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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

           Thursday, November 16, 2000, Vol. 3, No. 224

                                      Headlines


* A U S T R A L I A *

ARTHUR YATES & CO.: 2nd consecutive annual loss looms
AUSTAR: Down, but not out - shares drop to new low
MAYNE NICKLESS: Shares drop further
SOUTH PACIFIC TRYES: 500 jobs set to be lost


* C H I N A  &  H O N G  K O N G *

ACROSSASIA MULTIMEDIA: Blames loss on expansion
ASIA ONLINE: Sacks 56 as woes deepen
CLIMAX INT'L CO.: Shares to resume trading; debt deal inked
DIGITALHONGKONG.COM Ltd.: Posts HK$1.70M Q1 loss
SUNeVISION : Posts Q3 net loss
SUN HUNG KAI PROPERTIES: Posts annual loss


* I N D O N E S I A *

PT ASURANSI JIWA MANULIFE INDO.: Denies wrongdoing


* J A P A N *

KANSAI INT'L AIRPORT: Plagued by pullouts,rivals,debts,sea


* K O R E A *

HYUNDAI ENGIN. & CONSTR.: Technically in default
HYUNDAI ENGIN. & CONSTR.: Trying to avoid bankruptcy


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

ALLIED BANKING: Moody's puts under review
BANK OF THE PHIL.ISLANDS: Moody's puts under review
METROPOLITAN BANK AND TRUST: Moody's puts under review
NATIONAL STEEL CORP.: Dutch firm may withdraw $100M offer
PHILIPPINE NAT.BANK: Moody's cuts credit rating
PHILIPPINE NAT.BANK: Posts PhP1.4B net loss
RIZAL COMMERCIAL BANKING CORP.: Moody's downgrades outlook
UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK: Moody's downgrades outlook


* S I N G A P O R E *

GENERAL SECURITIES INVEST.: S'holders approve liquidation
PACIFIC INTERNET: Posts Q3 loss


* T H A I L A N D *

EASTERN PRINTING: Gets another 30 days to submit plan
ELECTRICITY GENERATING: Posts Q3 loss
QUALITY HOUSE: Posts Q3 loss
THAI PETROCHEM.INDUS.: Employees threaten strike
THAI TELEPHONE: Posts Q3 loss
VINYTHAI: Posts Q3 loss


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

ARTHUR YATES & CO.: 2nd consecutive annual loss looms
----------------------------------------------------
Struggling gardening group Arthur Yates & Co. has appointed
advisers Winstar Partnership to help search for a strategic
investor after admitting it is heading for a second
consecutive annual loss, of $1.7 million on a pre-tax
basis this year.

Yates chief executive Mr Ian Fraser said the company was
"looking at all alternatives" to provide an equity
injection following deterioration in its trading
performance and a protracted commissioning of its new Wyee
plant on NSW's Central Coast.

Earlier this month, the company, which racked up a $7.11
million net loss for financial 2000, revealed October sales
were below budget and also down compared to the same period
last year, which Mr Fraser attributed to a "softening in
the total market."

Sources close to Yates said it was talking to a buyout fund
which had already entered into a confidentiality agreement
and was in the process of conducting due diligence. Yates
shares fell to a new low of 33.5› yesterday, valuing the
company at $24.9 million.

One analyst said it was difficult to put any value on Yates
equity due to its poor trading during the past two years
and high debt levels. (Australian Financial Review  15-Nov-
2000)

AUSTAR: Down, but not out - shares drop to new low
--------------------------------------------------
Austar shares plunged to a record low yesterday ahead of
the regional pay TV provider reporting an $81 million
third-quarter loss after the market closed.

Austar fell 8c to $3.13, well below its $4.70 issue price
and a far cry from the $9.90 at which it peaked in March.
The company has shed 30 per cent of its worth in the past
month amid concerns its core pay TV business was not
growing as strongly as originally anticipated.

But it was Austar's net loss, not its subscriber numbers,
which surprised on the downside yesterday. Austar added
20,686 new pay TV customers in the three months to
September, bringing its total subscriber base to 427,012,
which was largely in line with analysts' revised forecasts.
This subscriber growth propelled Austar's revenue 41 per
cent higher to $98.1 million, compared to $69.5 million in
the third quarter of 1999. Its pay TV division is close to
breaking even at the earnings before interest, taxation,
depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) line.

However, the cost of branching out into new Internet,
mobile and interactive television services sent Austar's
net loss spiralling. The $81 million loss for the quarter
is 74 per cent bigger than the $46.7 million the company
lost in the same period last year. Also adversely affecting
the bottom line were Austar's decision to absorb a third of
the cost of the GST and the increased cost of programming
as a result of a 20 per cent fall in the Australian dollar.

"The losses were a touch higher than we were going for, but
the new business developments seem to be progressing well,"
said one analyst. "It's a bit of a mixed bag at this type
of developmental stage of the company."

