---

     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

             Monday, August 28, 2000, Vol. 3, No. 167

                                     Headlines


* A U S T R A L I A *

BRIERLEY INVESTMENTS: Sells 65 Vox Retail stores
EISA LTD: Austar to get shares after Wang settlement
LIBERTYONE: Forecasting 'substantially worse' 1H results
LIBERTYONE: Financial disclosure sends stock plummeting
PIRELLI CABLES: Post 1H loss
ST GEORGE BANK: To cut 1,450 jobs
VOXSON: Posts annual loss but phone development ahead


* C H I N A  &  H O N G  K O N G *

CHINADOTCOM: Fires 48 workers in cost-cutting move
EBIZ.HK.COM: Posts annual loss
GUANGZHOU INT'L TRUST: Offer to foreign creditors upped
OCEAN LAND: Change in on-line focus to trim losses
ONLINE CREDIT INT'L: Posts annual loss
PACIFIC CENTURY CYBERWORKS:Shares dip despite Telstra deal
SHENYANG SMELTER: Declared bankrupt


* I N D O N E S I A *

PT BARITO PACIFIC TIMBER: Reschedules $22M in debt
PT BINTUNI MINARAYA: Finally submits fin rpt to JSX
PT DAYA GUNA SAMDURA: Finally submits fin rpt to JSX
PT INTI INDORAYON UTAMA: Wins debt rehab agreement
PT SCHERING PLOUGH: Posts Rp4.7B net loss


* J A P A N *

AKAI ELECTRIC: Under control of HK's Grande Group
SNOW BRAND MILK PRODUCTS: Woes grow,recalls more products
TOSHIBA CORP.: Facing lawsuits in China


* K O R E A *

LG GROUP: Latest chaebol to see debts grow
SAMSUNG GROUP: Chief hit by tax charges, listing loss
SAMSUNG MOTORS: Ops launch delay due to creditors' balking
SAMSUNG MOTORS: Creditors want Samsung Life shares sold


* M A L A Y S I A *

HONG LEONG PROPERTIES: Posts annual loss
LIEN HOE CORP.: Fails to redeem loan stocks on time
TIMBERMASTER INDUS.: Finalizes debt-rehab plan


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

EXPRESS TELECOMMOS.: To conclude P2B debt rehab by year-end
REPUBLIC CEMENT CORP.: P6.5B loan deal with Blue Circle
UNIWIDE GROUP: Large-creditor pair okay rehab plan


* T H A I L A N D *

BANGKOK POLYETHYLENE: Debts assumed by NPC in purchase
THAI PETROCHEM.INDUST.: Fighting planner's efforts


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

BRIERLEY INVESTMENTS: Sells 65 Vox Retail stores
------------------------------------------------
Brierley Investments Ltd has sold 65 of its loss-making Vox
Retail Group stores to Betta Stores Ltd.

The selloff follows last month's sale of 22 Vox electrical
stores to Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. Betta Electrical was
thought to be the buyer of most of the 140 Vox stores,
which trade as Chandlers and Billy Guyatts in some states.

Vox chief executive Andrew Griffiths said the sale was part
of the company's restructure process began last year. It
intends to reduce the number of its Vox stores to 36 by
year end. Additionally, Vox intends to downsize its back
office and overhead expenses.

EISA LTD: Austar to get shares after Wang settlement
----------------------------------------------------
Austar United Communications Ltd said it will acquire those
Eisa Ltd shares previously subject to the KTX option
agreement, after former Eisa director Johnson Wang agreed
to settle out of court with his creditors.

Austar's subsidiary, Austar United Broadband Pty Ltd, has
made a 24.4 mln aud takeover offer for all of Eisa's shares
except those options held by Eisa's major shareholder, KTX
European Holdings of the Netherlands, which Wang legally
controls.  The Federal Court of Australia ruled in July to
freeze Wang's assets, restricting him from selling KTX's
Eisa shares unless the proceeds were paid into a trust
account.

However, Austar said it will now buy KTX's shares after
Wang came to a settlement agreement with Microsoft
Licensing Inc, which alleges Wang owes it 17.0 mln aud, as
well as the liquidator of Edge, his former company that
went bankrupt.  (AFX News Limited  25-Aug-2000)

LIBERTYONE: Forecasting 'substantially worse' 1H results
--------------------------------------------------------
Internet company LibertyOne warned today that it expects a
"substantially worse" result for the half-year ended June
30 compared to its results in the previous corresponding
period in 1999.

The company said that the expectation was based on the fact
that the market correction for technology stocks had an
adverse impact on the value and current business plans
adopted for a number of the company's investments.

"As a result, the board of LibertyOne has resolved to adopt
a conservative approach in assessing the carrying value of
a number of investments," a statement from LibertyOne said.
"This will translate into a substantially worse result for
the half-year to June 30, 2000 than for the comparable
period in 1999. As the aduit review for the half year is
yet to be completed, LibertyOne is presently unable to
advise of the likely result for the half-year."

The company added that its results would be available in
early September.  Part of the company's assessment had
included the wrrite-off of its 25 per cent investment in
Chinese Books Cyberstore following the company's placement
into liquidation in early August this year, it said.
LibertyOne said that its comprehensive review of operations
and investments previously announced was also continuing.

"This review involves an identification of long term
businesses to be pursued by the company," LibertyOne said.
"LibertyOne's board believes that sufficient time has now
passed since the April 2000 market correction to allow the
company to reconsider the strategic position of LibertyOne
and its investments in a stable environment." (Fairfax I.T.
25-Aug-2000)

LIBERTYONE: Financial disclosure sends stock plummeting
-------------------------------------------------------
Shares in LibertyOne plumbed new lows after the Internet
media pioneer disclosed yesterday that it would report
"substantially worse" financial results for the June half.

Investors pushed the shares as low as 11.5 cents. They
closed at 14 cents, giving the company a market value of
just $39.4 million. Last October, with its stock trading at
around the $2.70 mark, LibertyOne was valued at $760
million.

The steady slide in the share price has also hurt
LibertyOne chairman Nicholas Whitlam, who bought one
million shares in March at about $1.15 apiece. Mr Whitlam
is also chairman of NRMA. Based on yesterday's price, Mr
Whitlam's has lost more than $1 million on his investment,
which is now worth just $140,000.

In a statement to the stock exchange, LibertyOne said
April's global technology correction had had an "adverse
impact" on the value and business plans of a number of its
investments.  LibertyOne also said its 25 per cent
investment in failed Hong Kong book e-tailer Chinese Books
Cyberstore, worth $12.8 million at the end of December, had
been written off.

Even so, the company gave investors no indication of just
how bad the financial results would be, although it did say
the figures, to be released next month, would be
"substantially worse than for the comparable period last
year".

In the June half of 1999, LibertyOne posted a net loss of
$7.1 million, a far cry from the $1.43 million forecast in
its December, 1998, prospectus on revenue of $13.2 million.
The loss widened to $35.6 million for calender 1999 as
revenue increased to $24million.

According to its prospectus, revenue this year is expected
to reach $36.4 million, but LibertyOne chief executive
Marcelle Anderson said this number was now meaningless in
light of the major changes the company had undergone since
December 1998. (The Age  26-Aug-2000)

PIRELLI CABLES: Post 1H loss
----------------------------
Pirelli Cables Australia lost A$11.98 million or A$0.139 a
share for the half-year ended June 30. By comparison, the
company posted earnings of A$710,000 or A$0.008 a share for
the same period last year.  Sales revenue was A$157.43
million, up from A$131.79 million for the previous year.

