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     T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                            A S I A   P A C I F I C

             Wednesday, May 17, 2000, Vol. 3, No. 96

                                   Headlines


* A U S T R A L I A *

AMP: Court OKs sueing it [See corrected story following]
AMP LIMITED: Media reports corrected on GIO class action
LEND LEASE: Withdraws MLC vote offer
LIBERTYONE: Hostile tactics behind share fall?
PASMINCO: Legal team to announce new action against
REINSURANCE AUSTRALIA CORP.: Must answer solvency question
TELSTRA CORP.: Hits funding hurdles


* C H I N A  &  H O N G  K O N G *

CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUC.HLDGS.: Reports on loan ags to HKSE
GUANGNAN (HOLDINGS): Large debt maturing June 2
HONGKONG.COM: Posts 1st quarter loss
MAGICIAN INDUS.(HLDGS.): HKSE update on trading suspension
SOUNDWILL HOLDINGS: In debt rehab pact with bank creditors


* J A P A N *

DEUTSCHE SECURITIES: SESC probe uncovers violations


* K O R E A *

CHO HUNG BANK: FSS limits Cerberus to 4 percent stake
DAEWOO MOTOR: Labor force favoring Ford over GM
HYUNDAI MOTOR: To spin off, add Inchon Steel to group
KIA MOTOR: To spin off, add Inchon Steel to group
SAEHAN GROUP: Slicing affiliates from dozen to 3


* M A L A Y S I A *

HO WAH GENTING BHD: Projects rehab completion by 4Q
CELCOM SDN: Gets debt payment extension
NALURI BHD: Gets debt payment extension
TIME ENGINEERING: Facing prospect of unravelling
TIME dot.COM: Khazanah now steps into negotiations


* P H I L I P P I N E S *

FORTUNE TOBACCO CORP.: Seeks to continue BIR lawsuit
PHILIPPINE NAT.BANK: Tan okays auction delay to June 9
SAN MIGUEL CORP.: Suffers P5million opportunity loss


* S I N G A P O R E *

CHEW EU HOCK: Share short-sellers bleeding red
MEDI-RAD: Share short-sellers bleeding red
NUCLEUS ELECTRONICS: Share short-sellers bleeding red
PARKWAY LAB: Share short-sellers bleeding red


* T H A I L A N D *

ADVANCE PAINT AND CHEMICAL: Posts 1st quarter loss
ASIAN MARINE SERVICES: Posts 1st quarter loss
BANGKOK BANK: Sells stake in Kamolkij Co.
BUMRUNGRAD HOSPITAL: Posts 1st quarter loss
CHIANG MAI MEDICAL SERVICES: Posts 1st quarter loss
CMIC RUANG KHAO HIGH INCOME: Posts 1st quarter loss
COUNTRY (THAILAND): Posts 1st quarter loss
DATAMAT: Posts 1st quarter loss
DIANA DEPT.STORE: Posts 1st quarter loss
EMC: Posts 1st quarter loss
JALAPRATHAN CEMENT: Posts 1st quarter loss
MODERN HOME DEVELOPMENT: Posts 1st quarter loss
SCB MUNKHONG 5 FUND: Posts 1st quarter loss
SCB PRIME GROWTH FUND: Posts 1st quarter loss
SIAM STEEL INT'L: Debt-to-equity swap ahead
SOUTHERN CONCRETE PILE: Post 1st quarter loss
T.C.J. MOTOR: Posts 1st quarter loss


=================
A U S T R A L I A
=================

AMP: Court OKs sueing it  [See corrected story following]
------------------------
Yesterday's court decision opening the way for a class
action by aggrieved GIO shareholders to proceed will add
more spice to next week's AMP annual general meeting.

The shareholders are seeking up to $600 million in damages
over last year's hostile AMP takeover bid.  GIO Australia
Holdings, now owned fully by AMP, and adviser Grant Samuel
& Associates and nine former directors yesterday failed to
stop a class action against them over the AMP takeover
launched in September 1998.

The Federal Court's Justice Michael Moore dismissed
applications to strike out the action, and put over the
matter to May 22 for directions.  It was unclear yesterday
whether the respondents to the class action would appeal
the decision.  An AMP spokesman said the group was
considering its options.

With AMP shares hovering at $14.85 and its income
securities at $92.10 - a steep discount to the issue price,
new chairman Mr Stan Wallis will have to confront
shareholders in Melbourne on Thursday with more grim news
and the ongoing headache of the disastrous GIO acquisition.

All the company's directors, excepting Mr Wallis and Ms
Carolyn Hewson, will come up for re-election. AMP has
already foreshadowed it could add another two non-executive
directors, with some analysts pushing for more representa-
tives from the UK, which now accounts for half of AMP's
asset base.

Investors will also vote on the issue of 1.28 million
options to managing director Mr Paul Batchelor, with a
strike price of $15.93.  The executive director of the
Australian Shareholders Association, Mr Tony McLean, said
the association would be raising a number of issues with
the AMP board that would become clearer next week.

AMP looked to have taken much of the heat out of the
meeting with the resignation of chairman Mr Ian Burgess
last month, but it is again on the back foot over its track
record.  Despite the gloom, some analysts say that
investors are running out of reasons to sell AMP shares.

One broking analyst said it was possible that AMP's share
price could turn the corner in coming months as investors
redirected their focus to the company's earnings outlook
for next year.  This analyst said a return to normal
earnings at GIO, the integration of NPI in the UK and an
end to losses at AMP Banking, as well as other one-offs,
should see AMP earnings return to more normal levels of
about $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion in 2001, before
abnormals.

AMP earned a steady net profit of $1.05 billion in 1999
before writing off $1.47 billion in losses relating to the
GIO acquisition.  But yesterday's court hearing is a
reminder that the GIO issue won't go away.  In asking the
Federal Court judge to strike out the action, the
respondents were pushing for each members of the class
action to have an individual claim against each respondent.

Mr Bernard Murphy, the Maurice Blackburn Cashman lawyer
acting for the litigants, said a class action was the only
possible way to run such a case.

"People will choose not to exercise their rights, because
they won't individually take on a corporation this size,"
Mr Murphy said.  "This is going to take a while to make the
courts but it's a strong claim that will ultimately succeed
when it gets to court."  (Sydney Morning Herald  13-May-
2000)  [Note: correction to story that follows]

AMP LIMITED: Media reports corrected on GIO class action
--------------------------------------------------------
The Sydney Morning Herald of Saturday 13 May 2000 reported
in an article regarding the GIO class action hearing
currently before Mr Justice Moore of the Federal Court of
Australia that "A judge has cleared the way for 33,000
aggrieved GIO shareholders to mount a joint damages case
against AMP".

This statement and the headline, "Green light for 33,000 to
take on AMP giant", is misleading and requires correction.

Together with its former directors and adviser, Grant
Samuel, GIO Holdings Australia Limited, a fully owned
subsidiary of AMP Limited, is a party to the class action
and not AMP as the Sydney Morning Herald states.

AMP is not party to and has not initiated any legal action
regarding the GIO takeover. As the bidder, AMP relied on
publicly available information issued by the former GIO
directors prior to, and during, the takeover, as did other
GIO shareholders. In those circumstances, AMP will continue
to investigate and consider its legal options. These are
likely to include actions against former directors of GIO
and their advisers. (Sydney Morning Herald  15-May-2000)

LEND LEASE: Withdraws MLC vote offer
------------------------------------
Lend Lease has decided not to give shareholders the
opportunity to vote on the $4.6 billion sale of its prized
financial services arm, MLC, but may reward them with an
increased cash payout.

When the sale of MLC to NAB was announced a month ago, Lend
Lease said the deal would be subject to a shareholder
meeting to be held in June.  But this week, the chairman,
Mr Stuart Hornery, has written to shareholders advising
that following discussions, "the Australian Stock Exchange
has confirmed that shareholder approval for the sale of MLC
is not required under the listing rules," and the sale can
be completed without a shareholder meeting at the end of
June once the necessary regulatory approvals are gained.

