CEO optimism remains high

A majority of chief executive officers (CEOs) in the Philippines are confident that their organizations will see revenue growth in the next 12 months, despite geopolitical uncertainties, a survey showed.

Results of the survey conducted by PwC Philippines in partnership with the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) showed that 85% of 168 CEOs are optimistic that their companies will post revenue growth in the next 12 months.

The results of the survey, which ran from July 8 to Aug. 9, showed improved optimism compared with the 79% of 157 CEOs who said they were confident of topline growth last year.

Meanwhile, 86% of CEOs are confident of revenue growth in the next three years, slipping from 87% in the previous survey.

The survey also showed that 86% of the CEOs are confident about industry prospects for the next 12 months, higher than the 83% seen in the previous survey. This is the highest level of optimism since the pandemic.

“What helped drive optimism among our CEOs here in the Philippines is mainly our country’s economic growth,” said Karen Patricia A. Rogacion, deals and corporate partner at PwC.

She noted the Philippines recorded faster economic growth despite geopolitical uncertainties, which have affected economies in the United States and Europe.

“When the year started, at the global level, we had a slow start. We are still feeling the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war as well as the impact of China’s real estate crisis,” she said.

“Several economies, such as the US and even Europe, were expecting a recession because of the high interest rates and unstable market conditions. In the Philippines, however, we showed fast growth,” she added.

The Philippine economy grew by 6% in the first six months of the year, hitting the low end of the government’s target of 6-7% this year.

In the survey, CEOs said infrastructure development, domestic consumption, and foreign direct investments are the main drivers of growth in the next 12 months.

“Given the top three drivers, it’s also been consistent that the CEOs say that our government is doing a good job in pushing for infrastructure development, forging stronger relationships with other nations, and also managing inflation,” Ms. Rogacion said.

However, 62% of the CEOs said geopolitical uncertainties arising from the Russia-Ukraine war, conflicts in the West Philippine Sea, and upcoming elections in other countries are keeping them awake at night.

“We have actually been indirectly and directly affected by challenges due to global supply chain pressures, inflation, and other related threats,” she said.

Donald L. Lim, chair of the MAP CEO Conference Committee, said CEOs fear geopolitical uncertainties as these may suddenly disrupt supply chains and operations.

“I think the geopolitics, whether Ukraine-Russia or even the West Philippine Sea, are a great unknown. We don’t know what will happen. But if that happens, it will have a severe impact on the business,” he added.

However, Roderick M. Danao, chairman and senior partner of PwC, said that some companies are already starting to manage and mitigate the effects of geopolitical uncertainties.

“A few local companies have effectively tried to manage to mitigate the effect [through] product diversification, market diversification, and supply-chain diversification,” Mr. Danao said.

“Of course, all of these have to be backed up by long-term risk management plans for the company to adapt and to proactively manage the impact of the geopolitical conflicts,” he added.

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION

Meanwhile, the survey showed that 46% of the CEOs believe that their company will no longer be viable after 10 years if it continues running on its current path.

According to PwC, new technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) are set to revolutionize business models, redefine work processes, and transform industries.

“I always believe that AI will certainly bring more opportunities rather than threats,” said Mr. Danao.

In the survey, 40% of the CEOs said that they have already adopted the technology, while 71% believe that GenAI will change how their companies create, deliver, and capture value.

Even though 78% of the leaders believe that the technology can improve the quality of their company’s products and services, the survey also showed 61% of the CEOs said that they are not yet widely adopting the technology in their operations.

Asked why there is still low adoption, Mr. Danao and Mr. Lim said that AI in the Philippines is still in its nascent stage.

“The awareness is still very low at the Philippine corporate level. We are all excited about what this AI can bring into our organization. But embedding AI is still a work in progress. There will be investments and workforce upskilling needed,” Mr. Danao said.

“We are just at the tip of the iceberg. I think you’ll be lucky to have real AI adoption across the majority, meaning more than 50%, in five years. It will be a long time,” Mr. Lim said.

Mary Jade Roxas-Divinagracia, deals and corporate finance managing partner at PwC, said AI adoption will be led by industries like healthcare, banks, financial institutions, and retail.