ST GEORGE BANK: To cut 1,450 jobs
---------------------------------
St.George Bank Ltd., Australia's fifth-biggest lender, said
it will cut 17 percent of its staff in the next year to
boost earnings per share, after its stock underperformed
against major bank rivals.

The Sydney-based bank will cut 1,450 jobs from a total of
8,500 full-time positions to increase earnings per share by
18 cents, it said.  A major restructuring of the Sydney-
based bank's operations is expected to add A$33 million
($19 million) to annual revenue in the year to Sept. 2002,
and to cut annual costs by A$87 million, Chief Executive Ed
O'Neal said.

The restructuring will improve pretax earnings by A$120
million in 2002.  St.George shares have fallen 0.6 percent
in the past six months, compared with an average 23 percent
gain for Australia's four biggest banks: National Australia
Bank Ltd., Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking
Corp. and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.

The bank's shares rose as much as 1.2 percent after the
announcement. They recently traded at A$11.40, up 1
percent.  "The full-year impact of the redesign is an 18
cents increase in earnings per share," said O'Neal.

He said this is a 22 percent increase on annual earnings
per share in the half-year ended in March.  St.George will
take a one-time A$115 million restructuring charge in the
year ending September.

"The redesign will result in 1,450 positions being lost
over the next 12 months," O'Neal said. Still, he said "the
total number of staff displaced will be limited to 900."

St.George spokesman Adam Cooke said "natural attrition and
existing job vacancies" accounted for the lower number of
staff to be lost.  Of the A$87 million in annual cost
savings targeted by the bank, A$49 million, or 56 percent,
will come from reduced staff expenses.

Following its merger with Sydney-based Advance Bank Ltd. in
1997, O'Neal said St.George had been left with "cumbersome
processes and systems, impeding its ability to drive sales"
to its 2.6 million customers. (Bloomberg  24-Aug-2000)

VOXSON: Posts annual loss but phone development ahead
-----------------------------------------------------
Voxson posted a $4.4 million net loss for year ended June
30, but the company nonetheless revealed that production of
its dual band mobile phone was likely to start early next
calendar year.

Voxson chairman Howard Stack said ongoing technology
development costs combined with the deferment of revenues
were major contributing factors to the result. "While the
directors are disappointed with the result announced today,
we are confident that Voxson's products and technology will
still be competitive and that we have significant
opportunities in the telecommunications market," Stack
said.

"The board believes commencement of testing for Full Type
Approval (FTA) for our dual band handset is imminent, and
we anticipate significantly improved future revenues once
FTA has been achieved and the production process can move
forward," he added.

The company needs FTA through Danish telecommunications
company Teledenmark, an approved independent GSM test
house, before being able to sell its mobile phones on the
world market.  The testing process at Teledenmark is
expected to take about one month with the company now
expecting to commence commercial production of the handset
during the first quarter of the 2001 calendar year.

FTA is a necessary prerequisite to being able to sell a
phone on any GSM network worldwide.  Stack said that to
facilitate the achievement of key business objectives, key
management changes had been made this week, effective
immediately.

Voxson co-founder Lucas Longginou has elected to take on
the new role of deputy chairman and executive director,
responsible for product development and strategic
direction.  Longginou will hand over the position of
managing director to Jim Carroll who has been appointed as
acting chief executive officer.

Carroll, who was previously CEO of the Victorian Totalizer
Agency Board, will act in the role while a worldwide search
for a new CEO is undertaken.  Other factors which
contributed to the loss include suspension of the company's
digital cordless phone product resulting in a charge of
$957,204 and suspension of the Eclipse single band handset
project to focus resources on the new dual band product.
Stack said that preparing the dual band handset for the
extensive FTA process had taken significantly longer than
anticipated.

"There have been multiple causes including the complexity
of the test process itself, the high degree of innovation
in Voxson's GSM engine design, component changes, and
supplier delays," he said.  "The interaction of such
factors, some of which were beyond the company's control
... has impacted on the company's ability to complete this
milestone within the originally projected timeframe."

Stack said that delays in finalising FTA had obviously
delayed commercial production.  The delay was also due to
International Contract Manufacturing (ICM) and Voxson
forming the view that their commercial agreement for the
manufacture of Voxson's new handset should be terminated.

"Voxson and ICM concede that unforeseen circumstances have
made fulfilling the existing agreement difficult on both
sides and we intend to unravel it in a way that minimises
costs and delays for both of us," Stack said.

Stack also said delays experienced in 2000 would have an
adverse impact on the projected 2001 financial year
results.  He said a significant percentage of the $20.3
million of capital raised in December last year 1999 had
been invested in component inventory due to the need to
secure component allocation in an increasingly tight supply
driven environment.

Stack said the board believes its current supply and
allocation of components will be sufficient to meet the
requirement to initially produce up to 200,000 handsets.

"Previous high levels of cash expenditure required to
purchase these initial components will not be necessary
until production commences," he said.

Stack said that the board remained confident of the
underlying value and potential of the company's technology.
(Fairfax I.T.  25-Aug-2000)


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

CHINADOTCOM: Fires 48 workers in cost-cutting move
--------------------------------------------------
Chinadotcom Corp., operator of Asian news and information
Web sites, fired 48 workers in China, or about 8.7 percent
of its workforce there, continuing the trend of Internet
companies nationwide in trimming employees to cut costs.

Owner and operator of China.com, Hongkong.com and
Taiwan.com Web sites, the company said 21 administrative,
17 editorial and 10 marketing jobs were eliminated. Twenty-
eight of the jobs were in Beijing, 16 in Shanghai and 10 in
Guangzhou, the company said in a statement.

The Hong Kong-based company said it's committed to
strengthening its business in China because of the enormous
potential for the Internet there. Chinadotcom, which had
employed about 550 people in China, said it would help the
affected employees find new jobs.

Earlier this month, Hongkong.com said it will lay off 47
employees, or 20 percent of its workforce, to trim costs.
Last month, Tom.com Ltd., an Internet company with travel,
shopping and entertainment Web sites controlled by Hong
Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, said it would lay off 80
workers.

The shares of Chinadotcom fell 1/8 to 15 5/8 in trading on
the Nasdaq Stock Market. They've fallen 67 percent this
year. (Financial Times  26-Aug-2000)

EBIZ.HK.COM: Posts annual loss
------------------------------
Ebiz.hk.com recorded a $647,000 net loss for the year ended
March 31. The figure was much improved from the $29.9
million loss it posted last year. Turnover for the year was
$11 million, a decline of 29.3% from the previous year.
Total operating losses were reduced from $29.9 million for
the year ended March 31, 1999 to $490,000 for the year
ended March 31, 2000.  The company's board did not
recommend a final dividend. Formerly known as Frontier
International Holdings, the company is engaged in fashion
retailing, property investment and financial investment.

GUANGZHOU INT'L TRUST: Offer to foreign creditors upped
-------------------------------------------------------
Guangzhou International Trust and Investment Corp (Gzitic)
appears to have sweetened its offers to settle outstanding
foreign liabilities topping US$1 billion which it owes to
more than 130 foreign creditor banks.