Analysts are expected to downgrade their full-year
forecasts for Austar in the wake of yesterday's result.
Pay TV, accounting for almost all of Austar's revenue, is
expected to contribute less than a third of its revenue
within a year.

"We're going to increasingly see voice and data services
become the lion's share of the growth in our business,"
said Austar chief executive Mr John Porter.

He refused to say when the company would break even.
Austar had 25,000 Internet subscribers at the end of
September and is adding 1,500 to 2,000 new customers a
week. Its mobile phone service launched in October is
growing at a rate of 1,000 to 1,500 customers a week.
(Sydney Morning Herald  15-Nov-2000)

MAYNE NICKLESS: Shares drop further
-----------------------------------
Mayne Nickless shares plummeted nearly 10 percent Tuesday
after new chief executive Peter Smedley flagged that the
benefits from cost cutting would not hit the bottom line
until next June.

Brokers have supercharged Mayne shares in the months since
Mr Smedley's appointment at the helm of the embattled
health and logistics business, sending them 75 percent
higher to a high of $5.30. Excitement has centred on
expectations the former Colonial chief could extract cost
savings of up to $25 million almost immediately following a
sweeping review of the business.

But Mr Smedley effectively hosed down broker forecasts,
warning at yesterday's annual meeting in Melbourne that
Mayne's "improvement initiatives" would "begin to show a
modest impact in the first half."

"In the second half, however, we expect to deliver further
business improvement which will have a much more obvious
imact on the financial outcome," he said.

By the close of the meeting Mayne stock slumped 9.5 per
cent but the shares recovered slightly to close down 24c,
or 4.6 per cent, to $5 in a steady market. Analysts told
The Australian they took Mr Smedley's comments as an
indication the expected cost savings would take up to three
years to flow through to the bottom line.

"Everybody got ahead of themselves," one analyst said.
Long-suffering Mayne shareholders were told that the
results of Mr Smedley's strategic review would be announced
next Thursday. After three years of disastrous performance,
Mr Smedley said he expected to "report on a revitalised
Mayne Nickless" next year.

Mayne management would focus on cost cutting, efficent
balance sheet management and boosting revenue. "Quite
clearly growth in costs has prevented Mayne Nickless from
converting its revenue gains into higher profits," Mr
Smedley said.

Mr Smedley said his review would include strategies to
better integrate and leverage off its two existing
businesses. Mayne chairman Mark Rayner said the company had
no plans to break up the company's assets. Mr Rayner said
the board had taken advice on splitting its businesses but
said "at this stage, we don't see any value to be created
to shareholders form moving away from that structure".
Mr Smedley said the synergies between logistics and
healthcare were under-estimated.

"Take the healthcare group and take the clinicians out and
what you are actually left with is a logistics business."

Mr Smedley said he would focus on vertical integration of
the healthcare business, including possible alliances with
groups of general practitioners, to help channel customers
to Mayne's radiology, pathology and hospitals businesses.
Rationalising some pathology and radiology sites, perhaps
within its hospitals, was also seen as a possibility.
Mr Smedley's reference to efficient balance sheet
management could also signal a move to take its hospitals
off balance sheet. (The Australian  15-Nov-2000)

SOUTH PACIFIC TRYES: 500 jobs set to be lost
--------------------------------------------
More job losses in Melbourne's manufacturing sector are in
the offing as 500 workers are set to lose theirs at South
Pacific Tyres. Workers at South Pacific Tyres have been
told the company plans to scale down its truck-tyre factory
in Somerton, north of Melbourne.

Workers were told this morning that its truck tire division
was no longer economically viable and that 500 jobs will
have to go. Charlie Donnelly from the National Union of
Workers says the announcement is a major blow.

"Our delegates here today are absolutely devastated, for
500 of our members to be losing their jobs, a couple of
days before Christmas is absolutely devastating," he said.

It follows yesterday's announcement by Plastics company
Qenos to shed 120 jobs from its Altona factory. The union
says the manufacturing industry is in crisis and has called
on the Victorian Government for urgent assistance. (ABC
Online News  15-Nov-2000)


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

ACROSSASIA MULTIMEDIA: Blames loss on expansion
-----------------------------------------------
AcrossAsia Multimedia's substantially bigger net losses for
the nine months to September 30 can be blamed on higher
depreciation charges and marketing and recruiting costs
arising from expansion, according to the company.

A company spokesman said a worsening of the bottom-line was
not unexpected given the company was embarking on various
start-up multimedia ventures.  The cable television,
Internet, mobile-phone and information technology services
provider, which boasts the largest market capitalisation on
the GEM board, reported a net loss of HK$60.47 million for
the nine months to September 30.

This compared with a loss of HK$10.85 million in the same
period a year earlier, and a net loss of HK$1.58 million
for the three months to June 30.  In the three months to
September, the company booked a net loss of HK$57.23
million and an operating loss of HK$73.22 million. (South
China Morning Post  15-Nov-2000)

ASIA ONLINE: Sacks 56 as woes deepen
------------------------------------
Asia Online has sacked 56 employees, or 18 per cent of its
Hong Kong staff, in the latest round of layoffs to hit the
local Internet industry.

