September 2009 Remembering an icon Watch the Cory Aquino specials on demand on TFCNow and read a tribute from LopezLink (page 9). Plus, ABS-CBN Publishing offers a special Cory Aquino commemorative magazine (page 12). Available online at www.Lopezlink.ph Griffin takes 1H 2009 financial results ABS-CBN wagi uli! ...page 2 the world LOPEZ Group companies are known for being leaders in their field. There’s First Gen in power generation, Energy Develop- ment Corpora- tion in geother- mal power, and ABS-CBN in broadcasting, just to name a few. But not many are aware that anoth- er Lopez Group company is the top-drawer name when it comes to travel, specifi- cally marine crew travel: Griffin Echo, Tin reunite! Sierra Travel Inc. ...page 5 (GSTI). LopezLink recently visited the cozy GSTI headquarters on Rockwell Drive, Makati. Upon entering the lobby, one is greeted by a wall A different of glossy brochures touting a plethora of ex- otic, exciting destinations. A life-size represen- er partners, September tation of the Griffin logo—a stylized drawing of who put up the the mythical half-eagle, half-lion accentuated by bars travel company in @ Power of vivid green, blue, red and orange—proclaims GSTI’s ties January 1967 to handle the Plant Mall with Griffin Marine Travel Ltd., the leading marine and offshore growing corporate travel business, as travel specialist in the world. well as local travel and tours. It soon ventured into another lucrative …page 12 At the helm of GSTI are two women, Presentacion "Presy" Lo- market and then established itself as the leader in that market in the pez Psinakis as company president and Marilu Q. Ngo as vice Philippines some two decades later. president and general manager. With its team of 49 people, the Ngo, who has almost 30 solid years of experience in the Philip- company is a one-stop shop for everyone’s every travel require- pine travel industry, joined Sierra Tours in 1992. Before coming ment, including passport and visa assistance, ticketing and after- onboard, Ngo said, she practiced her profession as an accountant sales support. for a year before finding her niche in the industry by way of a travel Psinakis brainchild agency owned by the Delgado family. Sierra Tours, the forerunner of GSTI, was the brainchild of Psinakis, the only daughter of Eugenio H. Lopez Sr., and three oth- Turn to page 6 2 3 Lopezlink September 2009 Lopezlink September 2009 1H 2009 financial performance Meralco to credit Benpres buys Twin victories P100M in payouts Meralco, MML hailed for back $260M of MERALCO will be paying beginning Septem- ABS-CBN wagi uli! ber around P100 million worth of payouts for about 800,000 incidents where service commitments were By Carla Paras-Sison 1H 2009 financial results (Unaudited) management excellence not met. Incidents are the number of times that Net income/ (loss) attributable to outstanding debt Best Corporate/FI TOTAL REVENUES equity holders of the parent Meralco was unable to meet guaranteed service levels NEW York-based management consul- BENPRES Holdings Corporation gained headway in its debt Dahil sa patuloy na pag-akyat ng (GSLs) provided under the performance-based rate tancy company Stern Stewart & Co. named The company also received the Best Corpo- 2008 2009 % change 2008 2009 % change restructuring effort with the settlement of its debt to its biggest consolidated revenues at masinop (PBR) mechanism. Meralco as one of 11 top Philippine compa- rate/FI of the Year 2008-2009 in Southeast Asia creditor, Avenue Asia Group. na pag-control sa gastusin, nag- Meralco president Jose de Jesus said, “We will be pay- nies in the Asean 100 Relative Wealth Added Award from the only institutional investment ABS-CBN P10.3B P11.7B +14 P754M P813M +8 According to a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, tala ng P813 milyong net income ing…starting September. Customers will be notified if (RWA) index list. magazine in the region, Alpha Southeast Asia. Benpres P10.3B P11.7B +14 (P647M) P475M +173 Benpres paid $169 million for the buyback of US$260M in ang ABS-CBN Corporation sa they are entitled to the payout, the cash equivalent of The RWA is a benchmarking system that Chairman and CEO Manuel M. Lopez P9.7B P10.7B +11 P2.6B P2.7B +3 principal debt, representing a 35% discount on the face value. unang anim na buwan ng taon. EDC which will be credited to their future billings.” measures a company’s actual performance was especially cited for playing a key role “in -16 US$20.7M US$20.3M -2 “…With our debt remaining at a manageable level of $70 mil- Ito ay mas mataas ng 8% sa net First Gen US$632.8M US530.7M The amount is for the