Creditors yesterday were asked to choose from a full
repayment of their outstanding principal over a period of
10 years, or be repaid half their money in about six
months. It had emerged earlier that creditors would be
repaid only 40 per cent of their money.

Details of the restructuring proposals were presented to
creditors yesterday by Gzitic, the flagship financing arm
of Guangzhou's municipal government, and financial adviser
PricewaterhouseCoopers.  The proposals follow months of
negotiations and an agreement between Gzitic and the
steering committee of foreign creditor banks led by
Standard Chartered Bank. Guangzhou municipal government
also threw its support behind the proposals.

Debt-paper database Basisfield general manager Stewart Man
said the choices would vary from bank to bank depending on
the policies and accounting standards of individual banks.
"Banks, in general, want to pull out as soon as possible,
although the [reduction in principal and interest] is quite
drastic," he said.

Creditors choosing full repayment would be repaid their
outstanding principal over no more than 10 years. Of this
amount, 70 per cent would be in cash in equal annual
instalments funded from a combination of the sale of
"certain Gzitic assets and financial support" provided to
Gzitic by the Guangzhou municipal government.

The balance would be repaid after 10 years through
instruments in a joint-venture bank that Gzitic and its
owner, Guangzhou City, will set up. The 30 per cent portion
will pay interest of 1 per cent.  Creditors seeking earlier
repayment would get a one-off payment of half the principal
they are owed six months after all creditors sign off on
Gzitic's reorganisation agreement.

Gzitic financial woes came to light after Beijing ordered
the closure of Guangdong International Trust and Investment
Corp (Gitic), the flagship financing arm of Guangdong
province, in October 1998 for its failure to repay US$4.7
billion in liabilities.  The landmark decision highlighted
the deep-seated financial troubles among mainland trust and
investment companies, sparking a punishing credit squeeze
among foreign lenders.

While the trust sector remains mired in financial troubles,
progress has been made on the debt restructurings of some
trust companies with their creditors.  Creditors of Dalian
International Trust and Investment Corp (Ditic), the
investment arm of the Dalian municipal government, last
month agreed to write off 40 per cent of their US$150
million exposure to the company.

Hainan International Trust and Investment Corp made good on
a missed interest payment on 14.5 billion yen (about
HK$1.05 billion) of bonds, while Guangdong Enterprises
(Holdings) expects to finalise soon a deal with more than
120 creditor banks to restructure US$5.95 billion worth of
liabilities.  The restructuring agreement is conditional on
the withdrawal of a winding up petition on Gzitic's Hong
Kong subsidiary, Guangzhou Finance Co. (South China Morning
Post  26-Aug-2000)

OCEAN LAND: Change in on-line focus to trim losses
--------------------------------------------------
SAR-listed Ocean-Land Group will switch the focus of its
online bookshop from business-to-customer (B2C) to
business-to-business (B2B) in a bid to cut losses.

"The bookshop has been running for a few months but the B2C
business has proven to be unsatisfactory," said Ocean-Land
chairman Yuen Wai.

Called ebookschina.com, the site is 70 per cent-owned by
Ocean-Land and 30 per cent-owned by the mainland's largest
book seller and distributor Xinhua Bookstore.  But the
site, which sells books to retail customers in both Hong
Kong and the mainland, has been incurring costs of almost
300,000 yuan (about HK$281,000) a month since its launch in
April.

Mr Yuen said the company would shift the Web site's
emphasis to online distribution, reducing its focus on
online retailing.  "We have built a B2B platform for Xinhua
Bookstore, which it can use to distribute books online," Mr
Yuen said.

Xinhua distributes about 50 billion yuan worth of books
every year. Ocean-Land will charge Xinhua commission of
about 0.3 per cent on the turnover it makes by using Ocean-
Land's business-to-business platform which will be launched
in the first quarter next year as part of ebookschina.com.
Mr Yuen expected the business-to-consumer platform would
represent less than 1 per cent of turnover.

He said business had been affected by the bankruptcy of
Hong Kong's biggest Internet bookseller Chinese Books
Cyberstore earlier this month.  The bankruptcy had dampened
the market's enthusiasm for online retailing, making it
more difficult for smaller online bookstores to raise
capital, Mr Yuen said.

He said dozens of business-to-consumer Internet bookstores
were already operating in the mainland.  Yesterday, Ocean-
Land also confirmed it had reached an intention of co-
operation agreement with China National Container Corp
(CNCC).

Under the agreement, the companies would form a joint
venture to develop a logistics services chain in the
mainland.  CNCC general manager Liang Weihua said the
company would inject logistics service-related assets into
the venture.

CNCC has 37 logistics centres and warehouse space of
156,500 square metres in the mainland, which had throughput
of 4.56 million tonnes last year.  Ocean-Land would bring
its electronic supply-chain management system, e-
Distribution Network, to the joint venture.

"We believe that modern e-commerce must combine with
conventional logistics organically to develop its full
potential," Ocean-Land's Mr Yuen said.

The two firms were ironing out details of the agreement
which they expect to be finalised by the end of the year,
he said. (South China Morning Post 25-Aug-2000)

ONLINE CREDIT INT'L: Posts annual loss
--------------------------------------
Online Credit International recorded a $33.8 million net
loss for the year ended March 31, 2000. By comparison, the
company posted a $34.3 million net loss the previous
financial year.  Formerly known as Heng Fung Holdings, the
company had turnover of $56 million, up 39.1 percent from
the previous year.  Total operating losses rose sharply
from $4.4 million for the year ended March 31, 1999 to
$33.3 million in the current year. Online Credit's board
did not recommend a final dividend.

PACIFIC CENTURY CYBERWORKS:Shares dip despite Telstra deal
----------------------------------------------------------
Shares of Pacific Century CyberWorks continued to fall
yesterday despite the formalisation of the company's
alliance with Australia's Telstra Corp - a partnership that
could reduce CyberWorks' debt level.

Investors dumped the shares of both telecommunications
companies after the announcement of three joint ventures
involving the creation of an Internet protocol (IP)
backbone business, a mobile services business and Internet
data centres.  CyberWorks shares dropped 1.35 per cent to
HK$14.65 while Telstra dropped 2.7 per cent to A$6.96 at
yesterday's close.

"The transaction is not something new to the market," said
Edison Lee, Credit Lyonnais Securities (Asia) analyst. "The
fact that CyberWorks lowered its debt is not enough to
drive the share price."

CyberWorks' net debt will be lowered to US$4.87 billion,
thanks to a cash injection of US$3 billion from Telstra and
the transfer of a US$1.12 billion debt to the 50:50 IP
joint venture. That will lower CyberWorks' gearing ratio to
26 per cent from 31 per cent.  CyberWorks could reduce its
debt further by listing two joint ventures with Telstra
next year.

CyberWorks deputy chairman Francis Yuen Tin-fan expected
the IP joint venture to list in either the United States or
Hong Kong next year. He said the company had not yet
decided where to list its mobile services venture.
The mobile joint-venture business could be used as a
vehicle to buy Cable & Wireless' 15 per cent stake in
Singapore's MobileOne (M1), in which CyberWorks also holds
a 15 per cent stake.