That might surprise but under the present stock exchange
rules - which require a shareholder meeting only when the
"main undertaking" is sold - Lend Lease never actually
needed a meeting. MLC, which in the latest accounts
provided 40 per cent of the after tax profit and 34 per
cent of the total assets under management, was not the
"main undertaking."

"The directors were always of the view that the transaction
was the right one for the shareholders," said group
executive, Mr Dick Morath. "Once it became clear that they
did not need a meeting they were happy to do their job."

Shareholders will eventually get their say, with a meeting
planned for August 18, the day after the company releases
it full financial year results.  Mr Hornery said the board
will be seeking shareholder approval for the return of a
significant portion of the proceeds to shareholders.

"We are currently in discussions with the Australian
Taxation Office on the amount and form of this return," Mr
Hornery said.  "Our intention is to return as much of the
proceeds as possible consistent with maintaining a prudent
capital structure and our other corporate objectives."

The words have raised expectations that the company may be
planning to return more to shareholders than the $1.5
billion estimated at the time the deal was announced.

At that time, Lend Lease managing director, Mr David
Higgins, estimated that of the $4.6 billion gained from the
sale, around $1.5 billion would be returned to
shareholders, $1 billion would be used to retire debt, $800
million would go in tax - nearly enough to pay the Timor
levy - and around $1.3 billion would be retained in the
company.

Clearly the return - in the form of capital or a buy back -
is dependent on the discussions with the ATO and some
institutions have indicated that they would prefer Lend
Lease to return more capital, so it was not forced to make
acquisitions simply to spend it.

"We have always said that we would return at least $1.5
billion," Mr Morath said on Friday. (Australian Financial
Review  13-May-2000)

LIBERTYONE: Hostile tactics behind share fall?
----------------------------------------------
It may have faced a barrage of offshore selling but
Internet group LibertyOne suspects its crumbling share
price has been the result of some hostile trading tactics.

LibertyOne shares have fallen more than 75 per cent in the
past two months, slipping below their adjusted float price
of 50c shortly after Easter.  Almost 150 million of
LibertyOne's 264 million free float of shares have turned
over in that time, with brokers attributing most of the
selling to overseas institutions.

However, LibertyOne believes it has been the victim of a
manipulative seller putting large sell orders on the stock
at a price slightly above the market price.  The process of
putting on sell orders just out of the money applies
downward pressure on the stock, as potential buyers pull
out of the market in fear their buy orders will be swamped
by the selling.

LibertyOne refused to comment on the issue. However, it is
understood the company has reported the matter to the
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) and the Australian
Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The ASX is
understood to be examining the matter.

Market talk suggested Intersuisse was the broker
responsible for the sell orders. However, equities manager
Mr Andrew Sekely said any rumour which suggested his firm
was involved was "absolute rubbish."  Mr Sekely said
Intersuisse had been a less active trader in LibertyOne
than several other brokers, although he did not deny the
company had put in some large sell orders.

"The real issue with LibertyOne is that for the past couple
of months two brokers have sold a total of 25 million
shares, and bought hardly any," Mr Sekely said. "In terms
of activity, there has been about seven brokers who have
been more active than us.  I know there is a lot of concern
about people sitting just above the market with a sell
order, but you can't do that sort of thing, unless you have
stock to sell on the market."

The selling brokers are Ord Minnett, which has sold 17
million shares and bought just 500,000, and Credit Suisse
First Boston, which has sold 8 million shares and bought
400,000.  An Ord Minnett broker also denied his firm had
put any sell orders above market price.  LibertyOne closed
at 33c on Friday, well below its float price, which after a
4-for-1 share split, has been adjusted to 50c.

Several of LibertyOne's founding executives, including
managing director Mr Graham Bristow, are unable to sell
their shares until December this year, when escrow
conditions are lifted.  The correction in the LibertyOne
share price has stripped millions from the paper wealth of
LibertyOne's founding shareholders, Mr Bristow, Mr Jackie
Au Yeung, Mr Sean Neylon and Mr John B Fairfax's Marinya
holdings.

Mr Bristow has seen about $55 million in paper profits
disappear, Mr Au Yeung $6.4 million, Mr Neylong $2.6
million and Marinya about $40 million. (Sydney Morning
Herald  15-May-2000)

PASMINCO: Legal team to announce new action against
---------------------------------------------------
The legal team, pursuing a class action against Pasminco on
behalf of more than 1,000 residents living near its
smelters, says it will announce a new legal action within
days.

The initial action, taken under the Trade Practices Act,
was thrown out of the Federal Court yesterday, after the
judge found that smelters at Lake Macquarie, in New South
Wales, and in South Australia were not "trading" emissions
with local residents.  Lawyer Paul Gambin, from the firm
Coleman and Grieg, says the decision is a small setback,
but the class action will go ahead.

"I don't want to give too much away about our legal
strategy,but suffice to say that we have alternative
actions that we plan to take immediately," he said. "I mean
the community came to us for help and my firm made a
commitment to them and we stand by our commitment to these
communities.  I mean we consider that over a thousand
victims is just an outrageous situtation to exist and we're
not going to walk away from this."  (ABC News Online  13-
May-2000)

REINSURANCE AUSTRALIA CORP.: Must answer solvency question
----------------------------------------------------------
Troubled Reinsurance Australia Corporation will be under
pressure to clarify whether it is still solvent as
shareholders gather in Sydney this morning for the
company's annual general meeting.

With the industry regulator, the Australian Prudential and
Regulatory Authority, having appointed an inspector to the
company earlier this month to manage the run-off of its
liabilities, it remains unclear whether the process will
leave anything for shareholders, who have largely given up
all hope for the group in the wake of its $467 million
annual loss.

ReAC is the third listed Australian insurer, after GIO and
New Cap Re, to hit solvency problems after a string of
natural disasters last year.  Shareholders also face the
unusual task of entering their annual meeting with no
directors to elect after one, Mr Nick Steffey, resigned
last week while another candidate, Stephen Matthews, has
been sent to jail.

With talk of a possible GIO-like class action against the
company, ReAC directors may also be called on to explain
last week's exit of Mr Steffey.  Chairman Mr Peter
Cadwallader is yet to comment on Mr Steffey's departure.

While there has been some suggestion that Mr Steffey has
gone overseas, he was spotted in Sydney last week. Mr
Steffey, the former GIO managing director, is one
respondent in the GIO class action, which on Friday took
another step forward when GIO failed to have the action
struck out.

Shareholders will have difficulty electing Matthews, who
was jailed for three months earlier this month after being
convicted of contempt of court, just one day after he sent
a letter to ReAC shareholders outlining an ambitious plan
to turn the company around by short-selling tech and media
stocks.

In February last year, the Australian Securities and
Investments Commission obtained an injunction preventing
Matthews from publishing stock reports on his chat site,
The Chimes. He continued to do so, in breach of ASIC's
interim orders, and was charged with contempt of court. He
pleaded guilty and was given a suspended two-month sentence
last June, but he continued to publish his reports and it
was the second contempt of court charge that sent him to
jail. (Sydney Morning Herald  15-May-2000)

TELSTRA CORP.: Hits funding hurdles
-----------------------------------
Telstra Corp has been forced to review plans for $4 billion
of offshore borrowings after turmoil in European bond
markets spooked investors.

Telstra's finance executives were told during a just
completed two-week European roadshow that the company would
not be able to issue bonds in the volume and maturities it
wanted.

The bond market rebuff is the latest in a series of
setbacks for Telstra, including a 20 per cent fall in the
price of its ordinary shares in the past two months, the
disintegration of a complex deal involving Solution 6 and
Sausage Software and the potential repricing of a $6.5
billion alliance with Pacific Century CyberWorks in Hong
Kong.

Telstra's offshore fund raising has been stymied by the
sudden realisation that global capital markets may find it
difficult to fund the enormous costs of the mobile phone
auctions in Europe.  It is estimated that up to $380
billion will be needed over the next two years to pay for
the third generation, or 3G, mobile phone services being
sold in Europe.

Analysts have raised doubts that that amount of money would
be available for telecommunications companies and their
uncertainty has been reflected in a sell-off of corporate
bonds in Europe.  Telstra officials declined to comment on
the outcome of their European roadshow.