“And then you have one of the major industries in the Philippines, the business process outsourcing, and this can be a game changer for them, not just on the risk side, but on the opportunity side as well,” she added.

However, Mr. Lim said that the full adoption of AI may result in job losses if the workforce will not be able to keep up.

“AI won’t replace jobs. Those people who use AI will replace those who do not know how to use it. So, I think the problem is more on education because the teachers do not understand this,” he said.

“So, we have to make sure that the educational system prepares our next three batches of graduates to use and harness AI. Will there be a loss of jobs? I think there will be. Because it won’t be able to catch up,” he added.

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Source: Business World

More Filipinos tap BNPL services as credit access remains limited

The use of buy now, pay later (BNPL) services among Filipinos increased in the first quarter from the previous year amid limited access to credit and lending products, according to a study by TransUnion.

TransUnion’s Consumer Pulse Study showed that among the Filipino respondents who said they have heard of BNPL, which was at 82% of the total, 63% said they made at least one BNPL transaction in the past year, up from 61% in the first quarter of 2023.

The survey was conducted from Feb. 6-14 and covered 977 Filipino consumers aged 18 years and older.

Gen Z’s drove the increase in the use of BNPL services, with 81% being aware of these products and 65% saying they used BNPL in the past 12 months, up from 57% a year prior, which was the biggest increase among all generations.

“Gen Z’s technological literacy and personal financial outlook appeared to contribute to a trend observed with buy now, pay later services — an alternative credit-enabled payment method that allows consumers to immediately finance purchases and pay them back in fixed installments over a relatively short period of time,” TransUnion said.

Easy application was the top reason Gen Zs cited for using BNPL, along with simply wanting to try it (17%), spreading payments over time (11%) and as an alternative to afford a larger purchase (11%).

Meanwhile, 68% of Millennials who claimed awareness of BNPL (86%) said they made at least one BNPL purchase in the period, TransUnion said.

“For many Filipinos, buy now, pay later services offer financial convenience and flexibility by letting them tailor their payment terms to best suit their needs and preferences,” said Weihan Sun, principal of Research and Consulting for Asia Pacific at TransUnion.

“With the noted increase in usage of such services among consumers, especially the younger generation, businesses and other players in the formal financial sector must develop robust underwriting systems to efficiently cater to the expectations of an increasingly digital savvy demographic. This entails striking a delicate balance between capitalizing on the growing opportunities and mitigating potential risks in terms of operational efficiency and delinquency management,” Mr. Sun added.

The study showed that 96% of Filipino respondents see credit as important in achieving their financial goals, TransUnion said. However, only 35% of them said they have sufficient access to credit and lending products, down from 46% in the same period last year, the study showed.

Of the Filipinos surveyed, Gen Z, or those aged 18-26, said they had the least access to credit and lending products at 32%. This was followed by Baby Boomers (30%), Millennials (28%) and Gen X (26%). 

Majority or 88% of the survey’s Gen Z Filipino respondents said they carried out online transactions in the first quarter. Meanwhile, 89% of them said they expected their income to increase in the next 12 months.

MONITORING CREDIT, FRAUD

Amid increased online transactions, TransUnion’s study also found that more Filipinos are monitoring their credit, with 70% of the respondents saying checked their credit reports at least monthly, up from 65% last year.

“This uptick reflects a growing awareness of the importance of credit health and its implications on financial opportunities,” it said.

The age group that checked their credit reports the most was Millennials at 75%, followed by Gen Z at 74%, Gen X at 65%, and Baby Boomers at 56%.

The Gen Z respondents who said they did not monitor their credit reports also went down to 14% from 17% at end-2023.

“Over the past year, the percentage of Gen Z Filipinos who said they do not monitor their credit reports fell every quarter — all the way from 29% in Q1 2023,” TransUnion said.

The top reason for Gen Zs checking their credit reports was for protection against fraud at 55%. This was followed by finding ways to improve their credit score (34%) and to learn about possible credit offers (30%).

“Among methods employed by fraudsters, phishing — the deceptive practice of masquerading as a trustworthy entity in e-mails or via websites to steal sensitive information — was the most reported scheme (49%) among Filipinos who said they were targeted with online, e-mail, phone call or text messaging fraud attempts in the last three months,” TransUnion said.

