HSBC’s Q3 profits fall

HONG KONG: HSBC said Tuesday its third-quarter post-tax profits fell 46 percent on-year as the Asia-focused banking giant continued to take a hammering from the coronavirus pandemic and spiraling China-US tensions.

However, the profit falls were not as bad as some analysts had predicted and HSBC said it expected credit losses to be at the lower end of a previously announced $8 billion to $13 billion range.

The global economic slowdown caused by the virus has hit financial giants hard and there is limited optimism on the horizon as Europe and the United States head into the winter with infections soaring once more.

HSBC has a further headache — geopolitical tensions via its status as a major business conduit between China and the West.


As a result, the lender is in the midst of a worldwide overhaul, aiming to slash some 35,000 jobs by 2022, primarily in its less profitable European and American divisions.

"We are accelerating the transformation of the Group, moving our focus from interest-rate sensitive business lines toward fee-generating businesses, and further reducing our operating costs," chief executive Noel Quinn said in a statement accompanying the results.

Reported post-tax profit for the third quarter came in at $2 billion with revenue down 11 percent at $11.9 billion, the statement said.HONOLULU: International tourists arrivals plunged by an annualized 70 percent during the first eight months of 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Tourism Organization (WTO) said.

The Northern Hemisphere's peak summer season was ravaged by travel restrictions, with tourist arrivals down by 81 percent in July, and by 79 percent in August, the Madrid-based UN body said in a statement.

There were 700 million fewer arrivals between January and August than during the same period a year earlier, leading to a loss in revenues of $730 billion — more than eight times the drop recorded following the 2009 economic crisis, it added.

"This unprecedented decline is having dramatic social and economic consequences, and puts millions of jobs and businesses at risk," WTO head Zurab Pololikashvili said in the statement.

The Asia and Pacific region, which was hit first by the pandemic, saw the biggest decline in arrivals, on the order of 79 percent.

It was followed by Africa and the Middle East with a 69 percent drop, Europe with 68 percent fewer international visitors and the Americas where arrivals fell by 65 percent.

While the drop in Europe over the summer was less strong than in other regions — 69 percent in August — fresh travel restrictions imposed to fight a second wave of Covid-19 infections have now curbed a recovery, the UN body said.

The WTO predicts international tourist arrivals will fall by 70 percent for 2020 as a whole, and will not recover before the end of 2021.

Asian markets’ struggle worsen

TOKYO: The fresh surge in coronavirus cases across the United States and Europe pushed Asian markets further down Wednesday, while investors have essentially given up on the chances of a new stimulus out of Washington.

With US lawmakers unlikely to agree any new rescue package before Tuesday's election, analysts said the new wave of virus infections and lingering uncertainty over the vote would mean equities face a wobbly few days.

European leaders are being forced to revert to strict, economically damaging measures to control the spread of the virus as some record a spike in deaths and new cases.

And with the United States also suffering a Covid-19 resurgence, there is a fear that the already-stuttering global economic recovery will be thrown off track. Some experts have warned of a double-dip recession.

"Covid case counts and hospitalizations continue to rise — these will continue to be closely watched as investors gauge the likelihood of more stringent mitigation measures," said Yousef Abbasi, a strategist at StoneX.

The impact of this year's lockdowns and travel restrictions was laid bare Tuesday as the World Tourism Organization said tourism had collapsed 70 percent, leading to a $730-billion loss in revenues, while the UN's trade body said foreign direct investment was likely to slump 40 percent.

The Dow and S&P 500 both fell again, though the Nasdaq edged up as traders bet tech firms will benefit from people being forced to stay home. The losses extended into Asia, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, Taipei, Singapore and Manila all in the red.

However, Sydney rose as Australia's second-biggest city Melbourne enjoyed its first day of being open again after a months-long lockdown. Wellington was also up.

Tai Hui at JP Morgan Asset Management said the surge in infections in the US and Europe had been expected in the northern hemisphere winter, adding it "should push investors to take a more defensive position for the time being. In the very short term, the US elections would reinforce this conservative bias."

