---

       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

           Friday, October 11, 2002, Vol. 5, No. 202

                         Headlines

A U S T R A L I A

BURNS PHILP: Completes Sale of Industrial Vinegar Division
COLES MYER: Board Set to Meet Again Next Week
COLES MYER: Names Allert New Chairman


C H I N A   &   H O N G  K O N G

ASIA GLOBAL: Facing Class Action Suit in the U.S.
ASIA GLOBAL: Schiffrin & Barroway Files Class Action
EAST CHINA SECURITY: Hearing of Winding Up Petition Set
MASTER MACHINERY: Winding Up Petition Slated for November
PCCW LDT: Taps Goldman to Sell Yellow Pages Business

TERRY (CHINA) LIMITED: Winding Up Petition Pending
WISDOM PEAK: Faces Winding Up Petition


I N D O N E S I A

BANK MANDIRI: Sees Strong Loan Demand From Companies
BANK NEGARA: To List $100M Bond in Singapore Exchange
BANK NIAGA: CAHB Falls 3.7% on Stake Buy
BANK NIAGA: CAHB to Complete 51% Stake Acquisition Next Month
HOLDIKO PERKASA: Selling Remaining Assets Before Year-End


J A P A N

DAIEI INC.: Gets Y10B Government Backing for Its Revival
DAIEI INC.: Transferring 200 Staff to Non-Group Firms
FUJITSU LIMITED: Clarifies AMD Merger Report
FURUKAWA ELECTRIC: Shares Down 4.2% to 21-Year Low
MATSUZAKAYA CO.: JCR Downgrades Rating to BBB-

MAZDA MOTOR: Unveils 'Millenia' Featuring Enhanced Equipment
MITSUBISHI TOKYO: Unit Offers Y140B Domestic Bonds Due 2005
NISSHO IWAI: Concludes Sales Contract With National Prawn
NISSHO IWAI: Gets Y100B Credit Line From Creditor Bank
NISSHO IWAI: Posts Notice of Address Change

NTT DOCOMO: Succeeds With the 100Mbps Transmission Experiment
NTT EAST: Mulls Rationalization Steps to Raise Efficiency

* Dealing With Market Risk May Leave Japanese Banks Insolvent


K O R E A

DAEWOO MOTOR: SAIC Takes 10% Stake in GM Daewoo Automotive
HYNIX SEMICON: Acts Against Counterfeit Memory Distributors
HYUNDAI HEAVY: Wins US$60M Barbados Order For Diesel Plant


M A L A Y S I A

DEWINA BERHAD: Completing Disposal of MTD Capital by December
EMICO HOLDINGS: Majority Lenders Grant Extension of Time
HIAP AIK: KLSE Approves Application for Time Extension
IDRIS HYDRAULIC: Falls 10% on Failure to Get Insurance License
MALAYSIAN PLANTATIONS: Rating Undervalued by Kenanga

MYCOM BERHAD: Says No Change in Default Status
ROAD BUILDER: Condoheights Winding-up Gets Approval
ROAD BUILDER: Wins $29M Road Upgrade Contract in India
SENG HUP: AmMerchant Reveals Restructuring Plan
SIME DARBY: Dunearn Distribution Unit Goes Into Liquidation

SIME DARBY: Shares Flat at MYR4.88
TENAGA NASIONAL: Sees Power Demand Up 6% Next Year
TENAGA NASIONAL: Selling $500M of Bonds in 6 Months
YCS CORPORATION: Replies to KLSE Queries Re Payment Default


P H I L I P P I N E S

FIRST E-BANK: Agrees to Execute Asset Sale Deal by December 2
METRO PACIFIC: Responds to "Ayala-Campos Offers $100M" Report
MULTITEL INTERNATIONAL: Asking SEC for Temporary Relief
PICOP RESOURCES: NPC Reconnects Power Supply
UNITRUST DEVELOPMENT: PBCOM Responds to Rehab Bid Report

* NEA Board Okays Guidelines on EC's Performance Targets  


S I N G A P O R E

CHARTERED SEMICON: Stock Dives 86c on Share Overhang Fears
FLEXTECH HOLDINGS: Posts Notice of Shareholder's Interest
NEPTUNE ORIENT: Considers Options for Tanker Division
NEPTUNE ORIENT: Preparing to Clear West Coast Cargo Backlog


T H A I L A N D

KRUNG THAI: Card Unit to Hold IPO Next Week
TONGKAH HARBOUR: Announces Change in Address
TONGKAH HARBOUR: Reports Tin Mining Operating Result

     -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -

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


BURNS PHILP: Completes Sale of Industrial Vinegar Division
----------------------------------------------------------
The Burns Philp Board announced on 26 August 2002 that it had
entered into an agreement for the sale of the North American
Industrial Vinegar Division to Swander Pace Capital LLC, a US
based private equity investor, for anticipated sale proceeds of
approximately A$88 million.

The Industrial Vinegar Division trades under the Fleischmann's
brand name and is the leading producer of industrial vinegar in
North America.