The move follows the sudden key departure last month of
chief executive and president Kevin Randolph. In September,
the company cancelled its US$100 million Nasdaq listing
plan.  The redundancies dealt another blow to the local
Internet industry which has seen almost 1,000 employees
lose their jobs since June. Those lay-offs involved high
profile companies such as Chinadotcom, SCMP.com, Tom.com
and appledaily.com.

Edward Roberto, who replaced Mr Randolph as president, said
the company made "tough decisions" to make it "efficiently
staffed." Asia Online has carried out 20 acquisitions in
the past 18 months, incurring substantial overhead costs at
its Hong Kong headquarters, Mr Roberto said.

The cuts announced yesterday would help the company become
profitable faster, he said. Mr Roberto would not offer a
break-even time for the company or expected cost-savings
from the staff reduction.  He did not rule out further lay-
offs in Hong Kong or in other countries in the region. Asia
Online had a staff of 311 in Hong Kong before the lay-offs.
It has 858 employees throughout the region.

"Asia Online, like any other firm that buys a lot of
companies, has to get rid of extra staff, and this is the
perfect time to do it," said Joe Sweeney, research director
at technology research house Gartner Group, describing the
company as "one of the grand-daddies of the Asian Internet
industry. The company was getting a little too fat and
needs to be put on a diet."

The regional service provider was set up in 1994 as a
pioneer Internet service provider but later ran into
difficulties.  Mr Randolph was brought in by its largest
shareholder, United States-based Softbank Technology
Venture, a unit of Japan-based Internet investor Softbank,
to turn it around.

Sources close to the company said Mr Randolph's departure
came after a disagreement between himself and some major
investors over how aggressively the company should be
restructured, following a series of industry lay-offs.
The company has raised about US$135 million in venture
capital in the past 14 months, from a consortium led by
Paribas Affaires Industrielles and another led by Softbank
Venture Capital and JP Morgan. (South China Morning Post
15-Nov-2000)

CLIMAX INT'L CO.: Shares to resume trading; debt deal inked
-----------------------------------------------------------
Shares of Climax International Co. Ltd. are to resume
trading following the signing of its bank debt restructur-
ing agreement.

The paper-product making company confirmed in a statement
that the agreement has been signed, but is not yet
effective, as the company still is finalizing the
disclosure letter in the agreeement which will qualify the
warranties given by the company to the bank group.

Additionally, First Century Holdings Ltd, which recently
announced it would subscribe to 2 billion new shares in
Climax, has agreed with Climax to extend the deadline of
the debt restructuring until November 22. Climax shares
were suspended from trading November 13.

DIGITALHONGKONG.COM Ltd.: Posts HK$1.70M Q1 loss
-------------------------------------------------
Digitalhongkong.com Ltd., provider of electronic payment
processing platforms for business-to-business and business-
to-consumer applications, recorded a loss of HK$1.70
million for its first financial quarter ended Sept. 30.
That compares with a loss of HK$1.60 million for the same
period in 1999.

Loss per share was 1.14 H.K. cents, down slightly from 1.29
H.K. cents for the same period the previous year. The
company had turnover of HK$450,000 compared with none for
the same period a year earlier. Digitalhongkong.com is
working on developing a phone-based payment solution for
mobile-commerce. (Quamnet News 15-Nov-2000)

SUNeVISION : Posts Q3 net loss
------------------------------
SUNeVision, Internet arm of Sun Hung Kai Properties,
recorded a net loss of almost HK$31.78 million for the
third quarter ended Sept. 30, up nearly 1,600 percent from
a loss of some HK$2.12 million for the same period a year
ago. Nonetheless, the loss was 18.9 percent lower than the
HK$39.18 million loss the previous quarter.

SUNeVision said turnover for the quarter ended September
jumped 191.34 percent year from the same period the year
before to HK$32.07 million, and increased 54.77 percent
from the preceding quarter's turnover of HK$20.72 million.
Loss from operations was HK$24.2 million, while loss per
share was 1.55 HK cents, compared with 0.12 HK cents a year
ago. No dividend was recommended.

The loss occurred despite revenue soaring to upwards of
HK$32 million, almost three times its revenue of HK$11
million for the same period a year ago.

SUN HUNG KAI PROPERTIES: Posts annual loss
------------------------------------------
For the year ended June 30, the technology infrastructure
and e-business flagship of Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP)
recorded a loss of HK$46.53 million.


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

PT ASURANSI JIWA MANULIFE INDO.: Denies wrongdoing
--------------------------------------------------
Insurance company PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia
denied on Wednesday any wrong doings in an alleged sales
scam involving the now bankrupt PT Dharmala Sakti
Sejahtera.

