The cost of living nowadays is so high in the face of continuous global crisis. Everything seems to be shaky at this point and the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) is not exempted from it. Luckily, there are instances that PSE was able to rebound but it is not always a guarantee that it would stay that way most of the time.
The way things are going, it looks like Philippines is relatively within the median line. Banks and Properties are doing well this year while we cannot say the same to the Energy sector probably due to the cool weather in the first quarter. Consumer sector worldwide commodity prices continue to soar, hence pose a challenge to companies belonging to this sector.
Sometimes, it seems rational that to get something back from the products and services that we pay for, we have to get it back in the form of stock market investment. Buying some shares of these companies might actually save us from our enormous household bills. For instance buying stocks from Manila Water Company, Manila Electric Company and/or Petron Corporation might able us to take back some of our spending on electric, water and gasoline consumption. Same goes to companies that produce the goods for our daily consumption the likes of Jolibee, San Miguel, Swift Foods, Purefoods, Liberty Flour Mills and so many others. These aforementioned companies are actually offering stocks to the market, so we might as well start investing wisely from these companies now.
As of first quarter of 2011, some of the stocks that are most active in the PSE and would be considered to be a viable investment for ones hard earned money are Jollibee Foods, Metrobank and Ayala Land. The choices are actually plenty.
Jollibee Foods Corporation is a Philippines-based company engaged in the development, operation and franchising of quick-service restaurants under the brand name Jollibee. In the Philippines, the Company also has, as subsidiaries, Fresh N Famous Foods, Inc., which operates and franchises quick-service restaurants under the trade names Chowking, Greenwich and Red Ribbon Bakeshop, Inc. which operates and franchises restaurants under the Red Ribbon trade name. Through subsidiaries and affiliates overseas it develops and operates its international brands Yonghe King and Hongzhuangyuan. At December 31, 2010, there were 717 Jollibee stores in the Philippines, 365 franchised and 352 Company owned. There were also 67 Jollibee stores overseas, including the United States, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Brunei, Jeddah and Qatar. They offer food products that are prepared on-site based on original Company recipes. As of this date, it added to their group the Mang Inasal.
Metrobank on the other hand is one of the top giant banks in the country with lots of depositors. Founded in September 5, 1962, Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) has since become the premier universal bank and among the foremost financial institutions in the Philippines. It offers a full range of banking and other financial products and services, including corporate, commercial and consumer banking, as well as credit card, remittances, leasing, investment banking and trust banking. Metrobank currently spans a consolidated network of over 1,200 ATMs nationwide; over 730 domestic branches; and 42 foreign branches, subsidiaries, and representative offices.
Ayala Land, Inc. operates as a diversified real estate company in the Philippines. The company engages in the development of shopping centers and lease to third parties of retail space and land therein; operation of movie theaters, food courts, entertainment facilities, and car parks in these shopping centers; and management and operation of malls. It also involves in the development and lease or sale of office buildings; and sale of industrial lots and lease of factory buildings, upper middle-income residential lots and units, housing units and lots, and leisure community developments, as well as lease of residential developments. Moreover, the company engages in the acquisition, development, and sale of mixed-use, master planned communities; sale of override units or the company's share in properties made available to subsidiaries for development; and lease of gas station sites and car park; land development and construction of the company’s and third-party projects; and sale of shopping centers and residential developments in the Visayas and Mindanao regions. Further, it develops and manages hotels/serviced apartments and leases land to hotel tenants; offers facilities management of the company’s and third-party projects; and operates water and sewage treatment facilities. The company was founded in 1988 and is based in Makati City, the Philippines.
