Biz Buzz: Otso otso still in fashion for DD

Dipping into DoubleDragon (DD) Corp.’s return to the bond market may be the luckiest move yet for investors this year.

DoubleDragon announced earlier this week that it had secured permits from the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue up to P10 billion in bonds.

Of course, the property venture of Edgar “Injap” Sia II didn’t miss to also double the luck in the pricing.

According to DoubleDragon, the 3.5-year retail bond offering was priced at 8.008 percent per annum.

Sia himself believes that there’s something auspicious going on here.

“We are glad to tap the peso retail bond market again after over five years,” Sia said.

“8 is also believed by many to be an auspicious or ‘swerte’ number, and having two 8s in the coupon rate could be even more auspicious,” he pointed out.

DoubleDragon has been quite optimistic in the last six months.

Earlier, the company said it was targeting to breach the P100-billion total equity mark this year, banking on the success of Hotel1o1 Global Pte. Ltd.’s upcoming Nasdaq listing.

Let’s hope the luck will spill over to the rest of us.

–MEG J. ADONIS

Completing the MB cast

The search is on for the new members of the Monetary Board (MB). When you visit the “Who We Are” page on the website of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), you might notice that the names of Bruce Tolentino and Anita Linda Aquino are no longer on the list of the seven-member MB, the highest policymaking body of the central bank.

That is because both former BSP officials stepped down as of June 30. Tolentino and Aquino had been linked to the “ghost employee” scandal that brought serious reputational risks to the BSP.

The central bank has yet to issue an official statement about their resignations. At a press conference last week, Governor Eli Remolona Jr.–who previously said that an “orderly exit” was waiting for the officials linked to the scandal–also declined to answer a reporter’s question about the number of MB members that attended the last monetary policy meeting, which saw the key rate staying unchanged at 6.5 percent.

But even without an official confirmation from the BSP, all eyes are now on President Marcos, who soon needs to appoint new members that would again complete the MB.

Watch this space.

–IAN NICOLAS P. CIGARAL

Tiu returns to Infradev

Philippine Infradev Holdings Inc., the company behind the delayed P200-billion Makati subway system project, is the latest company to execute a management revamp.

Antonio Tiu, who served as Infradev’s president until early last year when he exit- ed to focus on other business ventures, returned to the company after Georgina Monsod resigned.

“Mr. Tiu was likewise designated as a member of the executive committee in the place of Ms Monsod,” Infradev said in a stock exchange filing on Tuesday.

Now, it’s still too early to tell whether the stalled Makati subway project will push through with Tiu’s return.

After all, Makati Mayor Abigail Binay herself said earlier this year that Infradev, the local government’s joint venture partner, would be submitting a new plan.

Will the 10-kilometer project now push through? Or will the Makati-Taguig feud still pose a problem? Abangan!

–MEG J. ADONIS