President of Manulife Indonesia Philip Hamden Smith said
that the purchase of a 40 percent stake in his company by
its Canadian-based parent company, Manufacturers Life
Insurance Co. (Manulife Co.) was legal.

"Roman Gold Assets Limited is not and has never owned any
shares in PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia and has no
valid claim to those shares," Philip said in a press
meeting.

He was referring to the Virgin Island-based firm Roman Gold
Assets Limited, which claimed itself as the rightful owner
of the 40 percent sharein Manulife Indonesia.  Manulife Co.
recently bought a 40 percent share of subsidiary Manulife
Indonesia for Rp 17 billion (about US$16.4 million). The
purchase raises the Canadian company's ownership to 91
percent from 51 percent.

The shares were previously owned by Dharmala, which the
Jakarta Commercial Court declared bankrupt in June.
The court then held a tender on Oct. 26. to auction off
Dharmala's stake in Manulife Indonesia. The proceeds to pay
Dharmala's financial obligationsto its creditors.

But Roman moved to stop the tender, claiming it had already
purchased Dharmala's stake in Manulife Indonesia on Oct.
19.  As Roman's appeal was ignored, the firm filed its
complaints to the police, prompting the detention of
Manulife Indonesia's vice president Adhie Poernomo.

Adhie is held in custody on suspicion that he had
duplicated the Dharmalashares in Manulife Indonesia.
Smith in return questioned the validity of Roman's
transaction to acquirethe 40 percent stake in Manulife
Indonesia.

"It's not easy to buy a 40 percent stake in an insurance
firm, especiallyif you're from the Virgin Island," he said,
adding that the Virgin Island is known to be a tax heaven
for many firms.

He said that because Roman was a foreign company, the
purchase of a sharein a local company, should have required
a special consent from the Ministry of Finance. No such
consent was ever sought or granted, he continued. Further-
more, he said that since Dharmala was declared bankrupt in
June, Roman could not have made the purchase in October, as
Dharmala's assets, including the 40 percent share, fell
under the supervision of the court.

"Under the bankruptcy Law, once a company is declared
bankrupt, only the curator in bankruptcy can sell its
assets. No one else has the right to manage or sell the
assets of a bankrupt company," he explained.

Smith also questioned the Power of Attorney under which
Roman bought the shares in Manulife Indonesia. In 1996, he
said, Dharmala allegedly granted a Power of Attorney to a
West Samoan company, Highmead Limited, to sell its share in
Manulife Indonesia.

Through the Power of Attorney, Roman argued that it had
bought the sharesfrom Highmead Limited on Oct. 19, just two
days after the court announced the tender for shares.
"Article 1813 of the Indonesian Civil Code states that in
the event of the bankruptcy of a grantor, a Power of
Attorney previously granted by the grantor will cease to be
effective," he explained.

Again, he said, only the curator was entitled to sell the
shares.  The case and the detention of Manulife's senior
executive drew criticism from the Canadian Finance
Minister, who has sent a letter to his
Indonesiancounterpart Prijadi Praptosuhardjo. The Canadian
government through its embassy in Indonesia warned that the
case was hurting the country's investment climate.

Despite the international attention it received, the police
said it wouldcontinue its investigation against Manulife.
It is now investigating the authenticity of the shares held
by Roman and Manulife Co.  One of Dharmala's former
creditors said that because of the case, they were unable
to cash in the proceeds from the auction of Dharmala's
stake inManulife Indonesia.

The creditor, who requested not to be named, said that the
police had frozen the account containing the Rp 156
billion.  He said that one of the creditors was the
Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), which should
have received Rp 54 billion from the auction.

"Creditors want the police to unfreeze the account," he
said.

According to him Dharmala had debts of Rp 4 trillion, but
was brought to bankruptcy by various creditors representing
Rp 2.4 trillion.  In a separate case, Manulife Indonesia
was brought to bankruptcy for the third time after it
allegedly failed to pay an individual claim for $500,000.
Manulife Indonesia said that the bankruptcy petition was
groundless, as the court had already rejected it twice.
(Jakarta Post  16-Nov-2000)


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

KANSAI INT'L AIRPORT: Plagued by pullouts,rivals,debts,sea
----------------------------------------------------------
Six years after opening, Kansai International Airport is
struggling to stay above water -- literally and
figuratively.

The airport's problems range from a sinking passenger
terminal and mounting debts due to decreased usage, to
criticism of the airport's high costs and threats to
postpone construction of a planned second runway.
Earlier this month, officials of Kansai International
Airport Corp., the operator, and the Osaka Prefectural
Government visited Tokyo to appeal for central government
assistance for the troubled facility, which has over 1
trillion yen in outstanding loans that must be repaid with
interest.

While no specific amount of aid was requested, it comes in
addition to a 120 billion yen budget request for fiscal
2001 that the Transport Ministry is seeking for second-
phase construction, slated to be completed in 2007. But
with the cost of the second-phase construction estimated at
1.5 trillion yen, the Finance Ministry, among other
entities, is showing reluctance to allow such a massive
state expenditure.

Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa is demanding that the
Osaka government and business community bear an increased
burden of the debt. Only by shouldering the extra burden
and fundamentally changing the management structure will
the central government provide assistance, he said.
Miyazawa added, however, that although his ministry is not
thinking about canceling the construction, it will be risky
to continue under the current financial arrangements.

Despite Miyazawa's statement, there are those in and
outside of Japan calling for a reassessment of the need for
a second runway, stirring anxiety among KIAC officials and
the local business community over a halt in funding and a
delay in the construction.

"There is no merit to delaying the second-phase
construction," KIAC President Kiyoyasu Mikanagi said last
Thursday. "This project is necessary not just for the
Kansai region but also for Japan."

In addition, worried that they will be forced to bear the
additional costs and concerned about the airport's safety,
foreign airlines are protesting the plans.  In late
October, the Foreign Airline Association in Japan, which
consists of 46 foreign carriers serving Japanese airports,
issued a report that strongly opposed the second-phase
construction.

"Kansai International Airport has the highest landing fees
in the world. Our report makes it clear that some airlines
would pull out of Kansai airport and use Narita airport if
landing slots became available," FAAJ spokesman Atsukuni
Sakamoto said.

The FAAJ cited several reasons for its opposition. First,
it noted that Kansai airport is underutilized. It agrees
with a recent International Air Transport Association
report that opposes another runway and advised it would be
better to use the first one more effectively and extend the
existing terminal rather than build a new one.

More serious is that the airport is deeply in the red,
which the FAAJ fears will mean higher usage fees levied
against the airlines if the second-phase construction goes
through.  Landing fees at Kansai International Airport are
nearly $10,000 for a Boeing 747. That's twice what the new
airport at Hong Kong charges and between three and five
times more than other Asian airports charge.

The FAAJ also noted the sinkage problem and warns that the
second runway's island, which will be built in even deeper
water than the first, is likely to sink just like the
first. The soft seabed makes building another island
unsuitable, the FAAJ report says.

To halt the sinkage, airport officials announced plans to
build a concrete wall around the passenger terminal. The
idea is that pressure from the sea will squeeze the wall,
which will, in turn, compress the soft landfill under the
building and slow the rate of sinkage. But the plan is
expected to cost at least 20 billion yen, and airport
officials say they cannot guarantee it will work.

Local governments and businesses reacted angrily to the
FAAJ report. Akio Nomura, president of Osaka Gas Co., said
foreigners had no business criticizing the project.
"It's not a problem to be pointed out by foreign airlines,"
Nomura reckoned.

Other Osaka leaders say that, with the opening of the
Universal Studios Japan theme park next year, demand for
air travel to Kansai airport will rise. But they offered no
evidence to back up their claims. After 2005, Itami airport
north of Osaka, and Kobe airport, which is currently under
construction, are expected to handle most traffic to the
new theme park; the Kansai airport handles very few
domestic flights.

KIAC officials announced last week that they had revised
their future projections of airport use and profitability.
Offering three potential scenarios, KIAC President Mikanagi
said that if user demand grew by 3.5 percent a year from
2001, the airport would reach its maximum capacity of
160,000 takeoffs and landings per year by 2006.

Based on this estimate, Mikanagi said the airport would
begin to turn profits in 2012 and clear its debts by 2024.
Under the second scenario, which KIAC officials consider
the most likely, user demand will grow by 2.6 percent
yearly from 2001, capacity will be reached by 2006,
profitability will begin from 2017 and debts will disappear
by 2030.

The third scenario presumes 2.2 percent growth, maximum
capacity by 2007, profitability in 2020 and no debts by
2037.  But neither Mikanagi nor the KIAC offered evidence
that such growth rates would be met. With nearly a dozen
foreign airlines having canceled or curtailed services to
Kansai airport since 1998, FAAJ and other critics say such
speculation is overly optimistic. (Japan Times Online  15-
Nov-2000)


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

HYUNDAI ENGIN. & CONSTR.: Technically in default
------------------------------------------------
Hyundai Engineering and Construction has redeemed only one-
fourth of the $80 million worth of overseas bonds with
warrant (BW) that matured Monday, and is requesting
rollovers for the remaining bonds.

But the company claimed that it is not in a state of
default, saying that redemption of the remaining bonds has
just been put on hold.  A company official said Hyundai
will convene a meeting of bondholders soon to explain its
redemption schedule and seek rollovers.

Experts said that Hyundai is in a state of "potential
default" since it has failed to meet all redemption demands
from overseas creditors.  Whether the company will make a
final default will be determined at the bondholders
meeting.

"A final default on the bonds is unlikely, in light of the
fact that no domestic company had made a final default on
overseas bonds during the economic crisis in late 1997,
although many failed to meet their bond obligations on
time," an analyst said.  "It is likely that bondholders
will accept Hyundai's redemption schedule, since a final
default means that they have to endure losses," he added.
"In return for extending the maturity of their bonds, they
will likely demand a higher yield rate."