However, no matter the outcome, the result of the vote next Tuesday "should provide the certainty that investors are constantly looking for."

With challenger Joe Biden well ahead of Donald Trump in national and battleground polls, the broad consensus is for him to take the White House, while the Democrats could win both houses of Congress.

That would likely see an even bigger stimulus than the one being discussed on Capitol Hill, which is providing some support to investors, though there is a fear that the incumbent president will challenge any tight result, leading to possibly weeks of wrangling.

And OANDA's Edward Moya added that a Democratic sweep could also come with disadvantages for markets.

"Wall Street is convinced a 'blue wave' will signal massive infrastructure spending but it will also be accompanied with higher taxes, tougher regulation, and eventual inflation that will force the Fed's hand," he said in a note.

There was some more upbeat news from pharma giant Pfizer, which said it was optimistic it could provide a vaccine this year. Chief executive Albert Bourla said it could supply about 40 million doses in the United States if clinical testing proceeds as expected and it is approved.

And while the company still had not reached key benchmarks in assessing efficacy, he said: "We have reached the last mile here."

Bourla added that the firm is expected to file for emergency use authorization for its vaccine in the third week of November, roughly in line with earlier timetables.

No classes in the new normal

Nobody expected on Monday that Typhoon Quinta would be a super storm with winds clocking at 170 kilometers per hour. The weather agency had forecast it would only have, at best, sustained winds of 100 kph. I am not sure if it was a forecasting error or the typhoon just suddenly intensified, but what happened as a result was something that would usually occur before the Covid-19 pandemic: classes were suspended.

Initially, I was chuckling in disbelief: how could local government units (LGUs) or the Department of Education suspend classes at a time when we have supposedly shifted to teaching and learning online? Then I realized that the shift was not really 100 percent, as the department included manual processes and interventions for areas with little to no internet connectivity. It introduced the concept of modules, where teachers had to physically bring stacks of papers to villages for their students to fill out and later come back for and check them for grading purposes.

So when Quinta was hammering parts of our country early this week, some LGUs decided to play it safe and suspend classes. My husband's classes at De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila were called off after the city government announced their suspension. DLSU may be conducting all its classes online, but it was still affected by the announcement.

Is this the right approach? Is it even a sustainable, long-term one? We don't have a coronavirus vaccine yet and La Niña is already upon us, so we will be in this for a while, when you think about it. In fact, news outlets have been reporting that at least two new typhoons are expected to enter the country in the next two weeks. Would we see more class suspensions, even if some universities have fully transitioned online?

The many challenges we have as a country have been magnified by the pandemic. The shift to digital, especially in public schools, has been quite painful, to say the least. The sheer introduction of a physical and manual process limited the full transition to digital, which would make education resilient in so many ways. The challenge to a full digital pivot is then hampered by the lack of proper physical infrastructure, especially for internet connectivity, which everyone agrees still needs a lot of improvement. In fact, I recall a similar incident where I was inside a bank, and then there was a heavy downpour — not a typhoon — that affected connectivity, disabling the bank's banking system and making the poor tellers unable to accept deposits simply because they lost their access to their application. Imagine if you have been queueing for hours!

Our educational system has already been disrupted by the pandemic. Add to that La Niña, poor infrastructure and policymaking that will further disrupt education, then we really need to have concrete action plans to at least manage those who are resilient and those who are not.

Infrastructure improvement. The infrastructure has to be improved to make it typhoon-resilient or disaster-resilient, so that internet connectivity would not suffer. This has to be a call to action for our lawmakers to see this perspective, and work with the private sector for an aligned approach.

Policymaking. LGUs should segment educational establishments based on their transition online. Some would be conducting classes fully online while other could adopt a hybrid approach, but such classification should put some weight in canceling classes. Perhaps, a certain tier would be required to suspend classes while those fully online can continue to hold theirs.

Digital is supposed to make our lives easier, education included, and should transcend physical limitations. But we still find outselves in the same predicament in this supposedly new normal. A continuous review and careful iteration of processes and policies are needed until we find a good working model on how to manage education right now amid the pandemic.