The sale of the Division was completed October 9. (M&A REPORTER-
ASIA PACIFIC, Vol. No.1, Issue No. 201, October 10, 2002)


COLES MYER: Board Set to Meet Again Next Week
---------------------------------------------
The board of Coles Myer Ltd, Australia's largest retailer, will
meet again on October 14 to finalize materials to be forwarded
to shareholders ahead of its annual general meeting on November
20.

Dissident board member, Solomon Lew, and tax lawyer, Mark
Leibler, are both up for reelection in November. The other eight
Coles directors are believed to be planning to direct all open
proxy votes against Lew at the shareholder meeting.

The divided Coles board met earlier yesterday to consider the
materials and appoint Rick Allert as chairman to succeed Stan
Wallis.

Stan Wallis announced in September he would retire at the
retailer's AGM in November. The announcement triggered market
speculation that Allert would take over as chairman for six
months.


COLES MYER: Names Allert New Chairman
-------------------------------------
Retailer Coles Myer Ltd appointed Rick Allert as chairman on an
ongoing basis, effective immediately following Thursday's board
meeting.

The appointment follows Allert's announcement on Tuesday that he
planned to resign as chairman and director of winemaker
Southcorp Ltd. later this month so he could concentrate his
energies on the troubled retailer.

Allert succeeds Stan Wallis, who will retire as a director at
the company's annual general meeting on November 20.

Allert said he intends to accept the position on a long-term
basis to sell off the company's loss-making non-grocery
divisions, which include Target, Kmart and Myer Grace Bros. He
also pledged his support for a reform at Coles Myer board.

Allert has been a Coles Myer director for seven years. He will
succeed Stan Wallis who will retire as a director of the group
at the company's annual general meeting on November 20.


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


ASIA GLOBAL: Facing Class Action Suit in the U.S.
-------------------------------------------------
Green & Jigarjian LLP has filed a class action lawsuit on Monday
in United States District Court for the Central District of
California, Western Division (Los Angeles) on behalf of
investors in the publicly traded common stock of Asia Global
Crossing Ltd.

The Complaint alleges that the managers of Asia Global Crossing
Ltd. and Global Crossing Ltd. hid the declining financial
conditions of both of the jointly-managed companies from Asia
Global Crossing's investors.

The Complaint alleges that defendants falsely represented to the
investing public that Global Crossing would be able to provide
its subsidiary Asia Global Crossing with a $400 million dollar
line of credit, and that the value of Asia Global's hard assets
-- primarily composed of its cable lines and transmission
equipment -- had not been significantly affected by the
worldwide glut of fiberoptic capacity.

The action is brought on behalf of a Class of all persons who
purchased Asia Global Crossing, Ltd. stock between October 6,
2001 and January 28, 2002. Excluded from the Class are Global
Crossing Ltd.; Hutchison Whampoa Ltd.; Singapore Technologies
Telemedia; the Individual Defendants and members of their
immediate families; any entities in which the excluded parties
have controlling interests; and the legal representatives,
heirs, successors or assigns of any of the excluded parties.

For more information, contact Green & Jigarjian LLP's Robert S.
Green at telephone 415/477-6700.


ASIA GLOBAL: Schiffrin & Barroway Files Class Action
----------------------------------------------------
Law firm Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP said that a class action
lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the
Central District of California, Western Division, Los Angeles on
behalf of all purchasers of the common stock of Asia Global
Crossing Ltd. from October 6, 2001 through January 28, 2002,
inclusive.

The complaint charges Asia Global Crossing Ltd. and certain of
its officers and directors with issuing false and misleading
statements concerning its business and financial condition.

Specifically, the complaint alleges that the managers of Asia
Global Crossing Ltd. and Global Crossing Ltd. hid the declining
financial conditions of both of the jointly-managed companies
from Asia Global Crossing's investors.

The Complaint alleges that defendants falsely represented to the
investing public that Global Crossing would be able to provide
its subsidiary Asia Global Crossing with a $400 million dollar
line of credit, and that the value of Asia Global's hard assets
-- primarily composed of its cable lines and transmission
equipment -- had not been significantly affected by the
worldwide glut of fiber-optic capacity.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of class members
and is represented by the law firm of Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP,
which prosecutes class actions on behalf of investors and
shareholders.

For inquiries, please contact Schiffrin & Barroway, LLP (Marc A.
Topaz, Esq. or Stuart L. Berman, Esq.) toll free at
1-888-299-7706 or 1-610-667-7706, or via e-mail at
info@sbclasslaw.com.


EAST CHINA SECURITY: Hearing of Winding Up Petition Set
-------------------------------------------------------
The petition to wind up East China Security Limited is set for
hearing before the High Court of Hong Kong on October 16, 2002,
at 9:30 am.

Hussain Sobat of Room 109, Tin Kin House, Tin Wan Estate, Hong
Kong filed the petition with the said court last July 16, 2002.