The demand for higher yields is natural given the rise in
their risk.  Watchers said it will take a month or so for
Hyundai to reach an agreement with bondholders on a new
redemption schedule. Hyundai wants to roll over the BWs
until the end of the year. (Korea Herald 15-Nov-2000)

HYUNDAI ENGIN. & CONSTR.: Trying to avoid bankruptcy
----------------------------------------------------
Cash-strapped builder Hyundai Engineering and Construction
got a lifeline Tuesday when the Sultan of Brunei agreed to
speed up reimbursement on a construction contract and a
state-run agency offered an advance payment for the sale of
reclaimed land.

Hyundai Engineering said it would receive up to 210 billion
won (S$320 million) out of an estimated total of 600
billion won from Korea Land Corp as an advance on the sale
of reclaimed land. One of the world's richest men, Sultan
Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, also emerged as a rescuer to
Hyundai Engineering, drowning in US$4.4 billion (S$7.7
billion) of debt.

The Sultan agreed after meeting President Kim Dae Jung on
Monday to expedite the payment of US$38 million the
sultanate on the east coast of Borneo island owes Hyundai
for construction work, a spokesman for Mr Kim said.

Shares of Hyundai Engineering, pulled back from the brink
of court receivership last week, rose by their daily 15 per
cent limit to close at 1,595 won yesterday. The company is
still in critical condition, however, and must stomach a
capital reduction and a debt-for-equity swap at the hands
of its government-led creditors if it fails to come up with
acceptable reform measures.

Court receivership, which would hand management of the firm
to court-appointed administrators, remained a last resort,
South Korea's finance minister has said. If that happens,
it would join Korea's third-largest car maker Daewoo Motor,
which was pushed into bankruptcy last eek.

"Hyundai has done construction business in Brunei and there
is still a significant amount of payment to be collected,"
Mr Kim's spokesman, reached by telephone in Brunei's
capital, quoted the president to have told the sultan.
"Hyundai is in a difficult situation at the moment, so if
Brunei can pay the amount still to be collected, this will
help Hyundai."

Sultan Hassanal, who met Mr Kim in his golden-domed palace
of 1,788 rooms ahead of this week's Asia-Pacific Economic
Co-operation summit hosted by Brunei, thanked him for
"bringing this up in a very open manner."  (Straits Times
15-Nov-2000)


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

ALLIED BANKING: Moody's puts under review
BANK OF THE PHIL.ISLANDS: Moody's puts under review
METROPOLITAN BANK AND TRUST: Moody's puts under review
------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has placed the ratings of Allied
Banking and the bank financial strength ratings of Bank of
the Philippine Islands and Metropolitan Bank and Trust
under review for possible downgrade.

PHILIPPINE NAT.BANK: Moody's cuts credit rating
-----------------------------------------------
Philippine National Bank's credit rating was cut by Moody's
Investors Service, which said the nation's No.5 lender
remains shaky even after a 10 billion peso (HK$1.55
billion) infusion of capital.

PNB's long-term debt and deposit rating was cut to "Ba3"
from "Ba2." The ratings were placed on review on August 15
and currently remain under review for a further possible
downgrade. According to Moody's, PNB's downgrade indicated
"its weakening market position and the uncertainties over
its future ownership."

Moody's also said PNB's finances remained "extremely weak,"
even after its chairman Lucio Tan and his business group
injected 10 billion pesos in new capital last month.

NATIONAL STEEL CORP.: Dutch firm may withdraw $100M offer
---------------------------------------------------------
Dutch steel firm Ispat International NV has threatened to
withdraw its offer to infuse $100 million into the ailing
National Steel Corp. if the steel company's creditor-banks
and liquidator would not remove the stumbling blocks to its
entry by the end of this month.

In an interview, lawyer Romela Bengzon, Ispat's legal
counsel and authorized representative in the Philippines,
clarified that in a presentation to NSC's creditor banks
two weeks ago, the Dutch steel firm had firmly committed to
infuse $100 million into the ailing steel company for full
ownership.

Bengzon disclosed that publicly listed Ispat had also
promised to pay NSC creditor banks $200 million over a span
of 20 years at zero interest. Ispat, she said, would pay
the creditors earlier if the steel company would become
profitable and if an overseas initial public offering would
be a success.

Following the presentation, a member of the steering
committee of NSC's creditor-banks noted that the proposed
investment of Ispat was not a hard commitment and that it
lacked important details. Issues that should be addressed,
he said, include the amount Ispat is willing to offer and
how the creditors would get paid. Ispat had asked for
exclusivity in negotiating the terms of its entry into
the local steel company but creditor-banks were not keen on
doing so as this could mean shutting the door to other
possible investors, the bank official said.

