00:26.3
This is the stock's biggest one-day decline
00:28.3
since October 2022.
00:30.6
Also in focus, shares of memory chip maker Micron Technology.
00:34.5
U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to announce
00:37.0
a preliminary deal with the company
00:38.9
for over $6 billion in subsidies
00:41.5
for two chip factories in New York.
00:44.1
Micron shares are up 0.5% before the bell.
00:47.0
We're also keeping a close watch on shares of Barclays
00:49.8
as the bank swings back to profit in the first quarter
00:52.7
amid a major strategic overhaul.
00:55.5
Shares of the British lender are trading higher by 6%.
01:00.0
Meanwhile, Asian markets ended Thursday trade
01:02.6
mostly lower as tech stocks slumped
01:05.0
following Meta's weak guidance.
01:07.5
Japan's CK225 tumbled more than 2%
01:10.1
while South Korea's KOSPI index fell 1.7%.
01:14.5
Here at home, the local bores closed flat,
01:17.7
barely managing to extend its winning streak
01:23.9
We're currently seeing a crucial support,
01:27.4
I guess, at 6,400.
01:30.0
And I think what the market is trying to do right now
01:33.5
is that it's trying to establish an oversold rally,
01:37.5
hopefully moving the index away
01:40.6
from its grossly oversold levels.
01:44.1
Afterwards, perhaps there could be another dip,
01:48.4
but we think that, or we're hoping to see
01:51.1
it establish a stronger base
01:53.5
from which it can rally once again
01:55.6
towards, I guess, its resistance.
02:00.0
To currencies now,
02:01.3
an intervention in the Japanese yen
02:03.1
expected on Thursday
02:04.2
following the Bank of Japan's policy meeting.
02:07.1
This is as the Tokyo currency
02:09.6
weakened past the key 155 level to the US dollar
02:13.9
to hit a fresh 34-year low.
02:17.3
As for the Philippine peso,
02:18.7
it also depreciated against the greenback,
02:20.9
closing at 57.78,
02:23.5
down for a second day.
02:25.8
The Philippine central bank reiterates
02:27.3
its case of the dollar's strength,
02:30.0
rather than the peso's weakness.
02:32.5
It adds it stands ready to take action
02:34.7
to contain excessive currency volatility.
02:39.9
Here are some local corporate headlines.
02:42.0
The Konsunji Group now venturing
02:43.5
into the cement industry.
02:45.2
That's after DMCI, Dacon Corporation,
02:47.7
and Semirata signed a share purchase agreement
02:49.9
to acquire the local subsidiary
02:51.8
of Mexican cement giant, Cemex.
02:54.3
DMCI will have a 56.7% stake
02:57.7
in Cemex Asian Southeast,
02:59.5
while DMCI will have a 56.7% stake
02:60.0
while its unit, Semirata,
03:01.4
will purchase 11% of Cemex shares.
03:04.0
The remaining stake will go to Dacon.
03:06.0
The purchase price, $305 million.
03:09.1
The sale is expected to close this year,
03:11.2
subject to approvals from regulators
03:12.9
and Cemex minority shareholders.
03:15.1
The news had investors excited
03:17.4
with Cemex shares surging 15%
03:19.7
in Thursday trade.
03:21.8
Meanwhile, Ayala Land
03:23.1
secures shareholders' approval
03:24.6
for its planned merger
03:25.8
with 34 subsidiaries.
03:27.7
The move aims to simplify
03:30.0
which the property developer hopes
03:31.9
will lead to operational synergies
03:34.0
and efficient fund management.
03:36.3
Ayala Land's plan of merger
03:38.3
is now with the Securities and Exchange Commission
03:40.4
and is expected to be approved
03:44.5
And finally, Bell Corporation
03:48.4
in its first quarter bottom line this year.
03:50.8
The developer cites a decrease
03:52.2
in revenues, specifically from the
03:54.1
City of Dreams, Manila,
03:55.5
by its unit premium leasure.
03:58.7
Bell Corporation previously
03:59.5
set a tender offer
04:02.0
which ended Wednesday
04:03.0
to buy out PLC's minority shares
04:05.8
to delist it from the local bourse.
04:09.0
The Philippines has welcomed
04:10.8
2 million international visits
04:12.6
so far this year.
04:13.9
The tourism department said
04:15.4
as of March 31st,
04:17.3
nearly 1.9 million foreign tourists
04:20.2
and over 100,000 overseas Filipinos
04:23.1
entered the country.
04:24.4
That's 15% higher
04:26.0
than the international arrivals
04:27.7
recorded in the same period.