MASTER MACHINERY: Winding Up Petition Slated for November
---------------------------------------------------------
Master Machinery Limited is facing a winding up petition, which
is slated to be heard before the High Court of Hong Kong on
November 13, 2002 at 10:00 am.

Chu Tik Kwong of Flat D, 10th Floor, Block C, 3 King Fung Path,
Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hong Kong filed the petition last
September 2, 2002.


PCCW LDT: Taps Goldman to Sell Yellow Pages Business
----------------------------------------------------
Hong Kong telecoms carrier PCCW Ltd has tapped Goldman Sachs to
sell its Hong Kong yellow pages business, Reuters reported
Wednesday.

According to a source, PCCW would sell the yellow pages
directory business in an auction.

A Hong Kong newspaper reported Monday that PCCW hoped to raise
HK$1-$2 billion (US$128-$256 million) from the sale of the
yellow pages business.

The report said U.S. venture capital firm Carlyle Group and
Citibank's venture arm CVC were among bidders for the business.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman and PCCW spokeswoman Joan Wagner
declined comment.

PCCW is looking to shed non-core assets to pay down debt, which
totals US$5.5 billion.


TERRY (CHINA) LIMITED: Winding Up Petition Pending
--------------------------------------------------
The petition to wind up Terry (China) Limited is scheduled
before the High Court of Hong Kong on October 16, 2002 at 10:00
am.

Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, whose office is situate at
14th Floor, Bank of China Tower, No. 1 Garden Road, Hong Kong,
filed the petition with the said court last July 30, 2002.


WISDOM PEAK: Faces Winding Up Petition
--------------------------------------
Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited is seeking for the winding up
of Wisdom Peak Development Limited.

The petition was filed on August 29, 2002 at the High Court of
Hong Kong, and will be heard before the said court on November
13, 2002 at 9:30 a.m.


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


BANK MANDIRI: Sees Strong Loan Demand From Companies
----------------------------------------------------
State-owned bank PT Bank Mandiri is seeing strong demand for
loans from corporate borrowers, consumers and small- and medium-
sized enterprises, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Chief financial officer Keat Lee said about 80 percent of the
bank's existing and new loans are to corporate borrowers, which
borrow more than 25 billion rupiah (US$2.8 million).

Indonesian companies are approaching Mandiri for new funding,
but Mandiri would not lend to companies that are still working
out their nonperforming loans with the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency.

The bank, which was formed in the wake of the Asian financial
crisis through the merger of four troubled state-owned banks,
hoped to launch its initial public offering earlier this year,
but the IPO was postponed, partly because of disagreements about
the pricing for the deal.

TCR-AP reported in September that Credit Suisse First Boston,
ABN Amro and Danareksa Sekuritas were named lead underwriters
for the planned November initial public offering of PT Bank
Mandiri's 30 percent stake.


BANK NEGARA: To List $100M Bond in Singapore Exchange
-----------------------------------------------------
State-owned PT Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) has applied to list
its proposed $100 million bond on the Singapore Stock Exchange
later this year.

The amount is lower than the US$150 million expected and will
mark the second US-dollar bond issue by an Indonesian bank since
the financial crisis in the late 1990s.

The bank has named JP Morgan to underwrite the proposed subdebt.

In September, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services revised the
outlook on Bank Negara Indonesia's foreign and local currency
counterparty credit ratings to stable from negative.

The outlook revisions follow Standard & Poor's outlook revision
on the sovereign ratings on the Republic of Indonesia to stable
from negative.

The rating agency also affirmed Bank BNI's B- long-term local
and foreign currency counterparty credit and senior unsecured
debt ratings, and its C short-term local and foreign currency
counterparty credit ratings.


BANK NIAGA: CAHB Falls 3.7% on Stake Buy
----------------------------------------
Shares of Commerce Asset Holdings were down 3.7 percent at
MYR3.12 as investors extend selling on news purchase of 51
percent stake in Indonesia's PT Bank Niaga is close to
completion.

According to a Dow Jones Newswires report, the fall was due to
psychological reasons as previous involvement in Indonesian
banking sector by local banks has been unprofitable.

Conditions now more favorable in anticipation of turnaround in
Indonesian economic climate, the news agency said.


BANK NIAGA: CAHB to Complete 51% Stake Acquisition Next Month
-------------------------------------------------------------
Commerce Asset-Holding Bhd (CAHB) Executive Ddirector Rozali
Mohamed Ali said CAHB, the sole bidder for the PT Bank Niaga
stake after passing Indonesia's fit and proper test last week,
expects to complete its purchase of a 51% stake in Bank Niaga by
next month, the Star reported.

"We are in the midst of completing the due diligence study,"
Rozali said.