Despite the apparently negative feedback, however, senior
finance executives were said to be "pretty keen to approach
the market in the near future."  Mr Paul Rizzo, managing
director, finance and administration, and corporate
treasurer Mr Cliff Davis are believed to have returned to
Australia on Friday.

According to a source close to the company, who declined to
be named, "They just had the message reinforced that
spreads for telcos were blowing out. The message they have
got is that it is still OK to borrow, but they might not
get a big jumbo away. There is still a question mark over
maturities. Also, the way issues are marketed will be very
important."

This assessment appeared to be distinctly upbeat,
considering the circumstances under which the roadshow was
conducted. While Mr Rizzo and Mr Davis made their pitch to
investors, Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service
downgraded the company's credit rating. While the
downgrades had been expected, S&P's decision to keep its
rating on creditwatch negative was an unpleasant surprise.

The spread on the company's domestic bonds - and its share
price - blew out on the Budget announcement of the sale of
third-generation mobile telephony spectrum, regarded as
having negative implications for telco balance sheets.
The Treasurer, Mr Peter Costello, said he had received "bad
news, very bad news" from Telstra about its future
dividends.

At the same time, European investors were growing
increasingly wary of the telco sector following the
extremely high bids for 3G spectrum in Britain, and the
expectation of a similar outcome for a 3G auction in
Germany. International Financing Review magazine estimated
the sector would seek 240 billion ($380 billion) of funding
during the next six months.

The roadshow had been organised with the intention of
sounding out investor appetite for a possible 1 billion
deal, proceeds from which had been earmarked for the pay-
down of a domestic bank loan. The loan had been arranged to
finance a special dividend payment to the Government as
part of the T2 privatisation.

Shortly before the roadshow began, Telstra announced its
$6.5 billion strategic alliance with Hong Kong-based
Pacific Century CyberWorks. The roadshow agenda was
expanded to include a possible $US1.5 billion ($2.58
billion) global bond issue to fund a cash injection into
PCCW.

By the time the team left for Europe, bond market
conditions had weakened sufficiently for them to consider a
euro-yen issue as back-up in case they were unable to issue
the full 1 billion. They also planned to expand their euro
and US commercial paper programs to boost short-term
borrowing capacity as a precaution against further
deterioration in the bond markets.

Analysts at Lombard Street Research in London have
questioned whether the global capital markets can cover the
enormous financing task facing telecommunications companies
in Europe which have committed to buy licences in the UK.
Vodafone Airtouch was involved in a game of "pass the
parcel", Lombard said in a paper published last week.
(Australian Financial Review  15-May-2000)


==============================
C H I N A  &  H O N G  K O N G
==============================

CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUC.HLDGS.: Reports on loan ags to HKSE
----------------------------------------------------------
The Board of Directors of Cheung Kong Infrastructure
Holdings Limited, through Eirene Yeung, Company Secretary,
advises the Honk Kong Stock Exchange with regard to two
loan facility agreements both dated 26th April, 2000 in
accordance with Paragraph 3.7.1 of the Practice Note 19 to
The Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The Stock
Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.

On 26th April, 2000, the Company and one of its wholly-owned
subsidiaries have entered into two loan facility agreements
("Loan Agreements") of up to A$45 million (approximately
HK$203 million) and A$90 million (approximately HK$406
million) respectively both of which have already been fully
drawn as at the date of this announcement.

The loan facility of A$45 million (approximately HK$203
million) will mature in December 2004 and the loan facility
of A$90 million (approximately HK$406 million) will mature
in April 2005.

Under the provision of each of the Loan Agreements, it is
an event of default if Hutchison Whampoa Limited (the
Company's controlling shareholder) ceases to own directly
or indirectly at least 35% of the issued share capital of
the Company. As at the date of this announcement, such
obligation has been complied with. (Hong Kong Stock
Exchange  15-May-2000)

GUANGNAN (HOLDINGS): Large debt maturing June 2
-----------------------------------------------
The insolvent food conglomerate Guangnan (Holdings) has
announced debt of HK$873.71M, including a HK$296.4M three-
year loan due to mature on June 2.

HONGKONG.COM: Posts 1st quarter loss
-----------------------------------
Hongkong.com has posted a net loss of HK$11.3M for the
first quarter of the year on revenue of HK$16.3M.  During
the quarter, the web portal earned HK$8.2M from
advertising, HK$6.9M from content services and HK$1.2M from
commissions.  Hongkong.com said it achieved 3.2M daily page
views and had 1.1M registered users by the end of March.
The company has HK$1.2B in cash.

MAGICIAN INDUS.(HLDGS.): HKSE update on trading suspension
----------------------------------------------------------
The Board, through Lam Cheuk Fai, Company Secretary,
provides the following update on the position of the Group
to its shareholders since trading suspension of its shares
on 24th December, 1999 and its last press announcement
dated 21st February, 2000.

The standstill agreement entered into between the Company
and the financial creditors in Hong Kong has lapsed on 14th
January, 2000 and the financial creditors could call upon
the Company for repayment of their loans of approximately
HKD315 million and commence legal action against the
Company for recovery if a successful debt restructuring
cannot be agreed upon in the near future.

The Company has received 3 proposals from independent third
party investors to inject capital into the Company which,
amongst other things, will include a debt restructuring
with the financial creditors and/or change in control and
introduction of major/substantial shareholder. The
discussion may or may not lead to a successful
implementation.  The Company has also commenced the
negotiations on a self-rescue debt restructuring proposal
with the financial creditors.

The Company is still in the process of identifying a
suitable person to be appointed as the second independent
non-executive director of the Company.  Due to the current
negotiations with the financial creditors, the Company
needs to spend substantial management time to prepare the
business plans and attending meetings with financial
creditors and, as a result, the Company has decided to
temporarily postpone the investigation on the matters
arising from the Report pending the outcome of the capital
and/or debt restructuring proposal.

The Company undertakes to commence the Investigation as
soon as the capital and/or debt restructuring is completed.
Pending release of further announcement on the result of
Investigation, trading of the shares of the Company will
remain suspended.

The consolidated net asset value ("NAV") of Magician
Industries (Holdings) Limited (the "Company") and its
subsidiaries (the "Group") was approximately HKD264.3
million or HKD0.61 per share as of 31st March, 1999.
Subsequent to the reported loss of approximately HKD43.2
million for the six months period, the NAV per management
accounts as of 30th September, 1999 was approximately
HKD221.1 million or HKD0.51 per share.

It is however expected that due to the anticipated
operating loss incurred as per management accounts ended
31st March 2000, the NAV will be further adjusted downwards
accordingly.  The Company currently is operating in a tight
liquidity position. Per management accounts ended 29th
February, 2000, total liabilities of the Group were
approximately HKD475 million and net current liabilities
approximately HKD214 million comparing to those in the last
published audited financial statements ended 31st March,
1999 which were approximately HKD520 million and HKD106
million respectively.

Out of the above mentioned total liabilities, as of 29th
February, 2000, (1) approximately HKD322 million were due
to financial creditors in Hong Kong of which approximately
HKD7 million were secured and are not subject to immediate
repayment and (2) approximately HKD50 million secured loan
were due to financial institutions based in the People's
Republic of China ("PRC") which are not subject to
immediate repayment.

The financial creditors in Hong Kong have formed a banks
group and has set up a steering committee on 28th October,
1999 to monitor the situation and to negotiate with the
Company on any proposed debt restructuring. As reported
under the announcement dated 21st February, 2000, the
standstill agreement entered into between the financial
creditors and the Company has lapsed on 14th January, 2000
and the financial creditors in Hong Kong could call upon
the Company for the repayment of their loans of
approximately HKD315 million and commence legal action
against the Company for recovery.

As of today's date, the Company has not received any writ
from any of the financial creditors although it has
received letters from two of the financial creditors (the
"Notifying Financial Creditors") dated 2nd May, 2000 and
5th May, 2000 respectively giving the Company seven day's
notice of their intention to commence action against the
Company. The loan due to these unsecured Notifying
Financial Creditors amounted to approximately HKD66.5
million.

