‘Please return my wife’s laptop’

I AM happy to be back home after a brief vacation with my wife and her mother in Singapore. But I am also sad for losing my wife’s laptop at the multi-level parking of Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The story of how she lost her laptop when we arrived on Saturday may not be worth telling anymore. The loss was all my fault. As an USNBA* at 69, sometimes, I forget things that I should never forget, especially the orders of my wife.

My wife recovered the bag at the Manila Ninoy Aquino airport lost and found office but, unluckily, minus the laptop. I am appealing to whoever has been tempted to open my wife’s bag to please return the MacBook Air that it contained.

Airport police records showed the bag was turned over to them by an airline passenger at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. They theorized said passenger could not have been the first finder because, as my wife told them, we were at the parking area much earlier, at about 4:00-4:30 p.m. Someone must have got to the bag first before it was found by the man who returned it sans the laptop.

My wife’s MacBook Air laptop contains files that would not be of any benefit to anyone but are very important to her. Never mind the chocolates and other goodies. The finder could keep them as “pasalubong” for his or her family.

If he or she is reading this piece, my personal appeal is for him/her to send or return the laptop to The Manila Times, 2/F Sitio Grande, 409 A. Soriano Ave., Intramuros, Manila. For reward of incurred expenses in returning the laptop, he/she could also text me at 0915-452-8348, although I do not know how I would be able to repay him/her.

(*The acronym stands for Under Standing and Never Been Appreciated.)

SingTel in Globe
A company from Singapore must be very happy over its partnership with one of the Philippines’ largest conglomerates, namely Globe Telecom Inc. If not, it could have sold out and abandoned the Philippine stock market a long time ago.

The Singaporeans and their government that co-owns Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (Singtel) must be getting along well with the Zobels. They must be well contented by the regular dividends they receive as the yields of their investments.

Like Singtel, the public, who trade in listed stocks, must also be contended with the returns on their placements.

Here are some recent data culled from postings on the website of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) to show if Singtel has reason to stay invested in Globe.

Singtel has long been the partner of the Ayala Group. It owns 62.6 million common shares, or 47.19 percent, in Globe Telecom Inc. while Ayala Corp. (AC) holds 40.35 million common shares, or 30.4 percent. The Zobels, however, are Globe’s majority stockholders, with their majority ownership thru Ayala Corp. of voting preferred shares.

Together, Singtel and AC control nearly 103 million Globe common shares, or 77.6 percent, while the public hold 29.5 million shares, or 22.25 percent.

SingTel earned a quarterly dividend of P20.75 per share, which amounted to P83 per share for the year for a total of P8.549 billion.

P22-per-share dividend
Recently, Globe raised by 6 percent — from P20.75 per share to P22 — the dividend to holders of 132.7 million common shares. This will entitle Singtel to a total dividend of P1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2016 due to its holdings of 62.6 million common shares.

The dividend, which will be paid on March 4, may reduce Globe’s retained earnings by P2.92 billion per quarter or by P11.68 billion for 2016. But the company’s consistent profitability would enable it to meet the cash needed to pay the P22-per-common share dividend until the end of the year.

Will Globe continue the bonanza for its stockholders until the end of the year? Why not? If Globe paid a total of P11 billion, computed at P2.75 billion in dividend payments per quarter, it can well afford to pay a much higher cash dividend this year.

As of Dec. 31, 2014, Globe reported retained earnings of P10.85 billion after paying a quarterly dividend of P20.75 per common share. By the end of 2015, it had retained earnings of P15.8 billion. The increase shows the consistent profitability of the Zobel- and Singtel-controlled telco.

By the way, aside from common shares, Globe Telecom also pays regular dividends to Zobel-owned Asiacom Philippines Inc., which holds 158.5 million voting preferred shares, and 20 million non-voting preferred shares, which are held by the public.

esdperez@gmail.com.