Adding that the banking sector in Indonesia is improving and is
on the road to recovery, Rozali said, "If we are patient, it is
a good business environment." (M&A REPORTER-ASIA PACIFIC, Vol.
No.1, Issue No. 201, October 10, 2002)


HOLDIKO PERKASA: Selling Remaining Assets Before Year-End
---------------------------------------------------------
The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), acting as
holder of the Convertible Right Issue (CRI) issued by PT Holdiko
Perkasa and as proxy shareholders of Holdiko, has instructed
Holdiko to immediately begin to sell its remaining 18 assets "As
Is", through a 'One Stage Bidding' process through IBRA's
Program Penjualan Aset Investasi - Asset Management Investment
(PPAI-AMI Program), and to complete the sales before the end of
2002.

The PPAI-AMI program covers 18 Holdiko asset sales, which will
be added to the three Holdiko asset sales currently in progress,
namely PT Metropolitan Kentjana Tbk., Indosiar, and Riau
Resorts. One remaining asset, Kota Bukit Indah, will be
transferred to IBRA.

The plan was announced Wednesday by IBRA through its press
release titled "BPPN Ask Holdiko to Sell Assets This Year",
available for access through the following link:

http://www.holdiko.com/prdetails.php?id=81&lang=en

The PPAI-AMI program will sell all of Holdiko's ownership in
Plywood Group, Textile Group, Edible Oils Group, PT Indomarco
Adi Prima, PT Indogift Chuenher Indah, PT Sriboga Raturaya, PT
Ariobimo Estate Perkasa, PT Cibinong Center Industrial Estate,
PT Mandara Permai, PT Bumi Serpong Damai, PT Prapat Agung
Permai, and PT Bali Antaboga Canning.

As per IBRA's instruction, the sale process would in general
follow the steps of: Announcement of sale, Distribution of
limited info memo, Data room due diligence, Management
presentation, Site visit, Bid submission, Bid evaluation and
decision of winning bidder, and Closing.

In light of the sale of Holdiko's remaining assets, IBRA has
also instructed the Company to take the necessary steps with
respect to finalizing all of its tasks by January 2003.

For more information regarding Holdiko's asset sales, please
visit the company's website at www.holdiko.com or via e-mail at
invest@holdiko.com.


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


DAIEI INC.: Gets Y10B Government Backing for Its Revival
--------------------------------------------------------
Debt-strapped Daiei Inc. is expected to get government backing
for its revitalization with a 10 billion yen ($81.1 million)
investment from Development Bank of Japan (DBJ), Reuters
reported Wednesday.

According to Nihon Keizai Shimbun, DBJ will invest in a fund to
be set up by Daiei's three major creditor banks namely UFJ Bank
Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mizuho Corporate Bank.

Daiei received a $4 billion bailout from the three creditors in
February, including a debt-for-equity swap.

The three banks plan to contribute some 40 billion yen to the
fund while DBJ intends to provide about 10 billion yen to be set
aside to acquire Daiei's common shares.


DAIEI INC.: Transferring 200 Staff to Non-Group Firms
-----------------------------------------------------
Ailing retailer Daiei Inc. will transfer 200 workers to non-
group firms this fiscal year ending in February, as part of its
personnel cost reduction scheme, the Nihon Keizai and AFX Asia
reported Wednesday.

The supermarket chain operator will initially transfer 50
employees working at Olives, a Tokyo Company that undertakes
retail operations on consignment.

Daiei will pay part of the wages for the workers, but the wages
paid by Olives will be larger. The employees will be on loan for
two years.

Daiei also intends to strictly limit the hours of part-time
workers.

In February, Daiei slashed personnel expenses by 6.6 billion yen
in the current fiscal year to secure a parent-only pretax profit
of 20 billion yen.

The Company aimed to reduce 1,400 jobs by way of voluntary
retirement but only 1,100 employees applied for voluntary
retirement.


FUJITSU LIMITED: Clarifies AMD Merger Report
--------------------------------------------
Fujitsu Limited responded to the news article entitled "Advanced
Micro Devices Inc. and Fujitsu are in talks to broaden flash
partnership," published in the October 9, 2002 issue of the
Financial Times.

Fujitsu Limited clarified that the Company and US chipmaker
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) are holding talks on further
cooperation in flash-memory production but have no plans to
integrate their flash-memory operations.

According to the news article the talk's center on a plan for
AMD to take control of a new joint venture with sales of about
$3 billion that would design, manufacture and package flash-
memory chips.

Fujitsu and AMD have a 50-50 joint venture in flash-memory
production based in northern Japan. That firm sells products to
the two groups, which market their flash-memory chips
separately.

The report said the two firms aim to establish the joint venture
in January, with AMD expected to take a stake of about 60
percent and Fujitsu 40 percent.


FURUKAWA ELECTRIC: Shares Down 4.2% to 21-Year Low
--------------------------------------------------
Shares of Furukawa Electric declined 3.8 percent at 204 yen,
lowest point since February 1981, on continued selling by
foreign investors after Wall Street slumps once again overnight,
Dow Jones reported Thursday.

On September 10, 2002, Moody's Investors Service downgraded the
long-term debt ratings of Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. and its
supported subsidiary, Furukawa Finance Netherlands B.V., from
Baa1 to Baa3. The rating outlook was negative.

