
Alright, what are you seeing that made you upgrade
34:28.2
the corporate earnings average growth for this year
34:31.7
to 10.5 from just 9.1?
34:35.1
Yeah, so far we know that companies have been proactive
34:39.6
in mid-term earnings growth.
34:40.2
So, we're seeing that companies have been proactive
34:40.3
in mid-term earnings growth.
34:40.5
So, we're seeing that companies have been proactive
34:40.5
in mitigating the impact of high inflation and interest rates.
34:43.5
So, they have continued to innovate
34:45.4
and provide products and services
34:47.5
that are relevant to their target market
34:50.0
while also keeping expenses at manageable levels
34:53.6
in order to maintain profit margins.
34:56.1
So, they've been very creative
34:57.9
in terms of developing products or services
35:00.5
that they see where demand is.
35:04.4
You did talk about inflation easing,
35:08.6
expected to ease by,
35:12.6
I wanted to bring in the ADO,
35:15.0
Asian Development Bank Outlook report
35:18.5
for 2024 of April.
35:20.7
They're actually expecting inflation this year
35:25.0
at least the average inflation this year
35:26.7
to ease to 3.8% from 6% last year
35:30.9
and ease further to 3.4% to 2025.
35:36.8
when you also mentioned BSP earlier,
35:39.2
you're widely expecting it to ease by 3.8% this year.
35:40.1
The central banks are widely expected
35:41.9
to cut second half of this year.
35:43.2
How much are you pricing in?
35:44.5
How much do you think is the market pricing in?
35:47.0
Because Fitch Solutions Unit, BMI,
35:50.2
just said they're expecting still 75 basis point cuts
35:53.3
from the BSP starting the second half.
35:57.0
Yes, I think from what the governor mentioned
36:02.8
I think they're still looking at possible rate cuts
36:06.3
in the third quarter,
36:07.6
assuming inflation cooperates.
36:10.1
And we also have a view,
36:13.2
it's also consistent with our view
36:14.9
that rate cuts could possibly start in the third quarter.
36:18.7
How deep will the cuts be?
36:21.4
Yeah, we are also looking at
36:23.6
first 25 basis point cut
36:25.4
in the latter part of third quarter
36:27.5
and then possible two cuts follow up
36:30.9
in the fourth quarter.
36:32.1
Ah, so it's also a 75 basis point cut.
36:35.0
Assuming inflation cooperates.
36:37.1
That's a very big assumption.
36:40.1
So what is the winning strategy
36:42.3
for investors at this point?
36:45.1
Yes, I think for investors,
36:47.9
second quarter will really be volatile
36:50.9
and maybe looking to buy at dips for investors
36:55.5
and focus on companies that we think
36:58.5
are well positioned to benefit
37:02.5
from the potential uplift in consumption
37:05.0
and investments as inflation starts to come down.
37:10.1
And interest and investment starts to pick up
37:14.0
towards the latter part of the year.
37:17.3
So it's going to be a good year still.
37:19.4
I mean, you did upgrade your year-end forecast to 7-3.
37:24.2
I think we are now...
37:25.3
Okay, we do have one interesting corporate story.
37:28.6
This one is from Mondanician,
37:30.5
the maker of Skyflakes and Lucky Me.
37:32.5
They're saying that the Mondanician is reallocating
37:35.1
unused IPO proceeds from a few years back,
37:38.5
totaling $229 million.
37:40.1
To CapEx this year
37:42.3
for Asia-Pacific branded food and beverage segment.
37:46.8
you did say you're bullish on consumer products.
37:49.3
Given your outlook on inflation,
37:51.9
are you optimistic about consumer name
37:54.6
such as Mondanician?
37:57.7
Yes, I think the general view
37:59.4
is still for input costs to continue going down.
38:04.0
And this is positive for the margins
38:05.9
for consumer names
38:06.9
and also translates to stronger earnings.
38:10.1
So I think that they are allocating CapEx
38:13.5
to prepare for the anticipated increase in demand
38:18.0
so they'll be able to support the growth in their businesses.
38:24.4
And hopefully, they did not hedge when prices were high
38:28.3
because that was their problem.
38:30.6
I think a few quarters ago,
38:32.4
they locked in the prices of commodities as high prices.
38:35.5
So when the commodities started to go down,
38:37.4
they were trapped in the high price range.
38:39.8
I think we're now ready for your blind item.
38:42.5
Abby, what do you have for us today?
38:44.5
This is a stock that you're watching closely
38:46.2
and that you like.