Airlines see lower revenues in ‘21

PARIS: Airline industry revenues are expected to remain 46 percent lower in 2021 than the US$838 billion (S$1.14 trillion) booked in the last pre-coronavirus year of 2019, industry body IATA said in a marked worsening of its forecasts.

Its previous outlook for a smaller drop of 29 percent "was based on expectations for a demand recovery commencing in the fourth quarter of 2020."

That is now unlikely to materialize because of renewed Covid-19 outbreaks and government restrictions in response, said the federation representing 290 airlines.

Over the full year in 2020, IATA forecasts a 66-per cent drop in traffic compared to last year.

"The fourth quarter of 2020 will be extremely difficult and there is little indication the first half of 2021 will be significantly better, so long as borders remain closed and/or arrival quarantines remain in place," IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac said in a statement.

Even with drastic cost-cutting, airlines will need further government aid to avoid running out of cash, de Juniac said.
San Miguel Corp.'s liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Batangas province will be "running" in two years, its top executive said on Wednesday. In a virtual briefing, San Miguel President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon Ang told reporters that "in 24 months, you will see the LNG plant running," adding that its construction was progressing quickly and would be finished on time. The LNG terminal is being built within the area of the Ilijan power plant in Batangas through SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., which Ang said was switching to LNG. The construction involves three power plants, each with a capacity of 850 megawatts (MW), and an import terminal. Ang did not disclose how much was invested in the terminal, as his company intends to join Manila Electric Co.'s competitive bidding to supply 1,800 MW of power. The listed conglomerate will propose to provide the electricity giant additional supply from the said facility. San Miguel shares gained 90 centavos or 0.89 percent to end at P102 apiece on Wednesday.

Covid vaccine still possible in ’20 – Pfizer

MONTANA: Pfizer executives expressed measured optimism Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) over the prospect of providing a coronavirus vaccine in 2020 even as they signaled key data on the vaccine would not be released before the US election.

Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said the drug giant could supply some 40 million doses in the United States in 2020 if clinical testing proceeds as expected and regulators approve a vaccine.

"If all goes well, we will be ready to distribute an initial number of doses," said Bourla, who pointed to a US government contract for Pfizer to supply 40 million doses by the end of this year and 100 million doses by March 2021.

But Bourla said the company still had not reached key benchmarks in assessing vaccine efficacy. Pfizer previously said it could have the data in October, which might have advanced the process ahead of the November 3 presidential election.


"We have reached the last mile here," Bourla said. "So let's all have the patience that's required for something so important for public health and the global economy."

He said the company expects to file for emergency use authorization for its Covid-19 vaccine in the third week of November, roughly in line with earlier timetables. Asked if he was "bullish" the vaccine would work, Bourla said: "I'm cautiously optimistic that the vaccine will work."

Pfizer reported a 71 percent drop in profit to $2.2 billion in the latest quarter. However, the comparable period last year included a large gain connected to a transaction. Revenues dipped four percent to $12.1 billion, missing analyst estimates.

Pfizer estimated a revenue hit of $500 million connected to Covid-19 due to lower pharma demand in China and fewer wellness visits by US patients.

The company saw an 11 percent drop in its hospital business in emerging markets, primarily due to fewer elective surgeries in China and shorter in-patient hospital stays in the country.

This effect was partially offset by increased demand for the Prevnar-13 vaccine for pneumonia "resulting from greater vaccine awareness for respiratory illnesses," the company said.

Pfizer also cited strong performance in its biopharma business due to good sales for cancer drug Ibrance, anticoagulant Eliquis and other medications. Rival drug maker Merck also is working on coronavirus vaccines, but the company is at an earlier phase compared with Pfizer.

Merck said one coronavirus vaccine candidate had entered phase 1 development and a second candidate would reach that stage shortly. Merck reported a 55 percent jump in quarterly earnings to $2.9 billion on a one percent rise in revenues to $12.6 billion.

Shares of Pfizer fell 1.3 percent to $37.43, while Merck shed 1.1 percent to $77.99.