Bengzon explained that the creditor-banks were given up to
today to sign a two-week exclusivity agreement that would
allow Ispat to negotiate the terms of its offer to acquire
NSC's operating assets excluding real estate.

"We have been transacting with them for over a year. We
were given a deadline to close the deal. Nov. 15 is my
deadline for the exclusivity period and Nov. 30 is the
deadline for an agreement or they (Ispat) will walk away
from the deal," Bengzon said.

Ispat specializes in rehabilitating and turning around
troubled steel firms. Ispat was said to be getting
impatient over the slow progress of the negotiations and
that it was prepared to look for other business
opportunities. She added that if the banks and liquidator
would sign an exclusivity agreement, Ispat would
immediately put in escrow $10 million up front and
would release the balance once a definitive acquisition
agreement is signed.

The package presented to the creditor banks was in draft
form but a formal and signed proposal was submitted to
erstwhile NSC liquidator Monico Jacob, who was replaced
last week by another former SEC associate commissioner,
Danilo Concepcion. The SEC last month ordered the
liquidation of NSC following the objection of NSC majority
shareholder Hottick to the rehabilitation plan prepared by
the steel firm's receivership committee.

Several groups have reportedly continued to express
interest in investing in NSC which also include Swiss metal
trader Glencor International AG. NSC has assets amounting
to P29 billion and liabilities of about P21 billion,
including the P16.5 billion owed to secured creditors.
(Philippine Daily Inquirer  15-Nov-2000)

PHILIPPINE NAT.BANK: Posts PhP1.4B net loss
-------------------------------------------
Philippine National Bank (PNB) remained in the red during
the first nine months of the year, widening its net loss to
1.433 billion Philippine pesos ($28.73 million at
PhP49.885=$1) from PhP244.331 million ($4.90 million) year-
on-year, according to its consolidated statement of
income.

The effects of the bank's "quasi-reorganization," however,
were reflected in the third quarter as PNB managed to post
a modest PhP13.246 million ($.266 million) in net income, a
turnaround from the PhP251.67-million ($5.04 million) net
loss in the same period last year. The quasi-
reorganization, implemented last August, involved the
reappraisal of assets, equity restructuring and the use of
a portion of its paid-in surplus to eliminate its
accumulated deficit in the surplus account as of May 31,
the bank said.

The reorganization was based on financial statements as of
May 31, as reviewed by auditing firm SGV & Co. After the
quasi-reorganization or from June 1 to Sept. 30, PNB said
its operations resulted in a net income of PhP70.953
million. Before the reorganization or for the first five
months of the year, PNB showed a PhP1.504-billion net loss.

PNB president and chief executive officer Feliciano L.
Miranda, Jr. earlier said he still expects the bank to
record losses by the end of the year. Recovery, he said, is
expected beginning next year.

As of end-September, the bank posted an interest income of
PhP9.179 billion while interest expense totalled PhP8.121
billion. Net interest income was reduced to PhP251.216
million after PhP806.877 million was set aside as provision
for probable loan losses.  Other expenses, meanwhile,
exceeded the PhP4.216-billion other income at PhP5.394
billion. Total assets stood at PhP188.5 billion. Its total
capital was at PhP14.2 billion, while total deposits stood
at PhP139.1 billion. (Business World  15-Nov-2000)

RIZAL COMMERCIAL BANKING CORP.: Moody's downgrades outlook
UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK: Moody's downgrades outlook
----------------------------------------------------------
Moody's Investors Service has revised its ratings outlook
on Yuchengco-owned Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC)
and government-sequestered United Coconut Planters Bank
(UCPB) to "negative" from "stable". Both ratings outlooks
were applied to the banks' long- and short-term deposits
and financial strength ratings.


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

GENERAL SECURITIES INVEST.: S'holders approve liquidation
---------------------------------------------------------
Singapore listed closed-end fund General Securities
Investments shareholders have approved the firm's voluntary
liquidation at a Nov. 14 extraordinary general meeting.
The company has appointed Mr Ong Yew Huat, Ms Ho Ai Lian,
and Mr Nagaraj Sivaram from the accounting firm Ernst &
Young as liquidators. Proceeds from the winding-up will be
distributed to the shareholders in cash. The last day of
trading in GSI shares will be November 21. Distributions
are expected to commence in January 2001, with the final
payouts tentatively projected to be done by the end
November 2001.

PACIFIC INTERNET: Posts Q3 loss
-------------------------------
Nasdaq-listed Pacific Internet (PacNet) saw a net loss in
the third quarter of US$5 million (S$8.8 million) due to
expenses from regional expansion and the setting up of its
e-commerce portal PACfusion.

In contrast to the profit of $275,000 a year ago and a gain
of $267,000 in the first quarter, this was the second
consecutive quarter of losses for the Internet service
provider. It lost $5.2 million in the second quarter.

"We expect the company to return to profitability within
the next two years," PacNet chairman Ko Kheng Hwa said.