However, these two Notifying Financial Creditors have
subsequently agreed to consider not to take immediate
action against the Company following the expiry of the
seven days period provided that an independent financial
adviser (the "IFA") selected by the steering committee
would have been appointed by the Company to advise on the
restructuring proposals and present proposals to the
steering committee. The Company has made such appointment
on 4th May, 2000 to advise on the proposals and the IFA has
subsequently informed the bank group that they will bring
the bank group up-to-date on the self-rescue plan and other
potential investor proposals by 19th May, 2000.

As a result of the current progress, the Notifying
Financial Creditors have verbally agreed that they will not
take specific actions without giving sufficient warnings
and first notifying the steering committee and the bank
group. Further announcement will be issued to inform
investors and shareholders of the Company of any further
development.

Over the last 6 months, the Group has implemented various
costs cutting procedures, reduced non-profitable product
lines and as a result turnover has dropped by approximately
20% comparing to the same period of last year (after taking
into account sale of a major subsidiary Great East
Packaging Holdings Limited). The Group continues to be a
manufacturer of plastic and metal products for export and
for domestic sale in the PRC.

As mentioned in the Company's earlier announcement dated
21st February, 2000, Mr. Lui Pui Kee and Mr. Anthony Lau
Leung Yin have been appointed as independent non-executive
directors with effect from 20th January, 2000. Due to
personal reasons, Mr. Lui Pui Kee has resigned from the
board on 2nd February, 2000 and the Company is required,
pursuant to Rule 3.10 of the Rules Governing the Listing of
Securities ("Listing Rules") on The Stock Exchange of Hong
Kong Limited ("Stock Exchange"), to appoint another
independent non-executive director as replacement.  (Hong
Kong Stock Exchange  15-May-2000)

SOUNDWILL HOLDINGS: In debt rehab pact with bank creditors
----------------------------------------------------------
Soundwill Holdings Ltd said it has entered into debt
restructuring agreement with its bank creditors, with
Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp as the agent.

It said a standstill agreement was reached with the debts
to be repaid by Jan 31, 2002. Soundwill will also obtain
new funding of 70 mln hkd by HSBC to finance the remaining
construction cost of its development project on Russell
Street, Causeway Bay.

It will also obtain loans of 52.5 mln from Sin Hua Bank for
the expansion of another project on Russell Street.
At 10:36 am, Soundwill was up 0.015 hkd at 0.325. (World
Reporter  12-May-2000)


=========
J A P A N
=========

DEUTSCHE SECURITIES: SESC probe uncovers violations
---------------------------------------------------
The country's stockbroking industry watchdog wants Deutsche
Securities' branch in Tokyo to be punished over alleged
illegal deals on behalf of clients.

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC)
yesterday said an investigation had found the German
brokerage violated securities law on various occasions from
September 1997 to last October.  It allegedly sold
investment products to help Japanese corporate clients hide
capital losses on bond holdings and failed on other
occasions to submit transaction reports on completed
futures trading deals.

It also made securities futures trades on behalf of its
parent group, Deutsche Bank, and "paid commission fees that
were supposed to be paid by the parent firm", an official
said, with the commission alleging brokerage clients owned
almost worthless bonds and "Deutsche Securities presented
them with a scheme to make them buy new bonds.

"The scheme's sole purpose was to cover losses," the
official added. "By promising its clients that it would
hide their losses, Deutsche Securities drew them into the
scheme."

After the investigation "we found illegalities in their
financial conduct and today recommended that the Financial
Supervisory Agency [FSA] take disciplinary action," the
commission said yesterday.

An SESC official said later: "It is regrettable Deutsche
Securities offered the scheme that distorted its clients'
disclosure standards."

The official said the SESC began its inspection at the
Tokyo branch of Deutsche Securities on February 14 and its
results were handed to the FSA yesterday.  Deutsche
Securities said it took the matter seriously.
"We take these issues seriously and have taken steps to
ensure that they will not be repeated," John Macfarlane,
branch manager at Deutsche Securities Tokyo, said.

The statement said the brokerage early last year
implemented "stricter compliance regulations to ensure that
the types of transactions cited by the SESC would not
longer be executed."

According to an official in the FSA's securities inspection
division: "We have not decided what kind of punishment we
are going to impose against Deutsche Securities. Generally
speaking, the maximum penalty is to revoke a registration,"
he said. "Other penalties include suspending a business for
six months, the longest [suspension] period allowed."

Jiji Press news agency said the FSA would order Deutsche
Securities this month to suspend part of its operations for
up to several weeks.  The German bank's unit has become the
fourth foreign financial institution targeted by the FSA
since the body was set up in June 1998.  Last year, the FSA
moved against Credit Suisse Financial Products, a unit of
the Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse Group.  The Credit
Suisse unit was alleged to have carried out illegal
dealings with its clients, designed to cover up losses.

In December, Japanese prosecutors charged Credit Suisse
Financial Products and its former branch manager in Tokyo
with violating banking laws.  In July, the Japanese
Government had announced it was revoking the banking
licence of the Credit Suisse unit from November 30,
accusing it of blocking investigations by the FSA.

Under the banking law, the maximum penalty for an
individual evading inspections is three million yen (about
HK$213,000) and a year in jail. For a corporation the
penalty is a fine of 200 million yen.  The action against
Credit Suisse Financial Products was reportedly the first
since the Banking Law was revised in 1997 to toughen up the
former penalty of a maximum 500,000 yen fine for
individuals or corporations.

Last month, the SESC recommended the FSA punish the Tokyo
branch of French investment bank Credit Lyonnais for three
securities law breaches.  (South China Morning Post  16-
May-2000)


=========
K O R E A
=========

CHO HUNG BANK: FSS limits Cerberus to 4 percent stake
-----------------------------------------------------
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) yesterday barred
U.S. investment fund Cerberus from acquiring an equity
stake of Cho Hung Bank in excess of 4 percent.

The FSS cited the current banking law, which bans foreign
investment firms other than financial institutions from
owning or actually controlling more than 4 percent of the
total voting stock of a domestic banking institution.

"Therefore, we won't allow the planned sale of a 14-percent
stake in Cho Hung Bank to Cerberus, which is just an
investment fund," an FSS official said.  "However, it is
still possible for Cerberus to acquire up to four percent,
or $140 million worth of Cho Hung Bank's equities."

Cho Hung signed an agreement with Cerberus Monday for a
capital investment of $500 million in return for a 14-
percent stake on condition of government approval.
Cerberus is required to form a consortium with a financial
institution to make the planned equity investment in Cho
Hung. (Korea Herald  17-May-2000)

DAEWOO MOTOR: Labor force favoring Ford over GM
-----------------------------------------------
The labor force is emerging as one of the most critical
factors in the intensifying competition for Daewoo Motor,
industry analysts said yesterday, noting that the
automaker's workers are preferring Ford Motor to General
Motors as their new employer.

"Favorable sentiment towards Ford is rapidly spreading
among Daewoo workers," said a Daewoo Motor union official.
"During the previous 1971-1992 tie-up, GM was reluctant to
transfer technologies. Daewoo workers are particularly
worried by the fact that 80 percent of U.S. auto industry
labor disputes are taking place at GM plants, as well as
massive plant closures at GM's plants in Mexico and
Argentina."

Indeed, the Daewoo Motor union said in its Internet site
(www.dmpeople.or.kr) that GM officials visiting Daewoo
Motor plants for due diligence were very highhanded,
whereas Ford inspectors expressed more interest in Daewoo's
merits and growth potentials.

Meanwhile, with two of the five bidders scheduled for
selection as the priority negotiators by June 30, the issue
of how much the automaker is worth is also attracting keen
attention, analysts said.

"Due to public pressure, Samsung Motor was sold below the
price demanded by its creditors of 1 trillion won ($890
million) and sold for $562 million, with only $11 million
being paid in cash," said a creditor bank executive.

He expressed concern that a similar incident could happen
to Daewoo as well.  Daewoo creditors are hoping to get 6 to
7 trillion won, but considering the current state of the
stock market, even market leader Hyundai Motor is only
worth 3 trillion won.  (Korea Herald  17-May-2000)

HYUNDAI MOTOR: To spin off, add Inchon Steel to group
KIA MOTOR: To spin off, add Inchon Steel to group
-----------------------------------------------------
Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors will be spun off from the
Hyundai Group by the end of June and Inchon Steel will be
merged into the new "Hyundai Motor Group," sources said
yesterday.