Singapore newspapers have reported that Cable & Wireless
has appointed Merrill Lynch to arrange the sale of its M1
stake, which could fetch more than US$261 million.
"We are interested in taking a stake in M1, and we are
looking for an Asian partner to help in our expansion
plans," said Dick Simpson, group managing director of
Telstra OnAir.

He said the US$1.5 billion Telstra paid to acquire 40 per
cent of CyberWorks' mobile business in Hong Kong, or about
US$4,000 per subscriber, was reasonable given that average
revenue per user of the local mobile business was US$56 a
month, the highest in Hong Kong. (South China Morning Post
25-Aug-2000)

SHENYANG SMELTER: Declared bankrupt
-----------------------------------
Shenyang Smelter, one of China's most norotious generators
of air pollution, was finally declared bankrupt in early
August by Shenyang Intermediate People's Court.

It is the first "super large-scale state-owned enterprise"
in the metal sector that has gone bankrupt.  The 64-year-
old and 16,000-staff smelter has a copper capacity of
60,000 tons a year, lead capacity of 80,000 tons and zinc
capacity of 20,000 tons. Production has already stopped
earlier this year.

Unlike previous bankruptcies of metal smelters, such as
Kunming Smelter, where production today is even greater
than before the recapitalisation, Shenyang Smelter looks to
disappear once and for all.  "We do not see any chance for
recapitalisation," an official of the smelter said.
Official reports of the bankruptcy stress the reason of
environmental pollution.

The smelter is said to discharge 74.000 tons of SO2 and
66.8 tons of heavy metals into the air a year, haunting
one-fourth of the urban area of Shenyang, the capital of
Liaoning Province.

"Its output value is less than 1 percent of Shenyang''s
total, but its SO2 emission accounts for 42 percent and
lead dust emission 98 percent," the official said. Official
data of the State Bureau of Nonferrous Metals Industry
(SBNMI) show the plant has a liability/asset ratio of
65.6%, which is "obviously too low," an SBNMI official
comments.

The official notes that losses of the smelter had
accumulated to 560 million yuan (US$67.7 million) as of the
end of June. "The hidden losses must be many times that,"
he says. (XIC) (Finance Asia  26-Aug-2000)


=================
I N D O N E S I A
=================

PT BARITO PACIFIC TIMBER: Reschedules $22M in debt
--------------------------------------------------
The major creditors of timber company PT Barito Pacific
Timber have agreed to reschedule debt of US$22 million.

Susana Susanto, president of the country's largest plywood
producer, confirmed Bank Mandiri agreed to roll over the
debt repayment until 2006. A restructuring agreement almost
had been reached with creditors for another debt of Rp400
billion (US$50 million), he added.

Ssuanto said 95.7 percent of the creditors, including the
Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to which the
company owes Rp103 billion, had agreed to put off the debt
from July 2002 to 2007.  Negotiations were underway for a
debt of US$356.7 million to foreign creditors, he added.

PT BINTUNI MINARAYA: Finally submits fin rpt to JSX
PT DAYA GUNA SAMDURA: Finally submits fin rpt to JSX
----------------------------------------------------
Publicly listed fishery companies PT Bintuni Minaraya and
PT Daya Guna Samudra (DGS) said on Friday they had
submitted their 1999 financial reports to the Jakarta Stock
Exchange (JSX) after months of delays.

"Yesterday, on Aug. 24, 2000, the financial audits on PT
Daya Guna Samudra Tbk and PT Bintuni Minaraya Tbk were
completed, both receiving a disclaimer opinion," Daya Guna
commissioner Johnson Sihombing said during a public expose.
The delay in the 1999 financial reports, which should have
been submitted to the JSX in April, caused the suspension
of the two companies' shares on the exchange.

Daya Guna reported a net loss of Rp 418 billion (about
US$49 million) on its 1999 balance sheet while its parent
company Bintuni suffered a net loss of Rp 444.4 billion.
Daya Guna booked a net profit of Rp 375.9 billion in 1998
while Bintuni registered a net profit of Rp 315.7 billion.

According to the newly issued financial report, Daya Guna's
net sales dropped to Rp 1.3 trillion from Rp 2.23 trillion
in 1998.  Its assets fell to Rp 3.45 trillion in 1999 from
Rp 4.03 trillion in the previous year.

Meanwhile, Bintuni's net sales dropped to Rp 1.76 trillion
last year from Rp 2.8 trillion in 1998 while its assets
also decreased to Rp 4.89 trillion from Rp 6.08 trillion in
the same period.  Johnson blamed the poor 1999 performance
on continuing unrest at its Ambon operation in the province
of Maluku.

It said the evacuation of key personnel within the
operational and management staff had hampered the two
companies from operating as normal.  Johnson said that
auditor PriceWaterhouseCoopers gave the two companies a
disclaimer opinion because of security uncertainties in
Ambon and their unclear debt restructuring process with the
Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

Daya Guna and Bintuni belong to the Djajanti Group, a
fishery and plantation concern. The business group is one
of IBRA's largest debtors, with debts totaling Rp 2.4
trillion.  JSX threatened to delist the two companies along
with PT Dharmala Sakti Sejahtera and PT Super Mitory Utama
on Sept. 12, after they failed to submit their financial
reports on time. The shares of the four companies remain
suspended from trading.

But upon instruction from the Capital Market Supervisory
Agency (Bapepam), JSX delayed the delisting plan, pending
Bapepam's investigation on whether the four companies had
violated market regulations.  JSX said it had sent the two
companies eight warning letters from early May to July 24,
to which it did not receive acceptable responses.

"We've received only four warning letters," Johnson said,
adding that the companies had tried to contact JSX through
the companies' corporate secretaries.

He further blamed the violence in Maluku for hampering the
work of their auditor and thereby causing the delay.
"The bad condition in Maluku disrupted the data supply to
and from Ambon," Johnson said.

He said the companies were preparing a policy to cope with
the volatile condition in Maluku.  For instance, he said,
the companies were considering improving equipment on their
fishing boats, and perhaps moving their operational base.

"However, these efforts require massive capital and the
companies' financial condition needs to be taken into
consideration," he explained. (Jakarta Post  26-Aug-2000)

PT INTI INDORAYON UTAMA: Wins debt rehab agreement
--------------------------------------------------
Creditors of beleagured PT Inti Indorayon Utama (IIU) have
agreed in principle to restructure debt worth US$414
million.

The management of the company, whose operation has been
suspended since 1998, said the final agreement on debt
restructuring would be signed after the factory in Porsea,
North Tapanuly, resumes operation.  The government has
allowed the factory to resume operations of its pulp unit
but kept on hold the operation of its rayon fiber unit,
which is considered to be the main cause of environmental
damage.

Dissatisfaction with the government decision shown by the
local people, however, forced the company to delay the
resumption of operation.  Environemtal damage is the main
issue triggering dispute with the local people and non
governmental organizations resulting in the suspension.
The US$414 million debts include bonds valued at US$285.6
million, bank loans amounting to US$76.5 million and
interest making up the rest.

The company management said under the debt restructuring
prohgram, debts would be converted into two new bonds -
bond I valued at US$136.6 million to fall due in 2003 and
bond II US$277.4 million with a maturity date of 2006.
In addition, 21 percent of the company's shares would be
given to its creditors and bond holders, it said.
(SuratkabarCom  25-Aug-2000)

PT SCHERING PLOUGH: Posts Rp4.7B net loss
-----------------------------------------
PT Schering Plough Indonesia (SCPI) isn't yet out of deep
water, posting operating losses of Rp1.03bn for the first
semester of the year, although this was much lesser than
during the same period in 1999, when it reached Rp7.59bn.

