APS Daily Market Insights August 4

 Senators Still Undecided on Tax Reform. Yesterday, the ways and means committee had a meeting to tackle the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion Bill. However, the team did not reach any decision according to committee chairman Juan Edgardo Angara. Discussions in the meeting included the proposed taxes on petroleum, sweet beverages, and ways to cushion the impact to the poor. The proposed tax on the sugar sweetened beverages poses a risk for consumer stocks like URC, LTG, JFC, and PIP as it will definitely affect the margins of these companies when the additional tax measures are passed.

 Logistics Faults to Surface in Shift to E-commerce. With Singapore taking over the chairmanship of the ASEAN next year, plans to focus on e-commerce initiative to improve regional trade, and the possibility of exposing infrastructure and technology gaps in the Philippines arises. According to PSBC chairman Loh Chin Hua, the Philippines are lagging in terms of infrastructure and technology which are essential factors for the success of the logistics industry; this poses a threat for logistic companies in the Philippines such as 2GO, LBC, and CLC which is to conduct its IPO listing on August 8. However, the growing e-commerce trend is also an opportunity for SSI which has the largest brand portfolio among retail companies.