Moody's sees Furukawa Electric's financial profile to remain
weak over the next several years, given its expected poor
operating performance and cash flow. The Company initially
planned to pay off the debt associated with the OFS purchase by
selling asset holdings. However, due to the falling market price
of these assets, we expect that it would be difficult for the
Company to substantially reduce its debt level over the
intermediate term.


MATSUZAKAYA CO.: JCR Downgrades Rating to BBB-
----------------------------------------------
Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) has downgraded the rating of
Matsuzakaya Co. to BBB- from BBB, affirming the J-2 rating on
the CP program

Issue Amount (bn) Issue Date Due Date Coupon
Convertible bonds no.2 Y10/Aug. 14, 1996/Aug. 29, 2003/0.65
percent

CP Maximum: Y30 billion Backup Line: 0 percent

Matsuzakaya, time-honored department store operator, has been
decreasing both the revenue and profit for straight 5 years.
Competition in Nagoya where the Company earns 40 percent of the
revenue has been intensifying since the opening of JR
Takashimaya in March 2000. Matsuzakaya and others were forced to
drop their shares.

Matsuzakaya plans to put brake on deterioration in profitability
through opening of new building at Nagoya store. Given the fact
that room for cost reductions is now already limited as well as
the high probability that revenue will continue to decline due
to deterioration in business environment, it is considered
difficult for the Company to improve the profitability
continually in the future.

All of the stores are suffering from poor performance. Ridding
itself of losses at Ginza store and Osaka store is an urgent
issue to be addressed.

The capital spending that has been exceeding the cash flows
deteriorated the financial structure. On the other hand, the
capital expenditures have not led to improvement in the
profitability and then financial structure. The Company plans to
make capital expenditures for increase in floor space of Nagoya
store. It is highly probable that these expenditures will not
lead to increase in profitability. There is also possibility
that the spending will deteriorate the financial structure.

JCR will watch carefully the Company's earnings trend and
measures to be taken for the unprofitable stores and improvement
in the financial structure.

According to Wright's Investors Service, Matsuzakaya Co Ltd at
the end of 2002 had negative working capital, as current
liabilities were 104.35 billion yen while total current assets
were only 81.21 billion yen.


MAZDA MOTOR: Unveils 'Millenia' Featuring Enhanced Equipment
------------------------------------------------------------
Mazda Motor Corporation announced the introduction of the
upgraded flagship car Mazda Millenia. The BOSE sound system and
traction control system are now standard on the "25M" version,
and a DVD navigation system and water-repellent windshield are
standard on the "25M Luxury Package."

With new and appealing body colors available, the new Millenia
go on sale today at Mazda and Mazda Anfini dealerships
throughout Japan.

Since its debut in 1993 as the Eunos 800 with an emphasis on
"Standards that will last for 10 years," the Millenia has
enjoyed popularity in Japan, Europe and across North America as
Mazda's premium sedan due to its long lasting value and appeal.
In July 2000, major changes were made to the Millenia to further
enhance its quality as a high-class sports sedan featuring
excellent styling and driving performance.

In addition to making improvements to meet the exhaust emissions
regulatory level for 2000, Mazda has reviewed the grade
composition of the Millenia to make its presence stand out
further as Mazda's flagship car. Withdrawing the 20M version
with its 2.0-liter engine, Mazda has focused attention on the
deluxe 2.5-liter versions, while upgrading the equipment. The
Millenia has newly adopted the popular Atenza body color, Silver
Contrail Metallic.

Mazda Millenia 25M Luxury Package

The following are the main modifications:

The 25M features such standard equipment as a BOSE sound system
(AM/FM/CD/6 speakers) noted for high-quality sound and a
traction control system that efficiently dampens body roll in
sharp turns and on slippery roads.

The DVD navigation system (AM/FM/CD/MD/TV tuner/10 speakers), a
popular option on previous models, is now standard on the 25M
Luxury Package. The water-repellent windshield is standard now
too.

The Millenia has newly adopted two body colors, Silver Contrail
Metallic and two-toned Snow Flake White Pearl Mica/Sparkling
Silver Metallic.

Even with the above-mentioned equipment as standard, it is set
at a reasonable price. The 25M is approximately 2,700,000 yen,
which is in the best-selling price range at entry level of 2.5-
liter engines, while the 25M Luxury Package is between 3,190,000
and 3,255,000 yen, which is in the best-selling price range for
luxury models.

Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Prices (Excluding Tax/Unit:
1,000 yen)
Engine Transmission Grade Tokyo/
Hiroshima/
Yamaguchi Osaka/
Nagoya Sapporo Sendai Fukuoka Okinawa
2500 V6 DOHC 4EC-AT 25M 2,730 2,737 2,776 2,747 2,755 2,795
25M
Luxury Package 3,190 3,197 3,236 3,207 3,215 3,255

TCR-AP reported earlier the Company's shareholders capital ratio
is low, at 9.96 percent, as a result of poor performances in the
past and the fragile management condition of domestic
dealerships and other factors.