Even during the first semester this year, the company
suffered net losses of Rp4.67bn, slightly less than
Rp5.99bn in the same period last year. Actually, Schering-
Plough successfully increased sales by 16.5% in the first
semester this year, up to Rp43.28bn from Rp37.15bn in the
corresponding period last year.

And the cost of goods sold declined 13.53% to Rp26.05bn,
compared to production costs of Rp30.12bn previously.
But, operating costs increased 24.84%, to Rp18.25bn, from
Rp14.62bn in the first semester 1999.  The joint venture
company, engaged in pharmaceutical industry, suffered net
losses of Rp4.67bn in the first semester 2000.

Nevertheless, this is better than the same period last
year, when the net loss amounted to Rp5.60bn.  This year's
losses were partly attributable to Rp1.21bn net interest
expenses and Rp2.55bn forex losses. In the first semester
1999, however, the company recorded a profit, with forex
gains of Rp2.06bn and interest expenses only reaching
Rp268.18m.

According to published financial reports, the value of this
company's assets amounted to Rp45.91bn by end of June 2000,
up 15.17% from Rp39.86bn a year earlier.  On the other
hand, total equity fell 28.15% to Rp13.62bn in 2000 from
Rp18.96bn in the same period last year.

By June 30th 2000, Schering-Plough's total liabilities -
all were short-term -- worth Rp32.29bn, with some Rp17.81
of the total amount being owed to a bank. Total liabilities
themselves had increase significantly from Rp20.90bn by
June 1999.

Furthermore, a debt to equity ratio of 237% demonstrates
the company's vulnerable capital structure. It shows a
trend of weakening capital structure, since by the year-end
1999, DER remained 161%.  Schering-Plough's performance
tends to have worsened since the monetary crisis two years
ago.

In 1998, the company suffered net losses of Rp658m, which
then increased sharply in 1999, as a result of the company
booking some Rp6.48bn net losses.  The company had recorded
net sales of Rp81.72bn in 1999, however they were still
suffering operating loss of Rp9.34bn. (IndoExchange News
25-Aug-2000)


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

AKAI ELECTRIC: Under control of HK's Grande Group
-------------------------------------------------
Akai Electric Co., the ailing audio equipment maker, has
come under the wing of the Hong Kong-based Grande Group
since its holding company Akai Holdings Ltd. gave up the
ownership of its Akai shares.

Akai Holdings (AHL) holds more than 40 pct of Akai shares
through its subsidiaries, but the Hong Kong High Court on
Wednesday approved an application by Hong Kong-based AHL
for liquidation of the company.

AHL's stake in Akai, now mortgaged to a Grande group
company, will be transferred to Grande group, according to
Akai Electric. AHL is in the midst of reconstruction
process led by the Grande group, but there has been no
capital alliance between the two.  Akai stock ended at 17
yen on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
Thursday, down one yen from Wednesday.

SNOW BRAND MILK PRODUCTS: Woes grow,recalls more products
---------------------------------------------------------
The tainted milk scandal at Japan's biggest dairy goods
maker escalated yesterday as Snow Brand Milk Products
recalled products made by a plant not previously linked
directly to the incident.

A company spokeswoman said some 125,000 packages of milk
and dairy products made by a plant in central Japan from
August 13 to 15 were found to contain powdered skimmed milk
that had been produced at a northern Japan facility plagued
by a bacteria scare.  The recall comes after more than
14,500 people, mostly in the Osaka area in western Japan,
fell ill in late June after drinking Snow Brand milk in one
of Japan's most widespread food poisoning outbreaks.

The company said it had not received any complaints
relating to the yoghurt, flavored milk and other dairy
products targeted by the latest recall, adding that 95,000
of the packages would no longer be on store shelves because
they has passed their permissible sale date.  The northern
Japan plant at the center of the scandal was shut by Snow
Brand on Sunday and ordered to remain closed indefinitely
by local health authorities, after a toxin from
staphylococcus aureus bacteria was found in preserved
samples of the plant's powdered skimmed milk made on April
1.

A spokesman said on Wednesday the bacteria may have entered
the milk as a result of a three-hour power failure on March
31 which left raw milk standing in high temperatures. Some
of that milk made its way into products at a plant in Osaka
that was the source of the mass food-poisoning.

Snow Brand's shares have been hit hard by the scandal,
falling nearly 40 percent to a low of 371 yen in mid-July.
(Business Day Thailand, Reuters  25-Aug-2000)

TOSHIBA CORP.: Facing lawsuits in China
---------------------------------------
Japanese computer maker Toshiba Corp plans to contest a
number of lawsuits filed in China alleging defective
floppy-disk drives in its notebook computers.

Three individual and three corporate customers in Beijing
and Shanghai filed the lawsuits between May and this month.
The suits allege that faulty software in the floppy-disk
controllers of Toshiba PC notebooks cause data to be lost
or damaged when trying to save it to a floppy disk.

Toshiba denies the claims, maintaining it previously has
remedied the problem. Since November, the company says it
has sent free software for fixing the problem to all
Toshiba notebook users who requested it.

This is the second time in a year that the company is
facing lawsuits. Last year, Toshiba was sued by US
consumers over the same problem, and it cost the company
US$1 billion in settlements. Analysts say that although the
Chinese suits will not cost much, the real loss may be the
damage to the company's brand image. Additionallly, it may
cause Chinese consumers to lose faith in the Toshiba brand,
which could end up costing the company much more, given
that China's rapid economic growth makes the country a most
attractive market for Toshiba's range of products.


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

LG GROUP: Latest chaebol to see debts grow
------------------------------------------
The LG Group does not yet rival either bankrupt Daewoo or
humbled Hyundai in terms of the size of its debt or
the amount of ink it receives, but that sitation is
changing for the worse.

When South Korea's Financial Supervisory Commission
reported at the end of July the results of a new, more
comprehensive examination of borrowing by the nation's
biggest corporate groups, LG's indebtedness turned out to
be much worse than the company had previously reported.
The consolidated analysis of LG borrowing ordered by the
FSC showed that the entire group's debt-to-equity ratio is
273%.

This was substantially higher than the 190% previously
claimed by LG, and it also exceeds the 200% cap that the
chaebol were to have reached by the end of last year.
Especially worrisome is the fact that the company's
operating income is currently only 1.42 times its net
interest costs.

That means only a relatively small proportion of cash is
left over to pay for operations after the debt is serviced,
and it leaves the company especially vulnerable if banks
stop lending. By comparison, Hyundai is in worse shape: It
has only 91 cents of operating revenue for each dollar it
owes in debt service. Samsung's ratio is a healthier $3.15
of revenue for every debt-service dollar.

None of which puts off LG. In the best Alice-in-Wonderland
tradition of Korean chaebol, the company has big, big
expansion plans for the immediate future. In June the
company announced a restructuring program that included the
statement that LG "will emerge as a telecom and Internet-
related power in Korea."