In addition to the steel manufacturer, Hyundai Pipe,
Hyundai Capital and Hyundai Precision will also be
separated from the mother group to join the Hyundai Motor
Group, said the sources.

In a related move, meanwhile, Kia Motors yesterday decided
to take a 12.8 percent stake in Hyundai Pipe by purchasing
11.45 million outstanding shares of the company. The motor
firm said Tuesday the move is related to its effort to
secure a stable supply of cold-rolled steel.

Mitsubishi's Hong Kong affiliate Odemachi holds the largest
stake in Hyundai Pipe with 41 percent, followed by 8.77
percent for Hyundai Engineering and Construction, Hyundai
Motor's 11.09 percent, Hyundai Heavy Industries with 7.04
percent and Inchon Steel with 7.59 percent.  (Korea Herald
17-May-2000)

SAEHAN GROUP: Slicing affiliates from dozen to 3
------------------------------------------------
The Saehan Group said yesterday that it will reduce its 12
affiliates to three through outright sales, mergers and
spinoffs.

The group also said it will sell off six real estate items,
including its central office building in Seoul, which are
valued at a combined 560 billion won.  Unveiling its
restructuring plan, the group said Chairman Lee Young-ja
will step down, handing over the reins to Vice Chairman Lee
Jae-kwan.  But the vice chairman will also step down when a
professional manager is eventually named as the group's
CEO.

"Saehan will separate management from ownership and improve
transparency in management by letting professional managers
run the group independently," a group official said.

He said the group will fill six of the 14 seats on the
board with outside directors and form an independent audit
committee with outside directors.  Saehan has asked KPMG, a
renowned consulting firm, to hammer out a restructuring
plan, giving the consultant group the full authority to
implement it.  KPMG's plan includes attracting foreign
investment of up to 200 billion won.  (Korea Herald  17-
May-2000)


===============
M A L A Y S I A
===============

CELCOM SDN: Gets debt payment extension
NALURI BHD: Gets debt payment extension
---------------------------------------
Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli has succeeded in getting creditors to
agree to extend the repayment period for some RM2.75bil of
debts incurred by two of his companies Naluri Bhd and
Celcom Sdn Bhd.

Naluri, the single largest shareholder in Malaysia Airlines
(MAS), has obtained approval to restructure its debts of
about RM1bil over an extended period of five years.
It will raise funds through the disposal of assets to repay
at least 50% of its secured creditors within the next two
years.

At the same time, Celcom, the country's largest cellular
phone operator which is wholly-owned by Technology
Resources Industries Bhd (TRI), has signed an agreement
with 42 creditors for a RM1.75bil multi-structure facility
involving a repayment schedule of 20 months.

"All the creditors have unanimously agreed to defer the
repayment of debts. . .This involves 42 creditors for
Celcom and 18 for Naluri,'' Tajudin, who is chairman of
both companies, told reporters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Tajudin declined to disclose the assets that would be
disposed of within two years, citing creditor-client
confidentially.  However, he said the sale of part of
Naluri's 29% stake in MAS was among the terms agreed to
with the creditors under the asset disposal programme.
Asked whether there would be a consequent change in
ownership of the national airline, Tajudin said: "I don't
think so.

"Some of the terms in the agreement are quite specific, and
I am not at liberty to disclose the package," he added. "We
are committed to the agreement but there are other things
we can do as well to raise enough funds. There is also no
specific timetable to sell the assets but if the
opportunity is right and good for us, the assets will be
disposed of."

However, Tajudin said Naluri had yet to initiate talks with
any parties, including foreign ones, in connection with the
disposal of assets.  He said the remaining 50% of the
company's secured debts would be repaid using proceeds from
the conversion of its new warrants.  About RM220mil of
Naluri's total debts are secured loans while the remaining
amount is made up of unsecured obligations.

A statement from Naluri said the restructured debt would
bear a fixed interest rate of 8.75% per year.  Secured
creditors of Naluri would receive a cash interest of 6% and
unsecured creditors a cash interest of 2% per year. Any
cash interest shortfall would be compensated for by
redeemable convertible secured loan stocks.

According to previous reports, Naluri's RM1bil debts
include obligations under its five-year RM600mil, 2%
redeemable bank guaranteed bonds 1995/2000, which will
mature on June 12, 2000.  Corporate Debt Restructuring
Committee (CDRC) chairman Datuk C. Rajandram said that the
committee had been involved in working out the
restructuring schemes for the two companies for the past
nine months.

The aim was to work out a compromise between the companies
and their creditors to allow them to operate as viable
companies.  In a separate statement, Celcom said its
creditors had agreed to allow the company to incur
additional capital expenditure.

At the same time, Celcom could defer the repayment schedule
for the multi-structure facility by over 20 months to
enable it to continue its network capacity expansion to
enhance its competitive position.  As a vote of confidence
in Celcom, two major telecoms equipment suppliers Ericsson
and Lucent Technologies Inc will provide the company with
new financing of US$232mil to support its capital
expenditure over a five-year period.

"The cashflow from Celcom is going to be very strong. Based
on this cashflow and the number of new subscribers, it is
likely that we will be able to pay all our lenders without
much problem," Tajudin said.

He said that from January to March this year, Celcom's
revenue and subscriber base had grown by about 40%. The
company had about 1.1 million active cellular subscribers
as at March.  On the restructuring of TRI's US$375mil
Eurobond issue, Tajudin said that discussions were still
on-going.

"I don't want to talk about the bonds just yet. . .I will
speak only when I am ready to discuss the issue," he said.
Asked whether there would be management changes at both
Naluri and Celcom, Tajudin said: "No."  (Star Online  16-
May-2000)

HO WAH GENTING BHD: Projects rehab completion by 4Q
---------------------------------------------------
Ho Wah Genting Bhd expects to complete its restructuring
scheme by the third quarter of this year.

According to Ho Wah managing director William Teo, the
scheme, which includes the acquisition of the entire equity
in Kintron Sdn Bhd and the transfer of the Ho Wah listing
to the KLSE main board, will result in the company
switching its focus from transportation and coach building
to the cables and wires business solely.  He said it would
also reduce the Ho Wah debt significantly and enable it to
return to the black this year.

"We expect to complete the restructuring and be requoted on
the KLSE main board by the third quarter," Teo told
reporters after the company AGM and EGM in Kuala Lumpur
yesterday. "We also expect that with the implementation of
the scheme, Ho Wah Genting will record a pre-tax profit of
RM14mil in its financial year ending Dec 31, 2000."

At the EGM, shareholders approved the Ho Wah proposed
restructuring scheme. The company, which is under the
protection of Section 176 of the Companies Act, incurred a
pre-tax loss of RM22.87mil last year.  Teo said Ho Wah's
saviour was Kintron, which manufactured moulded power
supply cord sets and cable assemblies for electrical and
electronic devices and equipment.

He said Kintron was expected to record a pre-tax profit of
RM13.5mil in its financial year ending Dec 31, 2000,
compared with a pre-tax profit of RM11.56mil last year.
"Kintron, which is expected to achieve 10% to 15% growth in
pre-tax profit over the next three years, will complement
our existing cables and wires business, Ho Wah Genting Wire
& Cable Sdn Bhd," he said.

Teo said that on completion of the restructuring scheme,
Kintron was expected to contribute 60% of the Ho Wah pre-
tax profit, with the remainder to come from Ho Wah Genting
Wire & Cable.  By then, he said, about 90% of the Ho Wah
turnover would come from the export markets.  Teo said that
under the proposed resturucturing scheme, Ho Wah's existing
debt would also be reduced to RM20mil via the issuance of
shares and loan stocks. (As at Dec 31, 1999, the Ho Wah
debts stood at RM323.9mil.)