There is still a heavy interest bearing debt burden in the
Company.

Furthermore, the overseas sales ratio is at a high level of 61.3
percent, mainly for the North American and European markets.

Mazda Motor Corporation - www.mazda.com/flash.html - was
established in 1920 and is one of Japan's leading automobile
manufacturers. With its headquarters in Hiroshima, Mazda has two
plants in Japan and manufacturing and assembly operations in
sixteen other countries. Mazda cars and trucks are sold in more
than one hundred and thirty countries. Ford Motor and Mazda
agreed to collaborate in 1979; Ford Motor Company started
investing in Mazda and increased its shareholding to 33.39
percent as of March 31, 1999.

For inquiries, contact Mazda Motor Corporation's K. Yoshitake at
telephone 03-3508-5022 or via e-mail at
yoshitake.k@tky.mazda.co.jp.


MITSUBISHI TOKYO: Unit Offers Y140B Domestic Bonds Due 2005
-----------------------------------------------------------
The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, a unit of Mitsubishi Tokyo
Financial Group, is offering 140 billion yen of domestic
straight bonds, Dow Jones reports, citing lead manager
Mitsubishi Securities Company.

The Terms are as follows:

Y50 billion three-year bonds;

Amount:                Y50 Bln
Maturity:              Oct. 27, 2005
Coupon:                0.25 percent (No.182 JGBs plus 14 bps)
Fees:                  0.30 percent  (total)
                       0.10 percent  (mgmt & underwriting)
                       0.20 percent  (selling)

Y50 billion five-year bonds;

Amount:                Y50 Bln
Maturity:              Oct. 26, 2007
Coupon:                0.43 percent (No.198 JGBs plus 15 bps)
Fees:                  0.35 percent  (total)
                       0.10 percent  (mgmt & underwriting)
                       0.25 percent  (selling)

Y20 billion seven-year bonds;

Amount:                Y20 Bln
Maturity:              Oct. 27, 2009
Coupon:                0.76 percent (No.214 JGBs plus 17 bps)
Fees:                  0.40 percent  (total)
                       0.10 percent  (mgmt & underwriting)
                       0.30 percent  (selling)

Y10 billion 10-year bonds;

Amount:                Y10 Bln
Maturity:              Oct. 26, 2012
Coupon:                1.33 percent (No.242 JGBs plus 19 bps)
Fees:                  0.45 percent  (total)
                       0.10 percent  (mgmt & underwriting)
                       0.35 percent  (selling)

Y10 billion 20-year bonds;

Amount:                Y10 Bln
Maturity:              Oct. 27, 2022
Coupon:                2.22 percent (No.58 20-year JGBs plus 37
bps)
Fees:                  0.55 percent  (total)
                       0.10 percent  (mgmt & underwriting)
                       0.45 percent  (selling)

The following terms to apply to all tranches;

Issue Price:           100.00
Payment Date:          Oct. 28, 2002
Debt Ratings:          A2 (Moody's)
                       BBB+ (S&P)
                       AA (R&I)

Denominations:         Y100 Mon

Chief Commission Bank: N/A

Interest is payable semiannually.

TCR-AP reported that the Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group is
planning to dispose around $3.94 billion in bad loans in the
year ending March 31, 2003. The Company intends to sell them to
the Resolution and Collection Corp., a government-backed debt
collection agency.

Saddled with unprofitable investments and loans, the bank is
also considering auctioning some to investors.


NISSHO IWAI: Concludes Sales Contract With National Prawn
---------------------------------------------------------
Nissho Iwai Corporation, together with its subsidiary Seafesta
Corp. (Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Toshihiro Nakano), concluded
an exclusive sales contract with National Prawn Company (NPC;
headquartered in Al-Lith, Saudi Arabia) for shrimp, farm-raised
on the Red Sea Coast in the Al-Lith District, Saudi Arabia for
export to Japan. Approximately 2,500 tons per annum (in head-
less form) will be exported to Japan.

NPC constructed shrimp ponds with a total aquaculture area of
2,250 hectares, using 10 lots on the coast of the Al-Lith
District, which stretches for 42 kilometers. The Company
utilizes a fully integrated production system - from
raising/management of parent shrimp, hatching of eggs at its own
hatcheries, production of feed at its own feed mill, raising
shrimp using such feed, to harvesting and freezing. Thus, all
production stages are controlled by NPC, and production is
carried out with the keywords of reliability, safety and
freshness.

The subject area is free from issues, which are becoming a
concern in Southeast Asian countries, such as the deforestation
of mangrove rainforests due to culture pond development. This
shrimp culture, which is realized by the intake of water to
coastal areas where there was originally nothing but soil, can
be called a more eco-friendly shrimp cultivation process
compared to those used in other countries.

The type of shrimp to be imported is White Shrimp, which are
used in Chinese cuisine and to make tempura and deep fried
prawns. The salinity of the culture ponds is about 4.2 percent,
which is higher than that of regular seawater at about 3.5
percent. The higher salinity not only makes shrimp firm, but
also reduces the generation of blue-green alga. Therefore, a
stable supply can be expected in quantitative terms.