04:30.5
tourism receipts hit
04:32.2
157.6 billion pesos
04:37.9
that's around 27 billion pesos
04:40.0
higher than in the same period
04:42.0
in 2019 or the year before
04:44.0
the pandemic lockdown.
04:46.3
South Korea remains the Philippines'
04:47.9
top source of visitors
04:49.0
followed by the US, China, Japan
04:53.0
The tourism department aims to welcome
04:54.9
7.7 million international visitors this year.
04:59.5
A new study by the International Labor Organization
05:03.1
found over 2.4 billion workers
05:06.4
are likely to be exposed
05:08.0
to excessive heat.
05:09.8
ILO says this leaves workers
05:11.8
vulnerable to developing
05:14.3
such as skin cancer
05:15.8
and respiratory illnesses.
05:17.8
The agency urges companies
05:22.7
It's critical that
05:25.2
risk and hazard assessments
05:27.6
be taken seriously
05:29.5
at the enterprise level.
05:32.1
it shouldn't just stop
05:33.1
at paper compliance.
05:34.7
It's required under the current laws
05:36.3
but what's important is that
05:38.1
it's taken seriously by
05:39.8
employers and workers
05:42.0
within the enterprise
05:43.9
as part of business
05:45.7
risk mitigation measures.
05:49.5
Beijing insists it adheres
05:51.8
to international market principles
05:53.5
after visiting US Secretary of State
05:55.4
Antony Blinken urged China
05:57.2
to provide a level playing field
05:59.5
for American businesses.
06:01.6
Blinken arrived in Shanghai Wednesday
06:03.5
and raised concerns about fair trade
06:05.8
during talks with local government officials.
06:08.5
He will be meeting with his counterpart
06:10.3
Foreign Minister Wang Yi
06:12.0
and possibly President Xi Jinping
06:19.5
China has always carried out
06:21.7
economic and trade cooperation
06:23.5
in accordance with the principles
06:25.8
and has always been firmly supportive
06:27.9
of the multilateral
06:30.2
and fully implements
06:32.2
World Trade Organization.
06:33.8
We hope that the US side
06:35.3
will respect the principle
06:36.4
of fair competition,
06:37.7
abide by WTO rules
06:39.4
and work with China
06:40.7
to create favorable conditions
06:43.5
and steady development
06:44.6
of China-US economic
06:46.4
and trade relations.
06:51.6
We're taking a quick break.
06:53.9
we talk to the country's
06:54.9
first equity crowdfunding platform
06:57.5
when Business Outlook with
07:08.6
the country's first equity
07:09.7
crowdfunding platform,
07:13.5
Managed and operated
07:14.3
by stock brokerage firm
07:15.6
Eastern Securities,
07:17.5
Round 1 aims to provide
07:18.6
a holistic solution
07:19.8
for entrepreneurs
07:21.5
and receive expert mentorship.
07:25.2
Joining us tonight
07:26.3
to talk about the state
07:27.3
of crowdfunding in the country
07:29.0
we have Business Unit Lead
07:31.0
and Marketing Head
07:32.0
Charmaine Cabanquia.
07:33.0
Thank you so much
07:34.0
for joining us tonight.
07:35.0
Thank you for having us here today.
07:36.0
Thank you for having us.
07:37.0
Wait, so tell us about
07:38.0
how you're doing.
07:39.0
It's one year and a half
07:40.0
since you launched.
07:41.0
I know that it was a big event.
07:42.0
I read the news articles about it.
07:43.0
You had a lot of people
07:46.0
some very big business people.
07:47.0
What has happened
07:48.0
since you launched?
07:49.0
I know that it was
07:51.0
I read the news articles
07:53.0
You had a lot of people
07:56.0
some very big business people.
07:57.0
What has happened?
07:58.0
What has happened?
08:00.0
how has the platform grown?
08:02.0
have already raised funding?
08:04.0
So that was actually
08:05.0
more of an official launch for us.
08:08.0
It's not a grand launch
08:09.0
because we just got our license
08:11.0
and we just really want
08:12.0
to put ourselves out there.
08:13.0
And our focus was mostly
08:16.0
on finding prospective fundraisers
08:19.0
who really needed the help
08:20.0
of other financial institutions
08:23.0
and we offered ourselves
08:25.0
as one of the alternatives for them.
08:30.0
the year after that,
08:31.0
we focused on partnering
08:32.0
with different accelerators and incubators,
08:35.0
participating in the startup week
08:37.0
and just understanding
08:40.0
the ecosystem basically.