To that end it has been buying pieces of telecommunications
companies and trying to boost its share of the nation's
cellular phone market. It now controls 48% of Dacom, South
Korea's second-largest international telephone service
provider and 17.2% of Hanaro, the largest broadband
Internet connect company in a nation going Net-crazy.

And, debt be damned, the company says it is planning to
spend $5.4 billion on telecommunications - about half of
that for a third-generation mobile phone license in Korea -
in the next four years. Where will the money to fund all
that expansion come from?

LG seems unconcerned. One high-ranking company official,
who asked not to be identified, told Asiaweek that the
company is "sitting on a pile of cash" from the sale of
assets to foreign companies and of LG Semicon to Hyundai
Electronics last year. In all, the sales brought in nearly
$6 billion.

A large chunk of that was supposed to go toward reducing
the group's debt, which was $39 billion at the end of last
year. The company apparently has other ideas. The LG
official who asked not to be named acknowledges that the
debt is "slightly high" but sees no problem in bringing
overall debt to below a still-high 200% of equity by the
end of the year - the end-of-1999 benchmark.

The company may feel that too much debt reduction would
crimp its style: It expects its telecommunications arm, LG
Telecom, to grow to 3.6 million cellular subscribers by the
end of the year - and thirsts for more. With a market share
of about 14%, LG is the third-biggest mobile phone company
in Korea behind SK Telecom and KT Freetel.

Critics complain that LG is not just the smallest of the
three service providers. They say the quality of its
subscriber base is poor because it includes too many young
people who don't have much spending power. LG's strategy
has also included a $5.2 billion merger between two of
its most prominent units, LG Electronics and LG Information
and Communications.

LG Electronics chairman John Koo said the consolidation was
intended "to seize the massive growth potential of the
information and communications industry and become a global
player." But shareholders of LG Information apparently
didn't see it that way.

More than a third of them sold their shares back to the
company rather than take stakes in the new entity. Many may
have suspected that the merger was more an attempt to boost
a flagging LG Electronics by linking it with one of the
group's best performers as opposed to an effort to
exploit useful synergy between the units. LG Electronics
likely shelled out $154 billion for the share buyback.

Ban Young Won, senior telecom analyst for Good Morning
Securities, says the number of shareholders who
opted out couldn't have been good news: "LG needs every
single won it can get hold of now to fund its future
telecom business."

Eugene Ha, senior electronics analyst for Samsung
Securities, says the joining of the two companies has been
perceived so badly because, in effect, "the whole is less
than the sum of its parts." Also, analysts may have a hard
time evaluating the combined company because LG Electronics
is sprawling whereas LG Information was a relatively
contained unit.

Given that the entire group has a reputation for being
uncommunicative, the loss of transparency will be tough to
take. Complains Lee Won Ki, chief fund manager for Regent
Asset Management in Seoul: "You never know what LG is up
to. And when you are uncertain about a company, you sell."

The group may have a strategy to get through the next
months even if creditors try to squeeze faster repayment of
loans, but if it does it isn't saying. Similar close-to-
the-vest strategies have not been terribly successful for
Daewoo or Hyundai. (AsiaWeek  01-Sept.-2000)

SAMSUNG GROUP: Chief hit by tax charges, listing loss
-----------------------------------------------------
Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, already under fire for
massive tax evasion charges in connection with his immoral
wealth transfer to his offspring, stands to suffer huge
financial losses, following the government's decision to
cancel the listing of Samsung Life Insurance.

According to analysts, the government decision to
indefinitely put off the listing of Samsung Life is
expected to take a severe toll on the finances of the
troubled Samsung Group and its chairman Lee, costing them
at least 40 billion won ($36 million) a month. Financial
Supervisory Com-mission Chairman Lee Kun-young, reversing
his predecessors' policy stance, said that the government
will reconsider its plan to allow Samsung Life and other
local life insurers to list their shares on the Seoul
bourse by the end of this year.

Lee explained that the sudden policy reversal was
inevitable to avoid controversy over special financial
favors to specific chaebol groups holding the largest
shareholdings in the insurers. He also admitted that his
predecessors' decision to link the life insurers' listing
to the compensation of the failed Samsung Motors' debts was
wrong.

The listing of Samsung Life has been regarded as a special
favor to the parent group and Lee. Its customers have made
Samsung Life's current status as the nation's largest life
insurer possible, but Lee, and other large shareholders who
invested a mere 4 billion won in the beginning are expected
to earn as much as 14 trillion won as a result of the
company's possible listing.

The aborted listing has greatly frustrated Samsung's plan
to use the proceeds from the listing of Samsung Life to pay
for failed Samsung Motors' debts to its creditors, said the
analysts.  On June 30, 1999, Samsung Chairman Lee, pressed
to take personal responsibility for the bankruptcy of
Samsung Motors, handed over his 3.5 million Samsung Life
shares to make up for the automaker's outstanding debts to
creditors, worth 2.45 trillion won.

At the time of the stock transfer, Samsung contended that
the unlisted Samsung Life shares were valued at 700,000 won
apiece and sufficient to cover its debts to creditors.
Under the contract with creditors, Samsung promised to
fully cash the Samsung Life shares by the end of 2000 by
taking the life insurer public. Otherwise, Samsung is
obliged to pay 19 percent of the 2.45 trillion won debts in
overdue interest annually, or 38.79 billion won a month.

"Samsung will have to sell the 3.5 million unlisted Sam-
sung Life shares on behalf of the Samsung Motors creditors
by the year's end, or is required to raise 2.45 trillion
won to keep its promise to the creditors," said an
executive at Hanvit Bank, the main creditor. "In case of
failures, creditors will collect the monthly overdue
interest payment of 38.79 billion won," he warned.

Adding to Samsung's woes, Samsung Life shares are trading
at less than 300,000 won apiece in Seoul's over-the-counter
markets, far below the group's estimated price of 700,000
won, amid the rapidly worsening investor sentiments towards
the problematic conglomerate and the Lee family.

Therefore, if Samsung Life shares are sold for 300,000 won
per share and the proceeds amount to 1.05 trillion won, the
Samsung chairman will have to donate an additional 1.4
trillion won to fill the shortfall, the analysts said,
forecasting further falls in the value of Samsung Life
shares.

Samsung said it has selected Goldman Sach & Co. as the main
underwriter to push to sell the Samsung Life shares
overseas. Industry analysts have said that foreign
investors are reluctant to buy the Samsung Life shares
admist fears that the Samsung Life management will be
forced to pay huge sums in dividends to its customers on
the heels of the insurer's eventual listing, resulting in
sharp falls in the share prices.

Meanwhile, Samsung Group affiliates are also criticized for
spending trillions of won to pay for losses of the failed
Samsung Motors, triggering strong protests from foreign and
minority shareholders. Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and four
other Samsung units, have bought 464,838 shares of the
500,000 Samsung Life shares paid by Samsung Chairman Lee to
Samsung Motors employees and subcontractors.

They were to help compensate for their losses from the
failure of the automaker, at 700,000 won per share, far
above the stock's current market value of 300,000 won. The
alleged embezzlement of corporate coffers has angered
foreign and minority shareholders, prompting them to
massively dump Samsung shares. (Korea Herald  25-Aug-2000)

SAMSUNG MOTORS: Ops launch delay due to creditors' balking
----------------------------------------------------------
Samsung Motors Inc said the launch of its operations,
scheduled for Sept 7, is likely to be postponed due to
certain problems with the company's debt restructuring.

