First Pacific’s strategy

Contrary to what detractors are saying, Hongkong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd. has not outlived its purpose.

In fact, First Pacific CEO Manny Pangilinan tells this writer over lunch that under the conglomerate’s new strategy which he is currently finalizing, First Pacific will be a force to reckon with in the regional food and telecommunications business.

As planned, First Pacific will be buying food companies all over the region to expand the business of its subsidiary, Indofood which is currently the world’s largest noodle maker.

It will also be acquiring equity in several telcos, mostly into the wireless business, in the region to likewise further the reach of its Philippine-based wireless company Smart Communications.

In short, First Pacific will be providing the funds to make Indo-food and Smart the region’s biggest players.

Good karma

When the going gets tough, that’s when you can separate the men from the boys.

The story of One McKinley Place in Fort Bonifacio is a shining example of how a group of businessmen, despite mounting odds, valued their reputation more than their pockets.

When RFM’s Philtown Inc. and Urban Realty Developers Inc. (of Urban Bank) launched One McKinley in 1998, it was one of the best selling projects and the developers were on their way to completing it when the bank went into receivership. This forced the suspension of construction.

A few years later, Urban Bank merged with Export and Import Bank and subsequently, an agreement was reached between EIB and Philtown to put in more money and continue with the project.

When the developers determined the selling price of the units, the peso-dollar exchange rate was only P25:$1. They continued with the project, even if the cost of the imported materials has doubled. This, without an increase in the selling price and without downgrading the original specifications (including the imported components of the project). It was enough that they recover their investments, even if they do not make money out of the whole thing.

Now, One McKinley is almost fully sold out and the developers expect all the units to be turned over by the end of the year.

With the success of One McKinley, Philtown has embarked on its second high-rise condominium project, the Fairways Tower just nearby. And it’s doing very well. Good karma?

UCPB’s new head

Newly appointed United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) president Jose Querubin is looking forward to a good relationship between the bank and the agricultural sector, especially since his classmate at Wharton, Cito Lorenzo, is the secretary of the Department of Agriculture. Under his leadership, Jojo hopes to have more agricultural programs and projects funded by the bank.

Querubin, who admits that his real love is computers, likewise expects the P20-billion fund infusion of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC), which will be released anytime now, to be used to improve the bank’s infrastructure to keep it at par with its competitors.

Over lunch, this youthful bank president also says that he hopes to depoliticize the image of UCPB, and to not allow the political battle over the bank’s control to distract him from his goal, which is to improve UCPB’s bottomline.

Querubin likewise prays that the controversy regarding the bank’s ownership will finally be settled because it keeps investors, who want stability, away from UCPB.

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