The Red Sea, which is described as one of the world's best SCUBA
diving spots, excels others in the cleanliness of its water. In
addition, because there is no river mouth in the district and
there are no other industries, the local population is extremely
low and as a result, there is no seawater pollution resulting
from the discharge of domestic and industrial wastewater. Shrimp
culture using such clean seawater minimizes the outbreak of
disease.

NPC is a shrimp production/processing Company financed by the
Al-Rajhi group, a major conglomerate that owns the second
largest bank in Saudi Arabia, together with another major food-
related conglomerate. Construction of the fully integrated
frozen farm-raised shrimp plant, with a well management system,
was completed in 2001 at a cost of about US$200 million. A
targeted production of 12,500 tons per annum of White Shrimp
will be raised and shipped.

Under the theme of reliability, safety and health, Nissho Iwai
has a background in and is ahead of other trading companies in
the import and sales of organic foodstuffs such as soy beans,
rice, dried noodles, etc. By adding toxic substance-free White
Shrimp as a new product line, the Company will continue to
promote the import of health food products. Future sales
activities are under consideration with big shrimp markets in
mind, that is, the American and European markets. Furthermore,
Nissho Iwai hopes to handle shrimp for South Korea and other
Asian countries in future, focusing on Hong Kong where there is
a preference for white shrimp, and looking toward the Chinese
market.

Last year, Nissho Iwai suffered from a very weak financial
profile, characterized by high debt-usage and very weak
financial flexibility caused by its heavy reliance on short-term
bank borrowings.

The firm has total debts of Y2.4 trillion at the end of
September 2001.


NISSHO IWAI: Gets Y100B Credit Line From Creditor Bank
------------------------------------------------------
Nissho Iwai Corp will sign a formal contract with a banking
consortium led by its main creditor bank UFJ Holdings, Inc.
anytime this week for a credit line of up to 100 billion yen,
Kyodo News reported Thursday.

The commitment line, which would be renewed annually over a
three-year period, would help the debt-laden trading house tide
over short-term cash needs.


NISSHO IWAI: Posts Notice of Address Change
-------------------------------------------
Nissho Iwai Corporation said its steel products business offices
would be relocated to these new locations:

The Tokyo Office will be relocated from October 15, 2002.

Adress: Celestine Shiba Mitsui Building 3-23-1, Shiba,
Minato-ku Tokyo 105-0014, Japan  
  
Telephone number: +81-(0)3-6400-2010

The Osaka Office will be relocated from November 5,2002.

Adress: Nakanoshima Mitsui Building 3-3-3, Nakanoshima,
Kita-ku Osaka 503-0005, Japan  
  
Telephone number: +81-(0)6-6443-3902  
  
The Nagoya Office will be relocated from November 18,2002.
Adress: JR Central Towers 49th floor 1-1-4, Meieki, Nakamura-ku
Nagoya 450-8680, Japan.


NTT DOCOMO: Succeeds With the 100Mbps Transmission Experiment
-------------------------------------------------------------
NTT DoCoMo, Inc. has succeeded with the 100Mbps-downlink and
20Mbps-uplink transmission experiment under an indoor
environment using an experimental system for fourth-generation
(4G) mobile communications.

Since April 1998, DoCoMo has been conducting research on 4G
mobile communications. In the course of this research, DoCoMo
has conducted indoor trials on an experimental system that
incorporates base station and mobile station equipment to
evaluate key technologies in 4G packet wireless access and
demonstrate its benefit by employing the implemented
experimental system.

4G mobile communications system offering high-speed transmission
of large-capacity data with wide coverage requires a bandwidth
of approximately 100 MHz. When using a channel with such a broad
bandwidth, transmission quality required can be impaired by a
large number of multipaths, that is, the occurrence of secondary
signals reflected off buildings, mountains and other surrounding
objects.

DoCoMo's experimental 4G mobile communications system employs
variable spreading factor (VSF) and orthogonal frequency code
division multiplexing (OFCDM) technologies which is developed by
DoCoMo to mitigate the impact of severe multipath interference,
and to allow flexible and fast packet transmission in compliance
with area and other communications conditions, thereby achieving
a broad-bandwidth, large-capacity wireless system.

The International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication
Sector (ITU-R) is now developing vision framework for systems
beyond IMT-2000, in which the 4G mobile communication is
expected to be a key forming part. In Japan, the Ministry of
Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications
(MPHPT) is taking the initiative to develop key 4G technologies
by 2005 for commercial deployment scheduled around 2010.

In line with these movements, DoCoMo will continue to focus its
research and development efforts, encompassing field trials, on
wireless access technologies and applications that will
contribute to the global standardization of 4G mobile
communications.