38:50.0
So this company's share price
38:51.9
has started to recover in April,
38:54.5
likely on prospects for higher power demand
38:57.6
and spot prices during the summer months.
39:00.3
We are also optimistic with regards
39:02.6
to the sustained expansion of its power portfolio
39:06.1
as the industry aims to increase,
39:09.8
renewable energy capacity.
39:12.2
The group also announced plans
39:13.8
to venture into cleaner fuels
39:15.8
through a joint venture with a power distributor.
39:19.1
So the stock also remains undervalued.
39:21.8
I think it's trading at 7.6 times forward PE
39:26.6
or forward price to earnings
39:28.3
versus the 10 times sector average.
39:31.6
And I think only 10.4 times for the PSEI index.
39:36.1
We're just going to have to guess which stock this is.
39:38.9
Abby, pleasure speaking.
39:39.8
Thank you so much for joining us today
39:41.6
and for the insights.
39:46.6
Now, moving on to other news,
39:48.3
the Supreme Court upholds the arbitral ruling
39:50.7
ordering Camp John Hay Development Corporation
39:53.0
to vacate a portion of the John Hay Special Economic Zone
39:57.4
at least from the Basis Conversion Development Authority.
40:00.5
In effect, Camp John Hay Development
40:02.5
is ordered to return to BCDA
40:04.6
the 247 hectare lease property
40:07.6
together with all improvements made
40:09.5
to the PSEI index.
40:09.8
Well, BCDA in turn must refund to Camp John Hay
40:13.5
its total rent paid amounting to 1.4 billion pesos.
40:17.4
It was the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center
40:19.3
Arbitral Tribunal that had found
40:21.3
that both Camp John Hay and the BCDA
40:23.2
were guilty of breaches of their obligations
40:26.0
under their lease agreement
40:27.3
which warranted its mutual rescission.
40:33.4
Singapore-based startup HydroLeap
40:35.6
vows to revolutionize wastewater treatment
40:37.6
in the Philippines.
40:38.9
HydroLeap recently announced that it will be able to
40:39.7
deploy advanced water treatment solutions
40:44.2
across various industries in the country.
40:47.0
The company claims its electrochemical techniques
40:49.5
can reduce up to 95% pollutants
40:52.2
present in industrial wastewater.
40:56.4
Existing state of art of the wastewater treatment
40:59.7
is pretty much conventional.
41:01.8
Like, it's the same technology as 50 years ago,
41:05.4
It makes it really difficult to make
41:09.7
it happen to be able to, you know,
41:12.8
bring that water back to the cycles.
41:14.8
So either a lot of companies,
41:16.3
they try to go around it
41:17.9
or discharge the wastewater to the rivers,
41:20.2
to the sea, which is currently you see
41:21.7
in a lot of even areas of the Philippines
41:23.6
or how much environmental impact that has.
41:26.1
So basically what we do,
41:27.7
we have come up with this,
41:29.5
which you can see correctly in the video as well.
41:31.9
We have come up with this very modularized
41:33.9
electrolysis basis technology
41:36.3
which does not use chemicals
41:38.0
and it uses a very,
41:39.7
very small amount of electricity, you're making
41:41.8
the wastewater treatment much more smaller
41:43.8
and also you're making it
41:47.5
So with that, we make it more
41:56.6
Non-profit organization
41:58.3
GoNegosyo aims to expand
41:59.9
its Youthpreneur program
42:01.3
to reach more students across the Philippines.
42:04.1
Its founder, Joey Concepcion, made this
42:05.8
remark following a successful
42:07.9
Youthpreneur event at a school in Pasig City
42:10.2
where about a thousand students
42:12.0
and 50 mentors participated.
42:14.0
The program aims to equip learners
42:16.0
with the various skills necessary
42:18.1
to start a business. This initiative
42:20.1
is part of efforts to boost the Philippines'
42:22.1
small and medium-sized enterprises
42:26.7
Hindi lang pang-summer
42:28.2
itong programa ng Youthpreneur.
42:29.8
It's gonna happen annually, no?
42:31.4
And we are going to reach as many
42:33.7
schools as possible. Kaya yung
42:35.7
DepEd dito, ang malaking bagay
42:37.9
sa pag-really putting
42:40.0
us, you know, we're bringing the private
42:43.7
ngayon, on top of private sector
42:46.2
helping micro-small and medium enterprises,
42:48.6
now the private sector is
42:50.0
going to help yung mga
42:51.4
high school students,
42:57.7
thinking on how to
42:59.9
have an entrepreneurial mindset.