He said Ho Wah planned to dispose of and/or liquidate its
assets and 15 subsidiaries, including Ho Wah Genting Coach
Manufacturer Sdn Bhd, Ho Wah Genting Development Sdn Bhd
and Ho Wah Genting Transport Sdn Bhd.  The other
subsidiaries to be disposed of and/or liquidated are Phnom
Penh Ho Wah Genting Transport Co Ltd, Ho Wah Genting Tuaran
Transport Sdn Bhd, Ho Wah Genting Travels Sdn Bhd, Ho Wah
Genting Timber Products Sdn Bhd and Ho Wah Genting
Construction Sdn Bhd.  (Star Online  16-May-2000)

TIME ENGINEERING: Facing prospect of unravelling
------------------------------------------------
Malaysian tycoon Halim Saad's failure to rope in Singapore
Telecommunications as a partner for his Time Engineering
could signal the unravelling of his sprawling Renong group,
according to the business community.

The Malaysian business community said his abortive attempt
to tie up with the Singapore telco to rescue ailing Time is
the biggest corporate defeat for the tycoon, whose group
has been one of the main beneficiaries of the country's
privatisation drive.  As a result, they said Mr Halim may
lose control of Time, which has been working overtime to
finalise a scheme by June 8 to placate creditors who are
owed RM5.2 billion (S$2.4 billion).

"Halim has always had his way. Imagine what predators will
do now," said a long-time associate of Mr Halim. The
boyish-looking tycoon controls an empire with a combined
market capitalisation of more than RM32 billion.

Besides a fat construction order book, his flagship Renong
and associate United Engineers Malaysia have interests in
highways, huge tracts of land, hotels, cement factories and
a 12-per cent stake in the parent of the country's second
largest banking group.

The fortunes of Mr Halim, who once was a trustee for the
assets of the dominant political party United Malays
National Organisation, took off when the then ailing UEM
was awarded the mega contract to build and operate the toll
highway along the Malaysian peninsula in the late 1980s.
Since then, his group has undertaken many other national
projects, including the second bridge linking Malaysia and
Singapore, the construction of stadia for the Commonwealth
Games in 1997 and a driverless monorail system in Kuala
Lumpur.

However, the regional crisis two years ago took a heavy
toll on the group, which had chalked up some RM20 billion
in debts or almost 5 per cent of the total loans in the
banking system.  The government had initially wanted to
help Renong and UEM by guaranteeing a bond issue by the
company. The plan did not go down well in Malaysia. Critics
said the government should not have assisted the Renong
group as it had already benefited from the country's
privatisation policy in the first place.

The controversial plan was scrapped and the Corporate Debt
Restructuring Committee devised a new scheme to use the
future earnings of Plus - the concessionaire of the North-
South Expressway - to finance an RM8.4 billion bond issue
to shave the borrowings of Renong and UEM.  After having
resolved the short-term cash-flow woes at Renong and UEM,
Mr Halim turned his attention to Time Engineering and Time
dotCom, the owner of the fibre-optics network in the
country.

But the long gestation period of the debt revamp has irked
creditors Sapura Holdings and national telco Telekom
Malaysia, which is also concerned with the keener
competition posed by the SingTel-Time alliance. Sapura,
whose owners enjoy good ties with Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad, then lobbied hard to scuttle the SingTel deal.

Shahril Shamsuddin of Sapura had earlier said in an
affidavit: "I believe that such retention of control is
unjustified given that Time Engineering must take
responsibility for the financial problems of the
Time Group."

With such hostility, Mr Halim will have a tough time ahead
in remaining as one of Malaysia's favourite sons.

OVERHEARD:
"As long as it has cash, good management and low gearing,
it can still make the acquisitions it needs in the next one
to two years."

Tjandra Kartika, vice president of GK Goh Research in
Singapore "As far I am concerned, we have no dealings in
this. It's up to the companies.'

PM Mahathir, denying the Malaysian government was behind
the abandoned deal between Time Engineering and SingTel
"You have to feel that the majority stake held by Temasek
is not helping them in countries where this is an issue.
Throughout the rest of Asia, they're likely to face similar
problems in many countries." (Business Times (Singapore)
13-May-2000)

TIME dot.COM: Khazanah now steps into negotiations
--------------------------------------------------
Renong Bhd and its 47%-owned associate Time Engineering Bhd
have confirmed that Khazanah Nasional Bhd is negotiating to
take up a 30% stake in Time dotCom Bhd.

The two companies said in similarly worded statements to
the KLSE yesterday that the acquisition of the Time dotCom
stake would be subject to:  Khazanah completing valuation
and due diligence exercises on the Time dotCom group;
Approval to list Time dotCom on the KLSE main board;
Execution of a definitive agreement between Time
Engineering and Khazanah covering the management of Time
dotCom; and a strategic alliance with a company having
technological expertise.

The statements confirmed a Star Business report last Friday
that Khazanah would be coming in to take a major stake in
Time dotCom to break the impasse between Time Engineering
and the Sapura group over the Time group debt restructuring
scheme which would involve Singapore Telecommunications Ltd
(SingTel) paying RM2.2bil for stakes in the Time group of
companies.

Objections raised by Sapura Holdings Sdn Bhd prompted Time
Engineering and SingTel to extend the deadline to sign the
deal to May 11.  On the expiry of this deadline, Time
Engineering told the KLSE that its deal with SingTel had
lapsed. It said, however, that its debt-restructuring
scheme, which has the support of the Corporate Debt
Restructuring Committee (CDRC) and which involves the
listing of Time dotCom, would proceed.

Had the Time Engineering-SingTel deal gone through, the
Singapore firm would have bought a 20% stake in Time
dotCom, 20% in Time Online and 14.5% in Time Engineering.
Reports have mentioned Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT)
of Japan as the strategic partner for Time dotCom and
suggested that the latter would be merged with Telekom
Malaysia Bhd.

Telekom had responded in a statement saying that it had not
received any offer from Time Engineering to purchase its
shares or to conduct any talk on a merger with Time dotCom.
Shares of Time Engineering will be requoted today after the
company voluntarily asked for trading of its stock to be
suspended last week. The counter was last traded at RM4.52.
(Star Online  16-May-2000)


=====================
P H I L I P P I N E S
=====================

FORTUNE TOBACCO CORP.: Seeks to continue BIR lawsuit
----------------------------------------------------
Fortune Tobacco Corp. yesterday asked the Supreme Court to
order the continuation of the 290-million-peso (US$7
million at PhP41.589:US$1) damage suit against a former
Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) chief for allegedly
illegally reclassifying its products as "locally
manufactured cigarettes bearing foreign brands."

In a comment, Fortune counsel, former Solicitor General
Estelito P. Mendoza, said Liwayway Vinzons-Chato should pay
damages out of her personal funds as she committed an
"unauthorized act" and the mere invocation of the official
character of the issuance cannot insulate her from
liability.

"Bad faith (on Ms. Chato's part) is not necessary... The
mere violation or impairment by a public officer of the
constitutional rights of another will make him personally
liable for damages even if there is no malice or bad faith
on his part. Good faith is not a defense," said Mr.
Mendoza.

The lawyer of tobacco tycoon Lucio C. Tan said the High
Tribunal should not further postpone the hearing against
Ms. Chato, otherwise, it will impliedly "sanction the use
of public office as a tool of oppression." The case arose
in April 1997 when Fortune sued Ms. Chato at the Marikina
Regional Trial Court for her alleged discriminatory
reclassification of Champion, Hope and More, which
supposedly resulted in losses worth PhP188 million ($4.5
million) from the 1993 profits.  (Business World  16-May-
2000)

PHILIPPINE NAT.BANK: Tan okays auction delay to June 9
------------------------------------------------------
With the blessing of majority shareholder Lucio C. Tan, the
public bidding of 80% of Philippine National Bank (PNB) has
been pushed back to June 9, or a week earlier than what the
Department of Finance (DoF) had bargained for.

As such, the government no longer needs to ask the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) to extend the end-June
deadline for the bank's full privatization, Finance
Secretary Jose T. Pardo yesterday said.  The Finance chief
told reporters the beer and tobacco tycoon has signed an
agreement yesterday with the government for the 13-day
extension of the deadline for the public bidding.

Mr. Pardo added the tycoon also agreed to move the last day
for the pre-qualification of bids to May 22.  Yet sources
said Mr. Tan did not agree to the government's proposal to
also delay the closing date, putting his foot down on the
earlier-set June 26. Under the original schedule for the
PNB sale, interested buyers should seek pre-qualification
by May 15 while eligible bids were to be opened on May 26.