PacNet expanded into new markets such as Australia last
July, India in January this year and Thailand in June.
PACfusion.com was also launched in March this year. Chief
executive officer Nicholas Lee said the losses are "due to
the execution of our expansion strategy."

Australia is expected to break even late next year and
although Mr Lee is confident that India and Thailand will
contribute positively to the bottom-line."We are unable to
say when," he said.

He noted that the more established markets of Hongkong,
Singapore and the Philippines were all making money.
Third quarter revenue was US$15.8 million, a 25 per cent
increase over the same period last year with strong growth
shown by Australia and the Philippines.  About 60 per cent
of PacNet's revenue comes from its Internet dial-up access.
Its subscriber base increased 32 per cent to 363,000
subscribers with around 205,000 of them from Singapore.

However, the revenue increase was less with increased
competition from free Internet services.  For example, the
revenue per subscriber in Singapore fell from $25 last
quarter to $20 and in India, the revenue per subscriber was
only $13. The shares closed at US$6 on Tuesday, way off its
high in January of over US$70.  (Straits Times  16-Nov-
2000)


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

EASTERN PRINTING: Gets another 30 days to submit plan
-----------------------------------------------------
After already obtaining a one-month extension to Nov. 6 for
submission of its rehabilitation plan, the planner for
Eastern Printing Public Company Limited has asked for
another one-month extension to December 6. In support of
the request, it cited the late submission to its of the
company's financial documents by Pitisevi & Company.
Meanwhile, Eastern Printing's planner continues to discuss
options with creditors for inclusion in the plan.

ELECTRICITY GENERATING: Posts Q3 loss
QUALITY HOUSE: Posts Q3 loss
THAI TELEPHONE: Posts Q3 loss
VINYTHAI: Posts Q3 loss
-------------------------------------
Four Thai companies have reported losses for the third
quarter ended Sept. 30. Electricity Generating recorded a
net loss of 173.048 million baht for the period, down from
a loss of 433.195 million baht for the same period the
previous year. Quality House posted a 18.978 million baht
net loss, substantially down from a loss of 209.064 million
baht for the third quarter in 1999. Likewise, Vinythai
posted a narrower loss for the third quarter this year of
216.071 million baht, compared to a loss of 860.877 million
baht for the same period in 1999. Thai Telephone,
meanwhile, recorded a net loss 1.72 billion baht this third
quarter, similarly down from a 2.43 billion baht loss in
the same period the year prior.

THAI PETROCHEM.INDUS.: Employees threaten strike
------------------------------------------------
Tension between Thai Petrochemical Industries (TPI) and its
creditors is reaching a head with company employees
threatening to strike today in a show support for TPI
founder Prachai Leophairatana.

TPI employs a workforce of some 6,000 at its chemical plant
in Rayong, and a strike could deal a severe blow to the
company's cash flow, particularly at a time when it needs
to maximize revenue.  Yesterday, around 500 TPI employees
gathered at the Rayong plant, calling for Effective Planner
to accept modifications Prachai proposed to the debt
restructuring plan.

"We want Effective Planner to be flexible, and incorporate
the plan modifications. Without the amendments, the company
may be dissolved causing massive lay-offs," said a TPI
employee, requesting anonymity.

The same employee also said a staff representative has
submitted a letter to Effective Planner demanding an answer
by 2pm today, adding that if the demands are not met,
employees will converge at the Queen Sirikit Convention
Center in Bangkok on November 16, the day creditors vote on
the debt outline.

Meanwhile, Anthony Norman, Effective Planner managing
director, said he will go to Rayong today to clarify the
debt rehabilitation scheme to TPI's employees. "They only
hear one side of the story, and I want them to understand
how the plan will benefit the company," he said.

In September, TPI, Thailand's biggest corporate debtor,
announced plans to finally restructure debt worth US$3.7
billion. The proposal, drawn up by the court-appointed
Effective Planner, would allow creditors to swap almost
$800 million in outstanding interest and financial
guarantees for 75 percent of TPI's expanded equity, over a
restructuring schedule that runs until the end of 2004.

That clause would give creditors control of TPI's
management. But the plan also permits TPI's founding family
and original majority shareholders, the Leophairatanas, to
buy back those shares in the future under terms that are
still unsettled.  Prachai objected to the plan, and wants
to add clauses, including a write-off of $760 million in
outstanding interest payments and an option to raise $500
million fresh capital to help repay the debt.

Foreign creditors balked at the proposals, calling them
delay tactics by Prachai.  TPI is struggling to
rehabilitate its mammoth debt as Thailand attempts to dig
itself out of a major recession. International lenders have
been pressing Thailand to speed up debt restructuring and
revive its stricken industry that suffered heavy casualties
during the 1997 financial crisis.

Separately yesterday, TPI filed a criminal law suit against
Effective Planner and foreign creditors, alleging a
conspiracy to take over the company. (Business Day 15-Nov-
2000)


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

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