43:05.3
And entrepreneurs, taxpayers,
43:07.9
there are five days left before
43:09.9
the deadline to file and pay your annual income
43:11.8
tax returns. The Bureau of Internal Revenue
43:14.1
reminds the public the filing of tax
43:15.9
returns for 2023 should be
43:17.9
done electronically
43:19.2
through BIR forms or
43:21.8
EFPS downloadable through the BIR
43:23.8
website, while manual filing
43:25.9
will be allowed only if
43:27.6
the electronic platforms are not available
43:30.1
and for a certain group of taxpayers
43:33.8
citizens or persons with disabilities.
43:36.3
The BIR has set a
43:37.9
target of 3 trillion pesos
43:43.5
Now, over the past few weeks, there has been a search
43:45.9
in viral deepfake videos featuring
43:47.8
prominent TV personalities
43:49.2
raising the question of whom or what
43:52.1
we should be trusting online.
43:54.0
In this report by Andrea Taguinas,
43:56.0
an AI expert provides insights
43:57.7
into identifying signs
43:59.4
of video manipulation. Take a look.
44:03.5
Magandang morning,
44:05.8
and welcome to Sato.
44:07.9
Karinay ko yung hormone balance
44:09.5
and it's actually doing great sa akin
44:11.4
kasi nawala yung hot flashes.
44:13.9
Kapamilya host Amie Perez
44:15.5
joins a string of Filipino TV personalities
44:17.8
that have been used for deep fakes
44:20.0
or videos manipulated
44:21.5
with the use of artificial intelligence
44:23.3
or AI. In a sponsored
44:25.6
post on Facebook, Perez is made
44:27.6
to appear as if she's endorsing a drug
44:29.4
for women dealing with menopause.
44:31.5
Nag-appear siya sa feed
44:33.2
ng isang kaibigan ko. Pinadala niya
44:35.5
yung link sa akin, tapos sabi niya,
44:37.9
Mars, ikaw ba to? Talaga akong pinakinga ko.
44:40.3
Ay, parang boses ko talaga.
44:42.4
Ang galing, di ba? Pero
44:43.8
sobrang nakakatakot.
44:48.1
was a real interview from Perez'
44:49.8
previous morning show on DZMM Teleradio
44:52.1
but was edited towards the end.
44:54.6
Perez asserts, neither
44:55.9
she nor the doctor she spoke with
44:57.9
had mentioned any product during their
44:59.8
whole exchange. The said drug
45:02.0
called hormone balance is not
45:03.7
actually registered with the Food and Drug
45:05.6
Administration. That's why Perez'
45:07.9
warns her followers against buying it.
45:10.0
Hindi ko tinitake yung gamot na yun
45:11.9
ever. Ang nakakalungkot doon,
45:13.9
ang daming babaeng nag-comment na
45:15.7
puro tinatanong nila magkano
45:18.1
yung produkto. An AI
45:20.0
expert points out, the splicing of
45:22.0
the video is one of the telltale signs
45:23.8
that it's fake. There are also parts
45:25.9
where the movements of the speaker's lips are
45:27.8
not in sync with the audio track.
45:30.2
Parang siyang dinub. In fact, that was
45:31.9
where this technology started for
45:33.9
dubbing purposes to make the dubbed
45:35.9
videos more natural.
45:37.9
According to Ligot, there are also times
45:39.9
when scammers just loop one clip
45:41.7
over and over. Parang paulit-ulit
45:43.7
yung ulo niya in the same direction.
45:46.2
That's another known tactic.
45:48.0
Kunyari, yung video clip mo is only three
45:49.7
seconds, pero yung audio
45:51.6
clip mo is maybe half
45:53.6
a minute. Paulit-ulit lang
45:55.9
yung galaw. Filipinos can also
45:57.7
catch deep fakes by listening for weird
45:59.6
pronunciation of words or intonation.
46:02.4
Kunyari, pesos becomes
46:03.6
pesos kasi nga these
46:05.6
technologies were developed in
46:07.7
English. But as AI
46:09.7
technology evolves, Ligot said
46:11.8
it will only get harder to distinguish
46:13.5
edited videos from real ones.
46:17.1
Kailangan kinikilatis mo. Ano bang narinig ko? Totoo ba yan?
46:20.0
And we have to adopt
46:21.7
yung mas skeptical na
46:23.6
attitude. Usually, yung mga common
46:25.5
parang ano dyan eh, mga
46:27.5
common uses dyan. Either it's a political
46:29.7
message or may binibenta
46:31.9
like hard selling. You should
46:33.6
automatically parang ano,
46:37.7
Ligot also encouraged the public to report
46:39.5
such videos to social media sites,
46:41.7
to authorities, and to the person
46:43.4
being impersonated. And instead of
46:45.5
believing online ads, the Department
46:47.5
of Health said it's always better to consult
46:49.6
with a doctor for their medical concerns.