But the DoF sought for an extension of the PNB bidding to
June 15, saying investors asked for more time to conduct a
more thorough due diligence audit of the bank.  Mr. Tan,
however, wanted the block to be sold as soon as possible,
thus the agreement to extend the deadline up to June 9, Mr.
Pardo said.

Seeking Mr. Tan's approval for the third time yesterday,
the DoF even had to ask President Joseph Estrada to
intervene and convince the tycoon. This was after failing
to get the approval of Mr. Tan, a known friend and
supporter of Mr. Estrada, last Thursday and Sunday.

"(It took) a call from the President who convinced him that
this is a reasonable request," Mr. Pardo said.

The President convinced Mr. Tan in the same manner he made
the Chinese-Filipino businessman agree to sell his 46%
stake in the bank along with the government's 30% shares in
the bank, Mr. Pardo said.  Refusing to agree to the
deadline last week, the tycoon wanted to be assured that
government deposits in PNB will be retained even after the
privatization to prevent a possible collapse of the bank,
Mr. Pardo said.

The Bangko Sentral (Central Bank of the Phils.) recently
agreed to extend the bank's authority to hold state
deposits until October 2003, a year before Mr. Estrada's
term in office expires. As of end-March, PNB has 47 billion
Philippine pesos (PhP) (US$1 billion at PhP41.589:US$1) in
government deposits, accounting for about a third of its
deposit base.

In a statement yesterday, PNB president Feliciano Miranda,
Jr. said PNB's loans, deposits and securities to the
government exceed the government's claim against the bank
by about PhP5 billion ($120.2 million).  Mr. Tan also
wanted the Bangko Sentral to liquidate a portion of PNB's
government securities holdings. Bangko Sentral Gov. Rafael
B. Buenaventura noted Mr. Tan was "probably thinking" PNB
needs additional liquidity in case the government deposits
are withdrawn from the bank.

Under an April 24 agreement, the tycoon will dispose his
46% stake in the bank together with the government's 30.39%
stake. The DoF expects the bigger block to attract more
investors. Also to be sold is the 3.5% stake owned by PNB
Retirement Fund Inc.

The DoF is under pressure to sell PNB to fulfil commitments
with multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and
the IMF.  The IMF earlier required the government to divest
its shares in PNB by June 10. The release of a $100-million
World Bank loan by June 30, meanwhile, is hinged on the
full privatization of the bank.

Meanwhile, PNB bleeds to the tune of PhP25 million
($600,000) for every day that it remains in government
control, prompting its biggest shareholder Mr. Tan to balk
at any further delay in the bank's sale.

Government officials privy to the bank's privatization
process yesterday said the Chinese-Filipino businessman is
already complaining about the average net loss, which
directly impacts on his cash position as PNB's single
largest shareholder.

"He has complained that he loses up to PhP25 million for
every day that the sale is delayed," an official,
requesting anonymity, said.

He said this is the reason Mr. Tan has balked at the
request of the National Government for a two-week extension
of the sale to June 15. The tycoon, he said, wants to
dispose of his stake "at the soonest possible time" to
avoid racking up more losses.  Industry sources also said
PNB had to dip into its own reserves as it is already
finding a hard time borrowing from the interbank market.

Banks were said to be shunning away from lending to PNB
because of uncertainties over the forthcoming sale.
This may be the reason Mr. Tan has asked the Bangko Sentral
to liquidate PNB's huge pile of government securities
holdings, sources speculated. BusinessWorld learned,
however, that the estimated PhP25-million loss is actually
"shared" pro rata among the bank's different shareholders.
"Of course, he's exaggerating a bit so that he can get his
way," the official said.

The source said since Mr. Tan controls 46% of PNB's shares
through direct ownership or proxies, his actual daily
losses are only 46% of PhP25 million -- or PhP11.5 million
daily.  The government, on the other hand, loses PhP7.5
million for every day that PNB is kept on its books.

"That's why the government has asked him to cooperate
because we are in the same boat," the official said. "Any
benefit or disadvantage affects both parties."

Last week, Finance Secretary Jose T. Pardo and Bangko
Sentral Gov. Rafael B. Buenaventura met with Mr. Tan to
push for the extension of the sale's deadline, originally
set for May 26, to give interested investors time to
perform a due diligence audit on the bank.

Mr. Tan, however, disagreed to the deferment, arguing three
separate auditing firms -- PricewaterhouseCoopers,
Punongbayan & Araullo, and SGV & CO. -- have already
audited the bank's books. Mr. Tan finally agreed to a June
9 bidding date after President Estrada stepped in to
convince him.

In a related development, only three investors have so far
prequalified to bid for the 80% stake in PNB.  They are:
listed universal bank Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.
(RCBC), a consortia led by US-based firm TLC Beatrice
Foods, and another group headed by Indonesian mining firm
Lebung Tandai Inc., sources privy to the privatization
said.

Finance Undersecretary Cornelio C. Gison told reporters
last night RCBC has pre-qualified to bid for the PNB sale
on June 9. He said the bank is currently doing a due
diligence audit on PNB.  Yuchengco-owned RCBC has submitted
a detailed financial plan for PNB, and paid PhP200,000 to
gain access to the semiprivate bank's books. It has also
submitted documents showing how it will pay for the
purchase of the bank.

Asked to comment, Virgilio Pantaleon, spokesperson of the
Yuchengco Group of Companies, yesterday said, "RCBC is
always on the lookout for new opportunities."  The two
foreign consortia have also pre-qualified "in principle"
but have yet to start scrutiny of PNB's books since they
are still to submit their financial plans to the DoF, the
source said.

TLC Beatrice Foods is engaged in food manufacturing while
the Indonesian firm is involved in mining. Both lead two
separate consortia, which include financial firms. Sen.
Raul Roco, chairman of the committee on banks and financial
institutions, is reportedly brokering the interest of the
US-based company, chaired by Filipino-American Loida
Nicolas-Lewis. Both Mr. Roco and Ms. Lewis reportedly hail
from the province of Albay.

The three investors have each paid PhP200,000 after
submitting "expressions of interest" to the PNB
Prequalification, Bidding and Awards Committee. The pre-
qualified bidders will be allowed to do due diligence
audits of the bank in preparation for the bidding proper on
June 9.

The Finance department has started accepting, bids for the
purchase of 80% of PNB since April 28. It originally, meant
to accept "expressions of interest" until May 15. But the
DoF, yesterday, extended the deadline to May 22 and the
bidding proper to June 9 "to give investors more time to do
due diligence audits" of PNB.

A source, however, said the low turn out of investors
forced the DoF to extend the deadline by 13 days to June 9.
To be sold are the PNB Retirement Income Fund's 3.5% stake
in the bank and the combined 76% stake of the government
and Mr. Tan.  (Business World  16-May-2000)

SAN MIGUEL CORP.: Suffers P5million opportunity loss
----------------------------------------------------
Food and beverage conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) has
incurred an estimated five million Philippine pesos (PhP)
(US$120,000 at PhP41.589:US$1) in opportunity losses in
March due to shortage in containers and bottles, resulting
in lower sales volume growth in the first quarter.

Analysts yesterday said the sudden drop in the volume
growth for the food and beverage giant for the whole
quarter, even after posting a huge 29% growth in the first
two months, was caused by the shortage in containers and
bottles since these were not returned to the company.

"March (sales) volume was down because SMC experienced some
problems with its container and bottles. Given the huge
demand for its products, this will affect overall
performance since the company has not been able to meet
that demand," an analyst from a local brokerage house told
BusinessWorld.

Volume growth for the first quarter was registered at only
6% owed to the strong sales of domestic beer and liquor as
well as strong volume growth in both the packaging and food
business.  The PhP5-million opportunity loss would
translate to around 10% to 15% of the company's annual
sales volume.

A source, however, said the company will start importing
and sourcing bottle and container requirements from other
suppliers in the third quarter to be able to meet the
demand for the last three months of the year.  For the
first three months, SMC reported a consolidated net income
of PhP1.54 billion ($37 million), 24.2% higher compared
with the PhP1.24 billion ($30 million) registered in the
same period last year.