Samsung Motors, which was acquired by Renault SA in April,
said creditor bank H&CB is insisting that its 3.3 bln won
loan to the company be reclassified as public bonds, adding
that therefore they are "fully repayable." A company
spokesman said the bank took the issue to court, but the
latter said if the bank's loan is classified as public
bonds, then loans lent by other state-owned banks, such as
Korea Development Bank, will also have to be classified
under the same category.

In addition, the bank is refusing to sign an agreement on a
debt-equity swap. Under the original agreement, H&CB agreed
to accept the offer of Samsung group chairman Lee Kun-hee
to assign his Samsung Life shares as partial payment for
Samsung Motors' debt.  A Samsung Motors spokesman said H&CB
is seeking cash instead of Samsung Life shares since the
government has delayed the listing of life insurance
companies on the stock market. (European Investor 25-Aug-
2000)

SAMSUNG MOTORS: Creditors want Samsung Life shares sold
-------------------------------------------------------
Creditors formally asked Samsung Motors to outline how it
will dispose of the 3.5 million shares of Samsung Life
Insurance used as collateral against its motor affiliate''s
debts by end of this month.

Sources with Hanvit Bank, the leading creditor, said those
shares under the care of Samsung Securities were to be sold
within this year to pay for Samsung Motors' debts.
Creditors anticipate the sale will go smoothly; they just
want specific dates so they can advance their own plans.

The source said Samsung is considering selling the shares
overseas, naming Goldman Sachs to sell the entire amount to
foreign investors.  But several options are still on the
table. Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Lee Keun-
yong ordered the plan to list Samsung and Kyobo Life
Insurance on the Korea Stock Exchange this year
reevaluated, making the listing of the life insurer hardly
possible within this year.

Samsung put up 3.5 million shares of Samsung Life at a per
share price of 700,000 won on June 30 last year as mortgage
against Samsung Motors' debts when the troubled auto maker
was put under court management. The shares are from the
personal holdings of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee.
Yonhap (Finance Asia  25-Aug-2000)


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

HONG LEONG PROPERTIES: Posts annual loss
----------------------------------------
Hong Leong Properties Bhd posted a pre-tax loss of
RM88.07mil for the 12-months to June 30. By comparison, the
company recorded a pre-tax profit of RM24.42mil the year
before. The company attributed the loss mainly due to an
exceptional loss of RM88.3mil resulting from the write-down
of its hotel assets to market value during the period. The
company's turnover also dropped 14% to RM261.5mil from
RM305.2mil. No dividend was recommended.

LIEN HOE CORP.: Fails to redeem loan stocks on time
---------------------------------------------------
Lien Hoe Corporation Bhd failed to redeem RM53.818 million
in its Redeemable Secured Loan Stocks, which matured on
August 17.

Under the Trust Deed, a 30-day grace period to fully redeem
the loan stocks is given to Lien Hoe, according to a
statement from the Rating Agency Malaysia Bhd (RAM). The
company is pursuing alternate means of raising funds with
which to redeem the loan stocks. RAM believes, however,
that it is unlikely Lien Hoe will be able to do so within
the grace period.

On June 2, RAM said, Lien Hoe received approval from the
Securities Commission for a proposed capital restructuring
exercise, including a rights issue of warrants.  Part of
the proceeds from the proposed warrants were earmarked for
redemption of the loan stocks, it added. The restructuring
exercise was to be completed by December 2000.

TIMBERMASTER INDUS.: Finalizes debt-rehab plan
----------------------------------------------
The Special Administrators of Timbermaster Industries Bhd
(TMIB) has entered into an agreement with creditors to
forge better understanding which will help to facilitate
towards the finalisation of the proposed workout plans for
its corporate and debt restructuring scheme.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement was with
Foowood International Sdn Bhd, the shareholders of Foowood,
Brilliant Vintage Sdn Bhd, and Capital Salute Sdn Bhd.
Timbermaster Industries said in a statement issued here
Friday that the agreement was basically to regulate and
record the basic understanding of the key areas of
agreement pending finalisation of the proposed workout.

Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Bhd has appointed Lim San
Peen and Yap Wai Fun of PricewaterhouseCoopers as The
Special Administrators for Timbermaster Industries and its
subsidiaries.  The subsidiaries are Timbermaster Timber
Complex Sdn Bhd (TMTC), Timbermaster (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd
(TMM), Kompleks Perkayuan Timbermaster Smallholders Sdn Bhd
(KPTS), and Perkayuan T.M. (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (PTM).

The statement said that the key areas of the MoU and the
proposed workout, include the acquisition of the land and
buildings and plant and machinery of KPTS and PTM by a
newly incorporated company (NewCo).  It also involves the
acquisition of Foowood and its subsidiaries, and Brilliant
Vintage Sdn Bhd and Capital Salute Sdn Bhd by the NewCo.

The other key areas were capital reconstruction involving a
capital reduction and consolidation of TMIB shares,
exchange of the consolidated shares in TMIB for new
ordinary RM1 shares in the NewCo, debt restructuring
involving the settlement of all known debts of the secured,
unsecured, and any other creditors of TMIB, KPTS and PTM,
and transfer of listing status of TMIB to NewCo.

It added that the proposed workout would be subjected to
the execution of shares and assets sale agreements.
Approvals for the proposed workout would need to be
obtained from Danaharta, Securities Commission, Kuala
Lumpur Stock Exchange, Foreign Investment Committee,
Ministry of International Trade and Industry, other
relevant authorities and the secured creditors of TMIB,
KPTS and PTM.

Further details of the proposed workout plans would be
announced in due course, the statement said. (Malaysian
National News Agency  25-Aug-2000)


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

EXPRESS TELECOMMOS.: To conclude P2B debt rehab by year-end
-----------------------------------------------------------
Express Telecommunications Inc. is set to conclude debt
restructuring negotiations with its creditors before the
end of the year and roll out its digital mobile phone
network.

"We are in the process of concluding our debt
restructuring," said Extelcom president Advinculo Quiblat.
He explained that P1.3 billion of Extelcom's debts were
owed to local creditors and the rest to foreign banks.
"There are three phases involved in transforming the
company. The first is the operational aspect, the second
concerns debt restructuring and the third involves looking
for new investment for the company," said Quiblat.

He said the company was already finished with the
overhauling of its operations and that the second phase
would soon be finished.  "After we're done with the banks,
we will then look for funding so that we can go digital.
There's no choice but to go digital. We're looking at a
combination of sources, from shareholders, suppliers
credits and banks," he said.

However, he could not say how much the company would need
for this undertaking.  Because Extelcom's frequencies are
in the 800-megahertz range, the company would likely choose
the code division multiple access or time division multiple
access technology.  Quiblat said the company was also
eyeing additional frequencies in the 1,900-megahertz range.

The Court of Appeals has yet to resolve a case filed by
Extelcom against Bayan Telecommunications Inc., which is
also planning to offer cellular phone service.  Extelcom,
approximately 47-percent owned by Bayantel, asked the high
court to nullify the provisional authority for cellular
service given by the National Telecommunications Commission
to Bayantel. (Philippine Daily Inquirer  26-Aug-2000)

REPUBLIC CEMENT CORP.: P6.5B loan deal with Blue Circle
-------------------------------------------------------
Republic Cement Corp. (RCC) will borrow P6.5 billion from
Blue Circle Philippines Inc. (BCPI) for its capital
expenditure requirements and debt servicing.

