Henry Sy lone Filipino in Bloomberg's list of world's 100 richest people

Mall tycoon Henry Sy has cemented his position as the Philippines' richest man after he landed on Bloomberg Markets magazine's ranking of the world's wealthiest men and women -- the only Filipino to make it to the list.

In its December issue, Bloomberg Markets magazine said Sy -- whose empire spans the retail business, banking, property and resort development -- landed on the 72nd spot with a net worth of $13.3 billion, ahead of the likes of Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who ranked 86th, and South Korea's Lee Kun Hee of tech giant Samsung, who placed 99th.

Topping the list of the world's billionaires is Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who has a net worth of $72.9 billion, followed by Mexican telecom czar Carlos Slim ($65.5 billion), Amancio Ortega of Spanish retailer Inditex ($61.9 billion) and legendary investor Warren Buffet ($58.2 billion).

By nationality, Americans still comprised the biggest group of billionaires at 37, followed by the Russians at 11; Germans, 6; Indians, 5; and Hong Kong Chinese and French, at 4 each.

North America harbored the most number of billionaires (40), followed by Europe (35) and Asia (18). In Asean, only the Philippines and Malaysia had citizens who made it to the list at one each.

In computing a billionaire's net worth, Bloomberg said it used the closing prices of publicly traded companies he or she owned as of September 30 and converted into US dollars. In the case of privately-held firms, the magazine used estimates based on the value of comparable publicly traded companies provided they were of the same industry, size and located in the same country.

Bloomberg also assumed that family members held a portion of the assets of a billionaire on the list. "We operate under the rule that all billionaire fortunes are inherently family fortunes," said Bloomberg's Pamela Roux.

Sy also topped Forbes magazine's list of the Philippines' billionaires. He founded SM, the country's largest chain of shopping malls, and the biggest bank, Banco De Oro. Recently, the Sy familly consolidated their property businesses under SM Prime Holdings Inc, the company responsible for building and operating the malls.

source: interaksyon.com

Mall tycoon Henry Sy tops Forbes magazine's list of richest Filipinos

Mall magnate Henry Sy again topped Forbes magazine's list of the richest Filipinos for this year.

With a net worth of $12 billion, Sy and his family, owners of the country's largest chain of malls, SM, and the Philippines' biggest bank, BDO, leads the magazine's list of the country's 50 richest people.

The Sy family is followed by Lucio Tan and his family, with a combined net worth of $7.5 billion. Tan owns the country's flag carrier, Philippine Airlines, and the fifth largest lender, Philippine National Bank.

On third place with a net worth of $4.6 billion is Andrew Tan, owner of Megaworld Corp, one of the Philippines' leading property developers, and of Alliance Global Group, a conglomerate that controls the country's leading liquor firm, Emperador Distillers, as well as the master franchise of McDonald's.

With a net worth of $4.5 billion, Enrique Razon Jr. holds the fourth spot. He owns the country's leading port operator, International Container Terminal Services Inc, whose operations span across Asia, the US, Middle East and Europe. He also owns Bloomberry Resorts Corp, the first of four state license-holders to open a casino at the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp's (Pagcor) Entertainment City.

On fifth place is John Gokongwei Jr. with a net worth of $3.4 billion, and whose business empire includes the country's leading budget airline, Cebu Pacific, and one of the leading food-and-beverage manufacters, Universal Robina Corp.

The Zobel de Ayala family has landed on the sixth spot with a net worth of $3.1 billion. The family owns the country's leading property developer, Ayala Land, and the third biggest lender, Bank of the Philippine Islands.

With a net worth of $3 billion, the Aboitiz family is seventh place. The family owns one of the country's biggest power plant operators, Aboitiz Power, and has interests in banking, manufacturing and property.

David Consunji is ranked eight with a net worth of $2.7 billion. His family owns one of the Philippines' biggest construction firms, DM Consunji, and the largest coal miner, Semirara.

George Ty and family is listed ninth with a combined net worth of $2.6 billion. The family gem is the country's second-biggest lender, Metrobank, but other businesses include power, property and the Philippines' largest car manufacturer, Toyota Motors, a partnership with the Japanese auto giant.

On the 10th spot is the Co couple of Lucio and Susan, who own the Puregold chain of supermarkets. They have a combined net worth of $1.9 billion.

The full list of the 50 richest Filipinos can be seen here.

source: interaksyon.com

SM Investments cleared for fund-raising

SM Investments Corp. was cleared to undertake a top-up placement to raise money that would be used to refinance the company's debt and widen its free float.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the Henry Sy-led conglomerate said it will sell primary common shares worth $150 million to institutional investors.

"Apart from raising additional funds for the company, the top up is meant to further enhance the free float and liquidity of SM shares," the company said.

The proceeds of the placement will be used to refinance some of the company’s existing obligations and for general corporate purposes.

SM has tapped Macquarie Capital (Singapore) Pte Ltd as the underwriter and placing agent.

Management was authorized to negotiate and finalize the terms and conditions of the share sale, including pricing and any increase in issuance amount, and execute any and all documents necessary, to implement the placement.

The SM group is in the business of shopping mall development, retail merchandising, financial services, real estate development, and hotels and conventions.

source: interaksyon.com

SM group yet to commit to NAIA-Entertainment City road project

MANILA, Philippines - Contrary to claims made by the chairman of the state gaming monopoly, the SM group has yet to commit any funding for the planned road linking the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and Pagcor's Entertainment City.

"The project you mentioned is not definite yet. We are equally surprised to hear that the project and the people involved are already committing. I think it is still a work in progress," Harley T. Sy, SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) president, said.

"I'm surprised and as far it is still a work in progress. We encourage it, but the numbers are still moving," he said.

Armin Raquel-Santos, Belle Corp. executive vice president for premium leisure and amusement, said the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. met the four Entertainment City licensees "to see the viability of the expressway."

Other Entertainment City locators are Enrique Razon Jr.'s Bloomberry Investments Holdings Inc., the consortium of Malaysia's Genting Group and Andrew Tan's Alliance Global Group Inc., and Japan’s Universal Entertainment Corp.

"There is no commitment yet because the funding right now is at the design stage," Raquel-Santos said.

On Wednesday, Henry Sy Jr. said the SM group was not directly participating in public-private partnership (PPP) projects since "these projects are much sought after, competition is very intense [and] profit margins might suffer."

His younger brother, Harley, said the SM group' involvement in the PPP projects of the Aquino administration is through banking arm Banco de Oro Unibank, which may provide project financing.

"We have not really looked into the numbers and it is more of we will do what we believe we can do best. We cannot do too many things. We might lose our focus," he said.

Last month, Cristino Naguiat, Pagcor chairman, told members of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines that the four licensees of the Entertainment City had committed to finance half of the P12-billion road project.

He had said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) approached him, seeking the private firms' commitment to co-finance the project.

"I talked to all the proponents and I told them to invest at least more than a billion pesos each. They would fund the project. They requested that their investment would be part of their investment commitment [in Pagcor City]," Naguiat told reporters during a seminar in Clark.

Because of this commitment from the locators, DPWH is taking out the government subsidy, with the contractor providing half of the funding.

The original plan was revised to accommodate the request for the highway to end up at Entertainment City instead of Roxas Boulevard. By diverting the road, travel time from the airport to the gaming and casino complex would be cut down to 16 minutes.

InterAksyon.com is still awaiting response from Pagcor and the other locators as of this posting.

source: interaksyon.com