first regulatory year of the PBR, comparing it against industry peers and its developing Meralco’s position in the Philip- +490 lion, we can all look forward to operating under normal condi- income na P754M noong En- FPHC P29.0B P30.0B +3 (P230M)* P896M which was from July 2007 to June 2008. Customers are cost of equity. pines and for the unique contribution it has tions,” president and chief operating officer Angel S. Ong said. ero-Hunyo 2008. Meralco P95.9B P94.5B -2 P2.7B P3.2B +19 compensated if the distribution utility is unable to meet The Stern Stewart report pointed to 2009 made to the industry in recent years, especially VP and corporate marketing head Miguel Lopez Benpres was hit hard by the Asian financial contagion in 1997. Umabot ng P11.7 bilyon ang performance thresholds in duration and frequency of as a significant year for Meralco with the en- in times of continuing economic uncertainty.” (center) receives the Stern Stewart & Co. citation *Restated In 2002, it declared a standstill on $560M in direct and contingent consolidated revenues ng ABS- power interruptions, restoration time and connection try of “two influential investors coupled with Meralco is the only Philippine company given in ceremonies held July 23 at the Ateneo obligations. Its exit from Maynilad Water Services Inc. in 2005, CBN, 14% na mas mataas kaysa Mayo. Samantala, higit pang Ang unaudited consolidated president Elpidio L. Ibañez. time. A customer could experience more than one inci- favorable policies by energy regulators allow- to receive the marquee award, which was Graduate School of Business. Flanking him are and subsequent buyback of debt funded from the sale of non-core P10.3B noong 1H08. Umangat mabili ang mga programang Ka- revenues ay tumaas ng 14% sa Ang consolidated revenues ng dent, while other customers may not experience a single ing the firm to increase rates for the first time handed out in formal ceremonies in Makati Business Mirror chairman Judge Pedro Santiago assets, pared down the debt to $330 million as of end-2008. ng 6% ang airtime revenues sa pamilya sa primetime mula alas P11.686B mula P10.254B ha- FPHC para sa 1H09 ay P30B o incident in a regulatory year. since 2003.” in August. (Meralco Corporate Marketing) and Stern Stewart & Co. president Erik Stern. The settlement with Avenue Asia was funded from the sale P6.72B mula P6.36B, at umakyat sais hanggang alas onse ng gabi. bang ang unaudited consolidated 3% na mas mataas kaysa P29B “The PBR is surely a way to move forward since it of the company’s interests in First Philippine Infrastructure ng 28% ang direct sales sa P4.97B Ang national TV ratings ay nasa expenses ay tumaas lamang ng noong 1H08. Pareho lamang ang advances the interest and welfare of electricity consum- Inc., Rockwell Land Corporation and shares of Digital Tele- mula P3.9B, kasama ang P1.7B 30.2% noong Hulyo kumpara 4% sa P10.413B mula P10.069B. costs at expenses sa P24B at ang ers,” said De Jesus. (Meralco Corporate Marketing) kontribusyon ng SkyCable. sa 28.9% noong Mayo at ang Apat na beses ang inilaki ng eq- foreign exchange loss na P76M communications Philippines Inc. Bayan posts P182M in operating income Noong 1H08 ay tatlong buwan primetime audience share naman uity in net earnings of investees sa ay higit na mababa sa P1.2B for- “The remaining creditors have the option to either sell debt BAYAN posted P182 million in operational spending at P2.15B Bayan also trimmed its net loss services, grew by 27% in the first pa lamang ang consolidated con- ay 51% noong Hulyo kumpara sa P474M mula P117M dahil nag- eign exchange loss noong com- back to the company, subject to discount and funds availability, Bayan to press on operating income in the first half reflecting a 3% reduction over to P542M, or a 66% improvement half of the year at P1.49B com- tribution ng SkyCable samanta- 48% noong Mayo. karoon na muli ng net profit ang parative period. or sign a new loan agreement for a bullet payment after 12.5 of 2009, from a loss of P133M the same period last year, Bayan over the P1.59B loss incurred pared to P1.16B during the same lang buong anim na buwan na Noong Hulyo, ang sampung First Philippine Holdings Corpo- Flat income para sa First Gen years. This has been a standing offer since December 2008, and during the same period in 2008, realized a 38% earnings before during the same period last year. period last year. Data business ang kontribusyon nito sa 1H09. pinakapinanonood na mga pro- ration (FPHC) na nagtala rin ng Halos pareho ang naging net a number of creditors have in fact already signed up and availed with 3G license bid reflecting a 237% growth.