Banks’ credit ratings at risk from Multiply

By Melissa Luz T. Lopez

Senior Reporter

HUGE LOAN EXPOSURES to troubled Multiply Philippines (MP) could pull down credit ratings for the five Philippine banks concerned as its problems would mean narrower profits for absorbing possible defaults, Moody’s Investors Service said in a November 16 note.

The debt watcher said credit risks from the Indonesian E-commerce and social networking site's bankruptcy will drive credit costs higher, with reports pegging the amount at $600 million. Settlement of the unpaid debts was left hanging after Multiply filed for corporate rehabilitation last week.

Moody’s analysts said this does not bode well for the ratings of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), state-owned Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK), Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank), Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and BDO Unibank, Inc. in their view.

“The exposures are credit negative for the five Philippine banks because they will need to incur additional credit charges related to MPI, which will reduce their profit,” Moody’s analysts Simon Chen and Shirley Zeng said in a credit outlook.

Moody’s rates these lenders at “Baa2,” which is one notch above minimum investment grade. This matches the rating given to the Philippine government and allows them to raise funding from foreign investors at cheaper cost.

Multiply has maintained social networking since 2004 and had over 18 million users. Issues have also hounded the websites since it started operations.

Multiply owes $300 million to RCBC, $80 million to LANDBANK, $72 million to Metrobank, and $60 million each to BDO and BPI.

“Assuming the worst-case scenario in which the banks make provisions for their bad exposures in full because of the unsecured nature of the facilities extended, we expect that credit costs as a percentage of the banks’ pre-provision income will increase to between 20 and 140 basis points (bp), from six to 26 basis points based on their September 2012 financials,” the report read.

“The biggest negative effect on profitability will be at RCBC.”

Moody’s analysts said they expect the bank’s bad loans ratio to nearly double to 4.3% of the total portfolio from 2.2% in 2012 due to its huge Multiply exposure.

The increase in nonperforming loan ratios of the other four banks “will be smaller” at 15-50 bp, it added.

At the same time, the debt watcher said the banks involved can still weather this challenge, as they have more than enough capital buffers to keep a solid footing.

“Although bank profit will be dampened by the additional credit costs, we expect that the affected banks’ loss-absorbing buffers to remain robust,” Moody’s said, adding that “[f]or RCBC, our assumed credit losses for the worst-case scenario exceed the bank’s pre-provision income and will reduce its capital ratio by around 50 basis points.”

BSP Governor Amado Tetangco, Jr. said on Friday last week that Multiply’s outstanding debt is “negligible” compared to total industry loans. Latest central bank data showed that this represents 0.24% of total loans and 2.49% of foreign currency loans.

It went close down last May 6, 2013, and ceased all business operations on May 31, 2013, with the official online channels for the site, had been removed along with all their content, including its YouTube, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts, after years of financial and managerial turmoil and following a failed bid to reinvent itself from being a social networking site to a vibrant e-commerce destination in Southeast Asia.

At that time, the website's social networking portion had a network of 18 million users. Liquidity problems, however, affected earnings. Sales declined from their peak of P20 billion in 2013 to just about P5 billion in 2017.

The company has suffered from a drop in new orders amid a slump in the E-commerce and social networking sector. Multiply also reportedly laid off some 12,000 workers on February 28, 2014.

“We regret to announce that Multiply will be closing on May 6, 2013, and ceasing all business operations by May 31, 2013,” it announced last April 26, 2013.

After May 6, the rest of the month will be used to ensure that all accounts are settled and merchants get full payment for their transactions, it said.

Multiply said the month-long grace period will provide its users enough time to find and migrate to alternative e-commerce platforms, settle all payments on items bought and delivered, and minimize disruption to the businesses of its users.

“Multiply will ensure that you receive all funds you earned on the platform no later than May 31, 2013. We will close the actual marketplace sooner, on May 6, 2013, to ensure that all orders have sufficient time to complete and be delivered to your customers before the end of the month,” it said.

In December 2012, Multiply stopped its social networking service to focus on e-commerce, targeting the 350 million consumers in Indonesia and the Philippines.