08:42.0
So we were quite fortunate
08:44.0
to have our very first
08:45.0
successful fundraiser
08:47.0
that succeeded his campaign
08:49.0
at the end of 2023,
08:52.0
And it really shows that
08:55.0
even though it's early
08:57.0
somebody could actually
09:01.0
we also learned a lot
09:02.0
from interacting with the people
09:04.0
that really needed a solution like this.
09:06.0
So on the technology side,
09:08.0
I'm really happy to say
09:09.0
that we're going to be launching
09:11.0
our second version
09:12.0
of the platform very soon.
09:15.0
you put something out there
09:16.0
and there's so much to still learn
09:18.0
and that's always a process
09:19.0
that never stops.
09:21.0
So on the technology side,
09:24.0
we've again implemented
09:25.0
a lot of interesting
09:26.0
sort of quality of life features.
09:27.0
On the ecosystem partnership side,
09:32.0
you learn a lot from the people
09:36.0
you hear exactly from them
09:37.0
what their needs are,
09:39.0
what their challenges are.
09:40.0
And our job is to maybe marry
09:42.0
what is already out there
09:44.0
in terms of people
09:45.0
that are helping,
09:46.0
people that want to assist entrepreneurs
09:48.0
and getting that kind of resource
09:49.0
to the entrepreneur themselves.
09:51.0
Before we talk about their challenges,
09:53.0
I want to ask about your challenges.
09:56.0
What have been the growing pains,
09:59.0
major problems so far as well?
10:01.0
It's really because we are the first.
10:04.0
So it's a market that doesn't even know
10:08.0
and know that they need us.
10:09.0
So that was the biggest challenge.
10:10.0
I love how it's always the women.
10:12.0
When you ask them about challenges,
10:17.0
So you're talking about this,
10:20.0
So it's getting the word out there
10:23.0
and that even at Pre-Seed,
10:25.0
as you talked about earlier,
10:27.0
you don't have the proof of concept yet.
10:29.0
It's not yet a running business.
10:31.0
You can actually raise money
10:35.0
who would like to own part of the business
10:37.0
or I think in your platform,
10:39.0
you could also borrow money
10:41.0
in the form of bonds.
10:46.0
Aside from equity,
10:48.0
fundraisers can also issue debt securities,
10:52.0
convertible note securities,
10:54.0
different kinds of securities that are allowed
10:56.0
under law and regulations here.
11:00.0
One of the challenges
11:01.0
really is sometimes demystifying it.
11:03.0
I mean, you could be a business owner
11:05.0
and never have to put yourself,
11:07.0
let's say, in an investor's shoes.
11:09.0
What are they looking for?
11:10.0
What are the things that they want to hear
11:12.0
in terms of the business itself?
11:16.0
I think one of the misconceptions is that
11:18.0
do investors only want to hear good news?
11:20.0
I don't think that's necessarily true.
11:22.0
Investors want to know
11:23.0
what the real score is
11:25.0
so that they can plan,
11:26.0
they can risk manage.
11:28.0
I wouldn't say it's a challenge,
11:29.0
but it's helping people open up their eyes
11:32.0
about what the investment world is like
11:35.0
and how to speak to investors directly,
11:38.0
how to identify investors that you can speak to
11:40.0
who will support you
11:41.0
because you can't be everything to everybody.
11:44.0
So how do you go about talking to people
11:47.0
about how crowdfunding here in the country
11:51.0
will be able to help startups?
11:53.0
It would need some,
11:55.0
they're putting themselves out there.
11:58.0
You have to teach people,
11:59.0
you have to talk to people.
12:00.0
How are you going,
12:01.0
how are you doing that right now?
12:03.0
So we actually go to a lot of ecosystem partners
12:07.0
that we've identified so far.
12:09.0
So they're either potential sources of fundraisers
12:12.0
or sources of investors.
12:14.0
And what we've noticed is
12:15.0
you have to educate both the fundraisers and investors
12:19.0
because in order to create this ecosystem
12:22.0
that sort of supports each other,
12:25.0
you need to empower both
12:27.0
and you have to teach them
12:28.0
how to become better business owners at the same time.
12:31.0
Better business owners,
12:33.0
have good corporate governance,
12:35.0
and then you can attract the good investors
12:38.0
to invest in your company.
12:40.0
And for the investors,
12:42.0
we want to teach them to know their rights and responsibilities.
12:45.0
You don't just invest in the next person that comes to you.
12:48.0
I can imagine how difficult the conversation is.
12:51.0
And you launched at a time where private equity
12:56.0
and angel investors,
12:57.0
the funding in that area was drying out.