46:52.3
In a statement, DOH
46:53.4
Secretary Ted Herbosa said his agency
46:55.6
will continue to file cases against online
46:57.6
pages, making use of the DOH
46:59.6
and FDA logos to trick people.
47:07.7
Just recently, the videos of some
47:17.4
ABS-CBN journalists and anchors
47:19.3
were also manipulated to look like
47:21.5
they were endorsing a slimming treatment.
47:23.6
Andrea Taguines, ABS-CBN News.
47:25.8
Good morning, Ms. Amie.
47:28.4
Time now to zip through the top
47:29.9
headlines from major business papers from
47:31.7
business world, Makoto Chuchia,
47:34.1
an economist at Oxford Economics
47:35.7
believes the Philippines' lowered economic
47:37.7
growth target is still optimistic.
47:40.7
He notes the downgrade brought the
47:42.0
target to a more plausible range
47:43.9
considering headwinds including
47:45.9
high inflation and slowing global economy.
47:48.3
Last week, Philippine economic managers
47:50.2
revised lower the GDP target
47:52.1
range for this year to 6 to 7 percent
47:54.5
from the initial 6.5 to 7.5 percent.
47:58.2
From Business Mirror,
47:59.6
the Philippine Bureau of Treasury says
48:01.0
revenues raised by the privatization
48:02.9
in management units rose to a total
48:05.0
of 231 million pesos
48:07.2
between January and February this year.
48:10.1
That's nearly 10 times
48:11.4
what it collected in the same period last year.
48:14.6
And from the Philippine Daily Inquirer,
48:17.3
Philippine authorities are
48:18.1
retrieving more than 5.5 million pesos
48:20.2
in cash and 25,200 pesos
48:22.9
worth of foreign currencies
48:24.0
from vaults that they opened
48:25.9
in several buildings of a
48:27.8
Philippine offshore gaming operator
48:29.8
or POGO in Bambantarlac
48:32.1
during raids done on Monday
48:37.2
Now, here's a quick look
48:38.4
at the flash business headlines
48:40.2
Apple supplier Foxconn
48:41.6
said to be considering introducing
48:43.4
a rotating chief executive system
48:45.4
in a major overhaul
48:47.2
of its management structure
48:48.3
that's supposed to help it grow
48:50.1
future talent, promote teamwork,
48:51.9
and prevent leadership
48:53.2
from becoming entrenched.
48:54.6
Sources say the plan is
48:56.4
response to investors' calls
48:58.0
to boost corporate governance
48:59.2
by separating the role of chief executive
49:01.4
from the chairman.
49:03.9
the U.S. Department of Justice
49:05.0
has reportedly opened
49:11.7
takeover of U.S. Steel.
49:14.0
The deal has faced
49:14.7
a lot of scrutiny
49:15.4
over national security concerns
49:17.2
with President Joe Biden
49:18.5
himself saying last month
49:19.9
that U.S. Steel must remain
49:22.0
an American steel company
49:23.3
that is domestically owned
49:27.5
here is a deal that's getting
49:28.4
a lot of support.
49:29.2
U.S. President Joe Biden
49:30.1
and Japanese Prime Minister
49:32.4
pledging to intensify
49:33.6
efforts to harness
49:34.7
the power of the wind
49:38.9
to liquefied natural gas
49:42.6
the Biden administration's
49:44.7
to suspend the approval
49:46.7
to export U.S. LNG
49:49.5
how these shipments
49:50.5
impact climate change
49:52.1
surprised Japan's
49:55.9
former U.S. President
49:58.6
on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index
50:00.2
which is a daily ranking
50:02.8
500 richest people.
50:08.8
his social media company
50:14.7
down more than 50%
50:17.1
and debut in March.
50:19.3
Trump's net worth
50:21.5
as of Wednesday afternoon
50:29.5
though not inside
50:33.0
Dahlia and Wanda Group
50:34.1
has agreed to sell
50:37.9
to Lionheart Capital.
50:41.0
to British regulatory approval
50:42.3
is poised to close
50:48.6
who tried to guess
51:01.7
as you try to beat
51:06.2
do less if you got that
51:09.2
that's it for the show
51:10.1
I'm Michelle Long
51:10.8
thank you so much
51:12.0
stay safe and stay