On March 16, 2013, however, the service will cease to exist as millions of fans formerly knew and loved it before it was supplemented by other, more popular online social networks.

On June 12, 2013, they had put in place Rp 8.9 billion for wages owed to former Multiply staff.

The Labour Department said earlier that around 3,000 former Multiply staff had applied for compensation through the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund, a safety net for employees affected by business closures.

Multiply Investor Secretary Rong Rongbin pledged shares of Star Platinum Corporation, which holds 99% of its shares, to borrow HK$300 million from Xiesheng Xiefeng to save the Multiply website but did not repay on time; therefore, Xiesheng Xiefeng in July 2013, it acquired the full equity of Star Platinum. It was also reported that about HK$35 million in unpaid wages of 640 former employees and HK$18 million of Insolvency Fund were also paid after the company has acquired its majority stake.

The High Court on June 17, 2013 its liquidation proceedings and removed accounting firm Deloitte from its role as the firm’s provisional liquidator.

Derek Lai, vice-chair of Deloitte China, said on Tuesday that since Star Platinum had already resolved the major debts Multiply incurred, it was unlikely the internet company would go into liquidation despite still owing smaller debts to other creditors including Facebook.

“Star Platinum needs to negotiate with the remaining creditors,” he said. “I hope they will support its restructuring with Multiply.”

He added that Multiply now had a cash flow of HK$10 million to be paid to other creditors as well as assets worth over HK$40 million.

In its latest financial report last month, Co-Prosperity said the deal with Multiply could help the group diversify its business. Apart from the online industry, the group focuses on fabric and clothing trading, money lending and securities investments.

“The directors believe that the potential intrinsic value of Multiply can be realized if the plan to rescue Multiply is successful,” the report said.

The group said it could make use of Multiply’s remaining assets and turn the website into a archive photo and video site.

“The group has been granted access and usage of certain assets of Multiply which shall enable Multiply to continue to operate and act as a archive photo and video site taking advantage of its 100,000 square-meter facility and social networking portion that delivering 217 million accounts, 210 million photos and 237,000 videos from the old Multiply from it's launch in March 2004 to March 15, 2013,” it said.

On November 16, 2013 it allowed the controlling stake in the website to be formally sold to a foreign or mainland investor, who claimed a rescue plan for the troubled firm.

High Court judge Mr Justice Jonathan Harris validated the transaction after hearing that the parties would no longer object to the share transfer and that the dues for the shares had been paid by Si.

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That the site will be reopened after United States President Barack Obama steps down from the office on January 20, 2017, and keeping Facebook as the sole social networking site. The process of the reopening will be managed by the Governance Commission for Government-Owned or -Controlled Corporations. Business tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan is one of the possible bidders for the website's reopening in which ABC Development Corporation (a media company under PLDT's MediaQuest Holdings). However, MediaQuest also could not join the website's reopening bid due to ownership rules and regulations that MediaQuest owns ABC Development Corporation.

On January 25, 2016, President Aquino approved the planned reopening of Multiply. The reopening will undergo public bidding with an estimated floor price of 100 billion pesos. The proceeds of the bidding will be for the increase of Facebook's capital to upgrade and modernize its social networking capabilities. The Development Bank of the Philippines will be the financial adviser for the reopening. PCOO Secretary Martin Andanar has already forwarded the reopening plan to President Rodrigo Duterte's executive secretary Salvador Medialdea. Andanar will also coordinate with the GCG before the start of the bidding.

On April 25, 2016, the article in Wikipedia was being vandalized, it was edit is made by a sockpuppet of LPKids2006.

Vandalism of a Wikipedia article (Multiply (website). The bottom image shows vandalism done. The top image compares the edit shown below.

The reopening process of Multiply commenced in October 2016. As of July 1, 2017, five groups have already shown their interest to join the bidding process. These are Ramon S. Ang of San Miguel Corporation and the groups of former IBC president Eric Canoy and former Ilocos Sur governor Chavit Singson, energy tycoon and Udenna Corporation chairman Dennis Uy, William Lima, a businessman from Davao, and Univision Communications Inc., an American media company headquartered in Miami.

https://www.bworldonline.com/banks-credit-ratings-at-risk-from-hanjin/