13:01.0
With what happened I think to Silicon Valley Bank
13:04.0
and sort of the climate of investment in the world too.
13:07.0
I think that is part of the context as well.
13:11.0
And just generally people not taking risks like they used to.
13:18.0
I think that's why people turn to SMAs and SMAs.
13:21.0
Because the growth and the dynamism is there.
13:24.0
They provide so many jobs.
13:27.0
They provide essential services.
13:29.0
And so I wouldn't say recession-proof by any means.
13:32.0
They're also very sensitive to that.
13:35.0
But they are the drivers of innovation
13:39.0
when things like that happen as well.
13:41.0
We can't forget that they do that.
13:43.0
And I really think that support is very necessary.
13:46.0
Charmaine, you mentioned a while ago
13:48.0
that you were able to successfully help
13:52.0
Will you be able to tell us the story of that?
13:56.0
His business is actually in bike sharing.
14:00.0
Very interesting because, again, it's pre-seed.
14:03.0
So meaning he has no proof of concept yet.
14:05.0
And this is a guy who used to work with the government,
14:09.0
was in corporate,
14:10.0
and was an OFW who came back to the Philippines.
14:13.0
So he got all his learnings
14:15.0
and came up with this business
14:17.0
that solved a pain point in Africa.
14:20.0
In fact, a part of his life.
14:21.0
When he was trying to move around in the university,
14:25.0
this is hard because, you know,
14:27.0
again, he came from UP and he was like,
14:29.0
you have to walk and global warming.
14:33.0
You have to walk or ikot or talkie
14:35.0
and sometimes there's none.
14:38.0
So he wanted to fundraise
14:40.0
because he wanted to have his first pilot in UP Los Banos.
14:44.0
And he actually had different sources of fundraise.
14:48.0
He did a private race.
14:49.0
He did a bank loan.
14:51.0
And crowdfunding was just another angle.
14:53.0
How much did he raise?
14:54.0
He raised 2.1 million pesos from 25 investors.
14:58.0
How is he doing now?
14:59.0
Oh, he actually...
15:01.0
He's going around.
15:02.0
He's going around in the bike.
15:05.0
He actually bagged a new contract.
15:09.0
I don't think we can discuss it.
15:11.0
But, I mean, I think that's the power of the platform, right?
15:14.0
You put your story out there.
15:16.0
And I think statistics show, right?
15:18.0
Like for crowdfunders who are successful,
15:20.0
for every dollar they raise,
15:21.0
they can attract $4 in private equity.
15:24.0
So consider it as sort of a stage to advertise what they're doing.
15:28.0
So I guess someone took notice and, you know,
15:31.0
wanted to give it a shot.
15:32.0
Maybe we can have him here sometime soon.
15:34.0
I think that would be very interesting.
15:36.0
I think also the challenge is the language.
15:39.0
Filipinos were not born with slides or decks.
15:43.0
And we don't know the business of language.
15:46.0
At the same time, on the investor side,
15:47.0
sometimes there are expectations that are just too wild.
15:51.0
With the way Filipinos think about risk
15:54.0
and how much return you will get to compensate you for that risk,
15:59.0
I don't know if this is something that you have seen in the sector.
16:03.0
But actually, my question is,
16:05.0
how much is the total addressable market of crowdfunding again in the Philippines?
16:10.0
So when you look at how many SMEs are out there, right?
16:14.0
We're talking a million strong in this...
16:17.0
by last count, right?
16:19.0
A third of the GDP of the Philippines.
16:21.0
And based off of what we've seen talking to fundraisers,
16:26.0
imagine an average size only of maybe 500,000 pesos to a million pesos
16:32.0
for an SME's growth and capital expenditure.
16:37.0
You're looking at 500 billion to a trillion pesos in funding requirements, right?
16:43.0
And the banks are not willing to give this to them?
16:46.0
The banks are doing what they can, I think,
16:49.0
based off of many sort of challenges in the market as well.
16:53.0
That's why alternatives should exist, right?
16:58.0
That's why the stock market exists.
17:00.0
If we just rely on banks, large commercial banks,
17:04.0
then there's just not enough capacity for that.
17:08.0
So that's why you have vibrant alternative exchanges.
17:11.0
That's why countries have more than one stock exchange.
17:15.0
in all fairness to banks, right?
17:17.0
This is where the equity part of your sort of debt-to-equity ratio comes in, right?
17:21.0
It's capital markets.
17:23.0
Charmaine, what do you think should happen
17:28.0
to change how crowdfunding works and is accepted and used here in the country?
17:35.0
For me, it always has to start with the entrepreneur.
