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– Article mentions Globe Telecom of Philippines paying a dividend yield of about 8.50%.I mentioned this stock in my post How to invest in Philippines?
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Among the frontier markets, investors have often overlooked the Philippines. With a population of about 91 million and a stable manufacturing and service-based economy, the country offers several good investment options. Goldman Sachs included Philippines in its “Next Eleven” list of countries. This year the economy is projected to grow 3.6%.
Some of the reasons to invest in Philippines include:
Source: IMF
According to a recent article, the banking and utility sector has interesting opportunities for investors.Currently there is no country-specific ETF for Philippines. However in February, iShares filed papers to launch a Philippines ETF. This ETF will be heavily concentrated in utilities, telecommunications and financials.
The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company accounts for about one-fourth of the benchmark PSE Composite Index. Its ADR trades under the ticker PHI in the New York Stock Exchange. It has a dividend yield of 6.17%. The company is well-positioned in the industry and is expected to experience accelerated growth with its broadband service. Some of the largest companies such as Ayala (OTC: AYALY), Globe Telecom (GTMEY), Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company(OTC: MTPOY), etc. trade on the OTC markets. The complete list can be found here.
Seven more banks failed last Friday bringing the total number of bank failures in the U.S. to 57 so far this year. While most of the failed banks are acquired by other strong domestic banks, a few foregin banks are gettting into the game.
From a Wall Street Journal article titled “Foreign firms sccop up failed US banks” last week:
“Toronto-Dominion Bank of Canada bought three Florida banks that failed last Friday, while Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. acquired one in California. The four purchases increase the number of failed U.S. banks scooped up by non-U.S. banks to seven since the start of 2009. A total of 190 banks have been seized by regulators, including 50 so far this year, most of which have been bought.
International buyers are lured to broken financial institutions because, like U.S. banks, they think the worst is over for the battered U.S. banking industry. First-quarter earnings reports are adding to optimism that loan losses have peaked, even though lenders still are grappling with high loan-default rates and suffering real-estate portfolios.”
With the purchase of above three banks, TD Bank now has 103 branches in Florida. Unlike TD, the other four large Canadian banks do not seem to be interested in expanding their footprint further in the US market.
On a related note, here is an interesting chart on the growth of banking sector profits:
Click to Enlarge
Source: Bloomberg Businessweek
The table below lists 27 US stocks trading on the NYSE with market capitalization of over $10B and dividend yields greater than 4%:
[TABLE=481]
Stocks from the energy and utility sectors dominate this list. Cigarette makers, consumer staple stocks and drug makers are also represented.Pfizer, Merck and AT&T have market caps in excess of $100B.