“Other common fraud methods reported were smishing (43%) — similar to phishing but conducted through SMS text messaging — and money or gift card scams — where victims are deceived into sending money or purchasing gift cards under false pretenses (36%),” it added.

Younger generations showed growing awareness of these kinds of financial scams, it said, as Gen Z Filipinos who said they were not aware of being targeted by fraudulent schemes in the last three months dropped to 28% from 37% last year.

“As technology advances, consumers now have access to a variety of payment options that cater to their preferences. Yet, alongside the growth of digital convenience comes the inherent risk of fraud. Although it is encouraging to see the increased ability of younger Filipinos to recognize fraudulent schemes, fraudsters remain relentless in their efforts to adapt and exploit vulnerabilities,” Mr. Sun said. 

“These dynamics underscore the critical need for proactive fraud prevention strategies which encompass robust security measures and continuous consumer education by financial institutions. As more members of Gen Z enter the consumer market, implementing multi-layered defenses against fraud while ensuring friction-right customer experiences becomes crucial for the long-term success of all financial institutions in the country,” he added.

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Source: Business World

Jobless rate drops to 3.5% in February

The labor market improved in February from a month earlier as the number of jobless Filipinos fell, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Thursday.

At 3.5 percent, the unemployment rate was markedly lower than January's 4.5 percent and the year-earlier 4.8 percent.

This was equivalent to 1.80 million unemployed Filipinos, 350,000 less than January's 2.15 million. It was likewise lower than the 2.47 million in February last year.

Underemployment — defined by the PSA as those who "expressed the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job, to have additional job, or to have a new job with longer hours of work" — also improved to 12.4 percent from 13.9 percent in January and the year-earlier 12.9 percent.

The underemployed numbered 6.08 million, lower than January's 6.4 million and February 2023's 6.29 million.

Employment, meanwhile, rose to 96.5 percent from 95.5 percent in January and 95.2 percent 12 months earlier.

The number of individuals with jobs reached 48.95 million, up from 45.94 million in January and February 2023's 48.80 million.

Services continued to account for the bulk of jobs at 60.6 percent, followed by agriculture at 21.3 percent and industry at 18.1 percent.

The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) — the number of persons in the labor force as a percentage of the working-age population — was 64.8 percent, higher than January's 61.1 percent but lower than the year-earlier 66.6 percent.

The LFPR "translates to 50.75 million Filipinos ages 15 years old and over who were in the labor force, or those who were either employed or unemployed," the PSA said in a statement.

A year earlier, those ages 15 years old and over who were in the labor force numbered 51.27 million, while in January they totaled 48.09 million.

The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), in a separate statement, said the government would continue to promote policies that would attract job-creating investments.

It noted that aside from lower unemployment and underemployment, improvements were also recorded for wage and salaried employment, middle-skilled occupations and full-time work.

"The government remains resolute in creating an enabling policy and regulatory environment to attract employment-generating investments," Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said.

"We will also continue to implement measures to address bottlenecks and expedite processes to realize investment pledges, particularly in priority sectors holding much promise, such as renewable energy and critical minerals," he added.

The Inter-Agency Investment Promotion Coordination Committee was said to be working on creating a plan for promoting and marketing foreign investments over the medium and long term.

The rapid progress of the government's infrastructure projects, housing program and the revival of the tourism sector were tagged as factors leading to the labor market gains.

The lower year-on-year LFPR, meanwhile, was said to be due to 669,000 youth and 404,000 women having withdrawn from the labor force.

"The needs of vulnerable groups, including women, youth, older people, and those with disabilities, remain our priority to encourage workforce participation," Balisacan said.

The NEDA chief added that the government was also planning to update policies like the Telecommuting Act to better suit the changing nature of work, especially with more people wanting to work remotely.

To help workers improve both their technical and interpersonal skills, and build a more flexible workforce, the government was said to be pushing for the approval of the proposed Apprenticeship, Lifelong Learning and Enterprise Productivity bills.

With the implementing rules of the Trabaho Para sa Bayan Act — the government's master plan for employment generation — also having been issued last month, the NEDA said that it had launched an online survey about the public's perception of what constituted a "quality" job.

The poll, which can be accessed via the NEDA's Facebook and X accounts, will run until April 21.

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Source: Manila Times