FMIC exploring biz opportunities in Asean

MANILA, Philippines - First Metro Investment Crop. (FMIC), the fund manager of the Metrobank Group, is exploring business opportunities in various countries in the region ahead of the ASEAN economic integration in 2015, a top company official said.

At the company’s stockholders’ meeting yesterday, FMIC president Roberto Juanchito Dispo said they expect to enter into two to three regional transactions with five ASEAN countries Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia this year.

The partnership, he said, could either be in the form of fund-raising through debt-equity and/or financial advisory all related to investment banking.

Dispo said they have recently forged a strategic alliance with DBS of Singapore to facilitate equity trading to and from Singapore and Philippines.

He said similar initiatives have been started with Tokai, the fourth largest investment bank in Japan.

The FMIC official said they have also organized and led exploratory missions to Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Vietnam in a bid to gain footholds in these emerging economies, while continuing to boost deal-making forays into China.

“We are building stable regional partnership, one that will open up a more diverse client base as well as alternative sources of transaction flows and revenue streams for businesses both here and abroad,” he said.

“First Metro is prepping than ever for the tiger integration among ASEAN economies in 2015. The looming change poses a threat, yes but it also offers vast opportunities. We will be there to grab them,” he added.

He said these strategic alliances would not only support FMIC’s effort to earn up to P3 billion this year, on the back of a still relatively healthy Philippine economy which FMIC projected to settle at a growth rate of 7.5 percent to eight percent at the end of the year.