Operating income also grew to PhP1.81 billion ($43.5
million) from PhP1.48 billion ($35.6 million) while net
sales reached PhP19.9 billion ($478.5 million) from PhP18.3
billion ($440 million) previously.  The management
attributed the improved performance of the conglomerate to
the strategies and operational improvements implemented
since last year.

Meanwhile, SMC wholly owned subsidiary, La Tonde¤a
Distillers, Inc. (LTDI) yesterday inked the sale and
purchase agreement with Eight O' Clock juice maker,
Sugarland Group of Companies.  SMC corporate information
officer Ferdinand K. Constantino said SMC and LTDI acquired
all the shares of Sugarland for about PhP2.3 billion ($55.3
million).

"All the assets of the Sugarland business were recently
transferred to this new company including liabilities of
about PhP600 million ($14.4 million). The total
consideration shall be paid 80% in cash and 20% in SMC
shares," Mr. Constantino said.

SMC and LTDI will take an interest of 49% and 51%,
respectively, of the juice company whose corporate name has
been changed to Sugarland Beverage Corp.  The acquisition
includes the production and marketing operations of the
powdered juice drink and water gel business of Sugarland
which currently dominates the local powdered juice
business.

The acquisition makes LTDI the leader in the total juice
market currently valued at PhP7.5 billion ($180.3 million).
The new SMC subsidiary also dominates the water gel segment
with Jellyace holding 70% of the total industry. Sugarland
manufactures the Eight O' Clock juice brand as well as
Jellyace, Ice Cold Mix and Ponkana. Its facilities are
located in Navotas and Cavite and currently employs 1,200
people.  (Business World  16-May-2000)


=================
S I N G A P O R E
=================

CHEW EU HOCK: Share short-sellers bleeding red
MEDI-RAD: Share short-sellers bleeding red
NUCLEUS ELECTRONICS: Share short-sellers bleeding red
PARKWAY LAB: Share short-sellers bleeding red
-----------------------------------------------------
Short-sellers of shares in Chew Eu Hock, Parkway Lab, Medi-
Rad and Nucleus Electronics -- four counters which drew
intense speculative interest last week -- faced losses of
up to $590,000 as a result of buy-ins initiated against
them for their trades last Tuesday, brokers said.

Some 1.2 million Chew Eu Hock stocks were bought-in at 79.5
cents. The stock traded between 37 and 59 cents last
Tuesday on a volume of 6.7 million units.  Brokers reckon
most of the short-selling were done at the lower end of the
price range, which meant the losses were heavy.  But even
at an average of 48 cents, the loss would amount to some
$378,000.

Parkway Lab, which traded between 65 and 81 cents on 12
million shares last Tuesday, saw a buying-in of 546,000
shares at 72.5 cents. But at least some of the punters who
had shorted the shares at its intraday high at 81 cents
stood to make some money from the the exercise.  Assuming
all the shares were short sold at 81 cents, it would mean a
net gain of $46,410.

"Most people would have lost money," said a dealer with a
local broking house. "However, there will always be a few
gung-ho cowboys who've a better feel for the market than
others."

Medi-Rad, which traded between 45 and 55.5 cents on 11
million shares last week, had 281,000 shares bought-in at
52.5 cents. Some 153,000 Nucleus Electronics shares, traded
between 43.5 and 48 cents on 8.6 million units last
Tuesday, was bought in at 53.5.  Following the shortening
of the settlement period to three days, short-sellers who
fail to square their positions by the fourth day -- last
Friday, in this case -- will be bought-in by the exchange
the following morning.  (Business Times   16-May-2000)


===============
T H A I L A N D
===============

ADVANCE PAINT AND CHEMICAL: Posts 1st quarter loss
-------------------------------------------------
Advance Paint and Chemical in the first quarter of 2000
suffered a net loss of Bt24.43 million, down from a net
loss of Bt33.81 million in the same period last year.
(The Nation  16-May-2000)

ASIAN MARINE SERVICES: Posts 1st quarter loss
---------------------------------------------
Asian Marine Services reported Q1 net losses of 56m bt
compared with net profits of 27m bt last year.  (Bangkok
Post  16-May-2000)

BANGKOK BANK: Sells stake in Kamolkij Co.
-----------------------------------------
Bangkok Bank has disposed of its 8.7 percent stake in
Kamolkij Co Ltd, worth Bt34,000, as part of the company's
debtrestructuring plan.  With the sale of the stake BBL's
shareholding in Kamolkij Co Ltd went down from 58.31 per
cent to 49.62 per cent.  (The Nation   16-May-2000)

BUMRUNGRAD HOSPITAL: Posts 1st quarter loss
-------------------------------------------
Bumrungrad Hospital reported Q1 net losses of 155.8 m bt
compared with net losses of 199.7 m bt last year.  (Bangkok
Post  16-May-2000)

CHIANG MAI MEDICAL SERVICES: Posts 1st quarter loss
---------------------------------------------------
Chiang Mai Medical Services reported Q1 net losses of 3.5m
bt compared with net losses of 6m bt last year.  (Bangkok
Post  16-May-2000)

CMIC RUANG KHAO HIGH INCOME: Posts 1st quarter loss
---------------------------------------------------
CMIC Ruang Khao High Income reported Q1 net losses of 22.4m
bt compared with net losses of 403m bt last year.  (Bangkok
Post  16-May-2000)

COUNTRY (THAILAND): Posts 1st quarter loss
------------------------------------------
Country (Thailand) reported Q1 net losses of 309m bt
compared with net losses of 399m bt last year.  (Bangkok
Post  16-May-2000)

DATAMAT: Posts 1st quarter loss
-------------------------------
Datamat reported Q1 net losses of 59m bt compared with net
losses of 307m bt last year.  (Bangkok Post  16-May-2000)

DIANA DEPT.STORE: Posts 1st quarter loss
----------------------------------------
Diana Department Store reported Q1 net losses of 2.8 m bt
compared with net losses of 7.9 m bt last year.  (Bangkok
Post  16-May-2000)

EMC: Posts 1st quarter loss
---------------------------
EMC reported Q1 net losses of 27m bt compared with a net
losses of 73m bt last year.  (Bangkok Post  16-May-2000)

JALAPRATHAN CEMENT: Posts 1st quarter loss
------------------------------------------
Jalaprathan Cement reported Q1 net losses of 41.5 m bt
compared with net profits of 48.5 m bt last year.  (Bangkok
Post  16-May-2000)

MODERN HOME DEVELOPMENT: Posts 1st quarter loss
-----------------------------------------------
Modern Home Development reported Q1 net losses of 187 m bt
compared with net losses of 306.2 m bt last year.  (Bangkok
Post  16-May-2000)

SCB MUNKHONG 5 FUND: Posts 1st quarter loss
-------------------------------------------
SCB Munkhong 5 Fund reported Q1 net losses of 9m bt.
(Bangkok Post  16-May-2000)

SCB PRIME GROWTH FUND: Posts 1st quarter loss
---------------------------------------------
SCB Prime Growth Fund reported Q1 net losses of 32m bt.
(Bangkok Post  16-May-2000)

SIAM STEEL INT'L: Debt-to-equity swap ahead
-------------------------------------------
Siam Steel International plans to undertake a debt to
equity conversion to restructure debts of 1.3bn bt in six
months.  (Bangkok Post  16-May-2000)

SOUTHERN CONCRETE PILE: Post 1st quarter loss
---------------------------------------------
Southern Concrete Pile reported Q1 net losses of 17m bt
compared with net losses of 35.4m bt last year.  (Bangkok
Post  16-May-2000)

T.C.J. MOTOR: Posts 1st quarter loss
------------------------------------
T.C.J. Motor reported Q1 net losses of 66.2 m bt compared
with net profits of 137 m bt last year.  (Bangkok Post  16-
May-2000)


S U B S C R I P T I O N  I N F O R M A T I O N

Troubled Company Reporter -- Asia Pacific is a daily
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Copyright 2000.  All rights reserved.  ISSN: 1520-9482.

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