A reminder to avail of tax amnesties

It has been extra than a yr because Republic Act 11213, or the "Tax Amnesty Act" (TAA), turned into enacted. It became effective on March 1, 2019. The TAA at first provided for an estate tax amnesty, a popular tax amnesty and a tax amnesty on delinquencies, but President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed the provisions of the second one amnesty, amongst others. Thus, simplest the primary and third sort of amnesties were applied via the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

Period of availment
The property tax amnesty is to be had for two years from the effectivity of BIR Revenue Regulations (RR) 6-2019, or until June 14, 2021.

The tax amnesty on delinquencies is supposed to be powerful inside three hundred and sixty five days from the effectivity of its enforcing rules, RR four-2019, or until April 23, 2020. But due to the demanding situations in availing this https://atozmarkets.com/brokers/deltamarket/ all through the Covid-19 pandemic, the BIR issued numerous rules —RR five-2020, eleven-2020 and 15-2020 — to increase the duration of availment. Pursuant to RR 15-2020, the closing date for this tax amnesty is now on Dec. 31, 2020.

No issuance on extending the estate tax amnesty has been launched yet. As of nowadays, taxpayers have eight months to avail themselves of it. On the opposite hand, any taxpayer in search of to avail themselves of the tax amnesty on delinquencies has  months to do so.

Tax amnesty on delinquencies

The tax amnesty on delinquencies is the primary of its type being granted under the regulation. All preceding tax amnesties excluded assessments which have come to be delinquent. This is due to the fact as soon as an evaluation will become antisocial, the BIR can start series measures.

A vast characteristic of this amnesty is the inclusion of withholding tax deficiencies or liabilities. In the beyond, these deficiencies have been excluded because the taxes withheld are without a doubt not the taxes of the taxpayer itself, but of these from whom the taxes are withheld. Also, the nonwithholding of taxes and the nonremittance of taxes withheld are considered grave offenses.

Taxpayers with tax delinquencies have to take gain of this unique amnesty. Tax amnesty costs on the fundamental tax assessed, exceptional of consequences, pursuits and surcharges, are as follows: delinquent bills, forty percentage; with pending criminal instances from the Department of Justice or Prosecutor's Office on tax criminal offenses, 60 percent; with final and executory judgment through the courts, 50 percent; and withholding tax liabilities, 100 percent.

Estate tax amnesty
The property tax amnesty is likewise very appealing, because the 6-percent fee payable is a whole lot lower than the preceding graduated estate tax quotes of up to 20 percent. Also, it excludes hobby, consequences and surcharges.

In our experience, it can make an effort to file an estate tax amnesty utility because of family and valuation problems.

Among the files to be submitted to the BIR is an extrajudicial agreement agreement or affidavit of self-adjudication, which the surviving inheritor/s have to execute to avail themselves of the amnesty. Executing such agreements or files could make the effort because of the failure of the heirs to agree on the partition of the estate. Also, a few heirs can be out of the country and might have to execute unique powers of attorneys that need to be consularized and/or apostilled.

Furthermore, if there are numerous decedents involved, property taxes want to be paid and extrajudicial agreement agreements completed for each degree of switch of assets in accordance with the policies of succession under the New Civil Code.

Obtaining the right values of the properties can also be difficult, in particular if the decedent died a few years ago. In widespread, the value of the homes making up the gross estate of the decedent shall be primarily based on their honest market values at the date of the decedent's dying.

Again, the property tax amnesty may be presently availed of simplest till June 14, 2021. After this date, the closing undeclared houses will be problem to the estate tax fee applicable at the time of the decedent's demise, with hobbies and consequences.

It is essential to notice that, on September 15, the House of Representatives authorised on 1/3 studying House Bill 7068, which seeks to extend the closing date of availment of estate tax amnesty for four years, as opposed to , from the efficiency of the RR. The pass targets to deal with taxpayers who're unable to avail themselves of the amnesty due to the pandemic.

In any case, with simplest less than  months left for the availment of the tax amnesty on delinquencies and eight months left for the estate tax amnesty, taxpayers are reminded to take benefit of this one-time opportunity to settle those tax obligations once and for all.