The peso rate closed lower at P54.58 to the US dollar yesterday at the Philippine Dealing System of the Bankers Association of the Philippines from P54.49 last Friday. The weighted average rate depreciated to P54.505 from P54.496. Total volume amounted to $282.1 million.

Lepanto mine strike

Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. yesterday said underground operations at its gold mine north of Manila have been halted by workers who went on strike last week due to a dispute with the company over demand for increases in daily wages for the next three years. There have been no underground operations because workers who werent on strike were being prevented from entering the underground mine by those on strike, the mining company told the stock exchange. It said the Office of the Labor Secretary has "assumed jurisdiction" over the labor dispute to quickly resolve the stand off. Lepanto Mining, which produces around 2,000 metric tons of ore a day, is the biggest gold producer in the country.

Philweb, Canadian firm ink deal

Tech firm Philweb Corporation has signed up a contract with a unit of Canadas Futurebet Gaming Systems to be its exclusive partner in providing support for Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporations sports betting operations. Philweb corporate information officer Josephine Manalo informed the Philippine Stock Exchange that there will be technology, marketing, distribution, service and sales provider for Pagcor. The contract includes sports betting formats, win-lose or straight bet formats (point-spread handicapping and over/under score lines), parlays, teasers, and peer-to-peer wagering. The memorandum of agreement signed last June 3, as approved by Pagcor, covers all North American sports including basketball, football, baseball leagues, Philippine-based sports, and all other sports excluding soccer, as well as other events that may be approved by Pagcor though various gaming mediums and various gaming venues throughout the country. Futurebet is one of the worlds largest developers and operations of internet gaming applications, offering complete end-to-end solutions for the online gaming industry. The firm owns the Sportsbook system which provides real-time wagering on hundreds of events in the United States alone. "This new strategic alliance will allow Philweb to continue fulfilling its commitment to Pagcor to develop the sports gaming industry as well as firmly entrench itself in the Philippine gaming market," Manalo said. (JAL)

PSMT minority goes to court

Minority shareholders of PSMT Philippines has appealed to the court to stop what they claim as "illegal disbursement" of company funds. In a memorandum submitted to the Pasig City Regional Trial Court filed recently, minority shareholders led by businessman William S. Go and EClass Corp. expressed fear of collapse of the company if such activity continues. "The continuation of such illegal disbursements and wastage of company funds will surely result in PSMTs death as a business concern," Go said. The memorandum supports the petition filed by Go and E-Class in behalf of PSMT for the issuance of a preliminary injunction against PSMT executives led by president Benjamin M. Woods, vice president Robert M. Gans, chief financial officer John Heffner, and former treasurer James Cahill. The minority shareholders alleged that the four expatiate executives "orchestrated the systematic siphoning of company funds in favor of their foreign principal, PriceSmart of U.S. PSMT Philippines was organized in 2000 with PriceSmart US owning the majority of 52 percent, 38 percent by E-Class and 10 percent by First Metro Investment Corp. The company started operations in Mat 2001 and posted a net income of P9.87 million on its first year. The net income dropped to P1.3 million in the succeeding year before turning to a huge loss amounting to P349.9 million in 2003 although sales exceeded P4.4 billion of that year.

BayanTrade forges partnership

BayanTrade, a leading sourcing, procurement and supply chain services provider, has forged a strategic partnership with AXS-One, a leading provider of records compliance management solutions. BT Systems, a subsidiary of BayanTrade will resell in the Philippines the AXS-One Compliance Plaftorm, which has been critically acclaimed as best-of-class. The AXS-One solution has been implemented by many Fortune 1000 organizations to address the increasingly complex challenges of secure, scalable and enforceable data retention, supervision and disposition for all corporate records. The AXS-One Compliance Platform delivers an integrated solution to securely capture, archive, manage, search, supervise, integrate, share, and audit all electronic records, regardless of originating platform including email, instant messaging, images, SAP and other corporate documents.