17:38.0
Because, you know, we've spoken to almost, I think, 400, 300, 400 entrepreneurs
17:43.0
at varying stages.
17:44.0
Some of them are more ready than others, obviously,
17:46.0
in different industries, different sectors.
17:49.0
And it's always the same.
17:51.0
It's like, are you ready to fundraise?
17:54.0
How are you with your housekeeping?
17:58.0
And who is your addressable market?
18:01.0
What is your business strategy?
18:03.0
How do you plan to grow?
18:04.0
Where will you be three to five years from now?
18:06.0
And what are you doing right now to gain the trust of your investors, basically?
18:12.0
And if someone has this,
18:14.0
this idea and wants to talk to round one about this,
18:18.0
you mentioned something about a mentorship program.
18:21.0
But that early, are you willing or are you going to help them out
18:25.0
with those things that you mentioned?
18:27.0
Well, we work with community partners because we're just a platform.
18:32.0
We're not really supposed to do that.
18:34.0
But yeah, we work closely with them.
18:36.0
We participate in talks.
18:38.0
We've been with SEC on a national roadshow every month.
18:42.0
Yeah, I see that.
18:43.0
And you talk about what's the level of interest?
18:49.0
It really varies.
18:50.0
Different regions have different needs.
18:53.0
Like we've seen a much more mature crowd.
18:56.0
We've seen a more agri-oriented crowd,
18:59.0
like a more different sectors.
19:01.0
So we just adjust our discussion as we do it.
19:05.0
And then we'd have a consultation at the end of the session.
19:08.0
I remember when I was covering crowdfunding was not yet approved.
19:12.0
I think this is one of the youngest regulatory hurdles
19:20.0
that was already addressed by the SEC.
19:24.0
And so now it's slowly starting to grow.
19:26.0
What do you think is the future of it after the seed-in problem?
19:31.0
Which I suppose, how are you affected by that?
19:35.0
That's where women, you know.
19:44.0
I think no matter what the rough patches are in the industry,
19:50.0
in the global economy,
19:52.0
the demand for what we offer as a service
19:55.0
will continue to grow with or without us.
19:57.0
So that's the future that I see.
20:00.0
So yes, there'll always be bad actors in that sense.
20:03.0
But those with staying power, we hope,
20:06.0
can learn from those mistakes, learn from those issues
20:09.0
and continue to stay stalwart in the way they service customers.
20:13.0
And openness, transparency.
20:15.0
I mean, you know, these aren't just buzzwords in the industry as well.
20:18.0
So I still see growth coming.
20:20.0
I still see demand happening no matter what.
20:22.0
I think there is just a more push for regulations as well.
20:27.0
That usually is what happens when, you know, incidents like this occur.
20:33.0
The industry tends to come back stronger, right?
20:36.0
I mean, no matter how bad things get.
20:38.0
I mean, consider market crashes.
20:40.0
Consider how regulations have evolved from that.
20:43.0
And the same is true for many industries as well.
20:45.0
So that's welcomed because at the end of the day,
20:48.0
we want investors to trust the institutions that they deal with, right?
20:52.0
And, you know, you can say that you're doing X, Y, Z in a business,
20:55.0
but you can't expect everyone to take your word for it.
20:58.0
So they look to regulators to ensure that there is something
21:02.0
like a watchdog, that there is someone watching out for them too.
21:06.0
So investor protections that the government puts in place
21:09.0
and publicizing them and educating individuals,
21:12.0
I think will happen.
21:14.0
It has to happen.
21:15.0
And at the end of the day, it just builds a stronger industry.
21:17.0
Oh, I'd like to add.
21:19.0
So crowdfunding is actually a way to do crowd due diligence
21:24.0
because it's like putting yourself...
21:26.0
You're technically a public person.
21:28.0
You put yourself on a platform and say,
21:30.0
Hey, I'm fundraising.
21:31.0
And everyone's there to openly say,
21:34.0
I don't like your business model or you haven't paid me maybe in the last month.
21:38.0
Or an ex-girlfriend.
21:39.0
Or an ex-girlfriend.
21:42.0
So be careful out there, fundraisers.
21:44.0
I love that, Brandon.
21:46.0
I think that was very well said.
21:48.0
Thank you so much.
21:49.0
It's been a pleasure to have you here.
21:50.0
And we're going to watch this space closely.
21:52.0
Thank you so much.
21:53.0
Thank you so much.
21:54.0
That's your Business Outlook at Broncos.
21:56.0
And I'm Salve Duprito.
21:57.0
The world tonight comes your way at the top of the next hour.
22:00.0
Keep it here on ANC.