As of end-1999, RCC total borrowings were pegged at P2.433
billion. It ended the year with a net loss of P383.70
million.  BCPI owns P495.8-million shares in RCC. The
shares represent a 34-percent stake. It is a unit of
London-based Blue Circle Industries Plc.

"The board of directors unanimously approved the availment
by the corporation of a loan from BCPI up to the maximum
principal amount of P6.5 billion and under such terms and
conditions as may be agreed upon with BCPI. Part of the
loan proceeds shall be used by the corporation to prepay
its outstanding loans with various creditors," RCC senior
vice president for finance Renato C. Sunico said in a
disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.  (The Manila
Times  26-Aug-2000)

UNIWIDE GROUP: Large-creditor pair okay rehab plan
--------------------------------------------------
Equitable PCI Bank and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. have
approved the rehabilitation plan of Uniwide Holdings Inc.,
allowing the debt-laden retailer to wrap up debt
restructuring talks next month.

A ranking company official said yesterday Uniwide's
creditors were set to meet on Monday to settle remaining
issues so that Uniwide could get on with its
rehabilitation. Among the creditors that have already
cleared Uniwide's rehabilitation plan are United Coconut
Planters Bank, Global Business Bank, International Exchange
Bank, Bank of the Philippine Islands and East Asia Capital
Corp.

Uniwide's creditors are expected to sign a memorandum of
agreement and then appoint Citibank NA as escrow agent.
This will allow No. 2 French food retailer Casino-Guichard
Perrachon SA to take full control of Uniwide.  Uniwide said
earlier a new strategic investor would acquire a 60-percent
stake in a real estate unit it was spinning off as part of
a rehabilitation plan involving Casino.

Uniwide informed investors that its board has allowed a
third-party investor to acquire 60 percent of Fil-Franco
Realty and Resources Inc.  Fil-Franco Realty handles the
land banking activities of the Uniwide group. It is one of
two debt-free subsidiaries Uniwide is setting up to
separately handle its retail and realty businesses. The
other subsidiary, Fil-Franco Store Systems Inc., will
operate the group's warehouse operations.

Uniwide corporate secretary Maria Concepcion Noche said the
Uniwide group was also preparing measures to "resolve a
potential shortfall in the cash investment by Casino."
Casino is prepared to infuse P3.57 billion to acquire an
80-percent stake in Uniwide.

Noche said the French retail giant was expecting some cash
deficiency "in view of transaction-related expenses and the
delay in the completion of the transaction because of the
numerous details that need to be attended to in the course
of the implementation of the rehabilitation program of the
Uniwide group."

Casino was supposed to place money in Uniwide in June this
year. Uniwide's creditors, however, balked at approving the
local retailer's debt-restructuring plan, delaying Casino's
entry. As a condition to its takeover, Casino wanted to
spin off the retail and real estate businesses of Uniwide
into separate subsidiaries. (Philippine Daily Inquirer 26-
Aug-2000)


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

BANGKOK POLYETHYLENE: Debts assumed by NPC in purchase
------------------------------------------------------
National Petrochemical Plc (NPC) will pay less than Bt1.7
billion to purchase the entire stake of Bangkok
Polyethylene (BPE), which is 40 per cent owned by BBL
group.

The amount is equivalent to BPE's current registered
capital. NPC has offered existing shareholders of BPE first
rights to purchase a maximum 10 per cent share of the
company from its next capital increase.  The final price
will be determined after the formal due diligence of BPE,
expected to be completed in October.

The transaction is targeted for completion by the end of
this year. BPE's debts of $120 million (Bt4.9 billion) will
transferred to NPC following the acquisition. The debt
amount is high in comparison to BPE's registered capital of
Bt1.7 billion.  NPC is looking to acquire more subsidiaries
of Bangkok Bank's (BBL) petrochemical group following its
first acquisition recently.

NPC president Viroj Mavichak said yesterday that with the
conclusion of the purchase of Bangkok Polyethylene (BPE),
the company has started discussing further cooperation with
BBL.  "HMC Polymers, a manufacturer of polypropylene (PP),
is among the BBL units that are potential for the next
acquisition," he said.

The production of PP compound fits in with NPC's strategy
to move into value-added or speciality petrochemical
products, Viroj said.  Acquisitions are the best way for
NPC to expand into the downstream petrochemical business
since it will save the time spent on expansion and be much
cheaper than constructing new production facilities, he
said. BBL, at the same time, is focusing more on its core
banking business, he said.

"If the drop in plastic pellet prices continues for a
while, we might consider debt restructuring for BPE.
However the company has not defaulted on its debt
repayments so far," Viroj said.

NPC purchased BPE on the understanding that BPE would have
enough cash for its de-bottlenecking programme. Through an
investment of $9 million in de-bottlenecking, BPE's high
density polyethylene (HDPE) capacity would increase by
almost 30 per cent, or 60,000 tonnes per year. BPE's
existing production capacity is 200,000 tonnes a year.

There are plans to invest in a new HDPE production facility
with an annual capacity of 200,000 tonnes. Construction of
the new plant, estimated to cost $80-90 million, will start
next year and be completed within two years.

"The investment could be made through BPE or NPC, or we
might set up new joint venture to develop this project.
Mitsui, which holds around 30 per cent of BPE right now,
has also expressed its intention to jointly invest in the
new HDPE plant," Viroj said.

Demand for HDPE in the region is likely to pick up soon
after China further opens its market and with the rise in
demand during the Christmas season.  NPC, after the
acquisition, will offer ethylene, the main raw material for
HDPE production, to BPE at a cheaper price than Thai
Olefins (TOC).

It would sell the ethylene to BPE would at about $500 per
tonne, or the export price of ethylene, which is about $100
per tonne cheaper than the TOC price.  Viroj added that NPC
itself would undertake a small modification of its ethylene
plant to increase its capacity by 60,000 tones per year in
the fourth quarter of next year.

Apart from a 15 per cent increase on the current production
capacity of 400,000 tonnes per year, the modification would
help NPC to cut production costs.  Viroj projected that the
ethylene price would drop from $500 to $450 per tonne due
to increasing supply in the region. However, the fall in
price would not severely affect the overall performance of
NPC, which is expected to post sales revenues in excess of
Bt10 billion this year. (The Nation  24-Aug-2000)

THAI PETROCHEM.INDUST.: Fighting planner's efforts
--------------------------------------------------
The Australian corporate recovery firm that was appointed
planner for the restructuring of Thai Petrochemical
Industries is facing ongoing attacks from the Thai company.

Effective Planner, a subsidiary of Ferrier Hodgson, has
been given the task of establishing a recovery plan for
Thai Petrochemical Industries, the biggest corporate debtor
in Thailand which is $US3.5 billion in debt. Effective
Planner is due to put its recovery plan to the company's
official receiver in September 2000.

Thai Petrochemical's CEO, Prachai Leopiratana, who had done
his best to prevent a creditors agreement prior to the Thai
Bankruptcy Court appointing Effective Planner in March
2000, is using the Thai media to attack the efforts of
Effective Planner.  (ABIX - The Australian  24-Aug-2000)


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