NTT DoCoMo - www.nttdocomo.com - is the world's leading mobile
communications Company with more than 40 million customers. The
Company provides a wide variety of leading-edge mobile
multimedia services. These include i-mode, the world's most
popular mobile internet service, which provides e-mail and
internet access to over 33 million subscribers, and FOMA,
launched in 2001 as the world's first 3G mobile service. In
addition to wholly owned subsidiaries in the United States,
Europe and Brazil, the Company is expanding its global reach
through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service
providers in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America. The
Company is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM), and New
York (DCM) Stock Exchanges.

TCR-AP reported earlier this month that NTT DoCoMo will write
off 573 billion yen (US$4.66 billion) in losses on its
investments in three major foreign partners in the first fiscal
half due to a slowdown in the global telecommunications market.

The largest loss of 339 billion yen (US$2.76 billion) for the
half year that ended September 30 comes from NTT DoCoMo's
investment in AT&T Wireless in the United States, followed by a
lost of 108 billion yen (US$878 million) from Dutch telecom KPN
Mobile N.V. and another 126 billion yen ($1.02 billion) from
Hutchison 3G UK Holdings of Britain.

For inquiries, contact NTT DoCoMo's Kenya Nakatsuka at telephone
81 (0) 3 5156 1111 or via e-mail at k.nakatsuka@hco.ntt.co.jp.


NTT EAST: Mulls Rationalization Steps to Raise Efficiency
---------------------------------------------------------
NTT East Corporation will consider rationalization measures to
improve its business structure amid sluggish performance in its
mainstay fixed-line phone service business, Dow Jones reported
Wednesday.

However, an NTT said the Company has made no decision yet on
what rationalization steps it might take.

As a part of NTT East's review of its group structure of
operations, the Company is looking at business areas that
overlap with its subsidiaries such as NTT-ME Corp., where
performance can be improved.

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, however, NTT East will
begin talks with its labor union to transfer about 5,000 full-
time workers to its regional units by next spring, in order to
cut personnel costs and improve operating efficiency.

In May, the Company already reduced its payroll by 45,000 to
streamline the group's business structure.

NTT East Corporation is the regional arm of Nippon Telegraph and
Telephone Corporation.


* Dealing With Market Risk May Leave Japanese Banks Insolvent
-------------------------------------------------------------
Realistic measures to deal with credit and market risk may leave
some major Japanese banks, which are already undercapitalized,
practically insolvent, Fitch Ratings said Wednesday.

Fitch has long advocated the need for the strict classification
of credits by Japanese banks and regulators. Banks need to build
loan loss reserves to adequate and realistic levels while moving
impaired credits off their books, for example, to the Resolution
and Collection Corporation. As indicated by Fitch's Support
ratings of the major Japanese banks, which are mostly '1' or
'2', Fitch believe the government will provide timely and
adequate support to banks deemed to be of systemic importance.

These Support ratings are the main factor underpinning the
investment grade credit ratings of most of the Japanese banks,
as the financial performance and strength of most are very weak
on a stand-alone basis. In anticipating government support for
these '1' and '2' rated banks, Fitch is not predicting that all,
or indeed any, will necessarily survive in their current form.
However, the agency believes support from the authorities would
be extended in such a way, up to and including nationalization
and forced restructuring, that the interests of depositors and
senior creditors would be protected. Fitch believes this view is
in tune with that recently expressed by new FSA Minister Heizo
Takenaka who was quoted as saying that no bank is "too big to
fail".

Rating Implications Fitch welcomes the move by the government to
review the public policy stance towards the banking sector.
Recent announcements by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's
cabinet and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) provide some basis for
optimism that real reform may be in the offing. At the same
time, the agency emphasizes the need to co-ordinate banking
sector reforms with other economic policies, including the
possibility of macroeconomic policy and social safety net
measures to offset the near-term impact of accelerated
restructuring on deflation.

However, it must be kept in mind that conservative politicians,
much of the bureaucracy and many financial institutions will
resist `hard landing' reform efforts. In addition, firms and
their employees in depressed sectors will seek to continue the
relatively benign treatment they have received hitherto, as they
will bear the brunt of any substantive change to the real
economy that will accompany any serious banking and financial
system reform.

As pointed out in other Fitch reports, if the forces that are
resistant to genuine reform succeed in slowing change to the
plodding pace of the first 18 months of the Koizumi
administration, the ultimate costs to the banks and the economy
will be far greater than if action is carried out resolutely.
Such additional costs for resolving bank problems would in many
cases be covered only by higher public sector outlays and fiscal
deficits thus further straining the ultimate source of support
for the banks, the Japanese government itself. Given the need
for immediate remedial policy action, a continuation of the
piecemeal 'muddle through' approach of recent years would likely
result in Fitch taking negative rating actions on Japan's
banking sector

Summary of Recent Developments On 18 September BOJ announced a
plan to purchase surplus equities held by banks, an
extraordinary action for any major central bank, which was
explicit recognition of the magnitude of market risks facing the
major Japanese commercial banks. Also in its announcement, BOJ
said it would review problem loans of the commercial banks,
indicating its belief that loan loss reserves remain inadequate.
Together, these actions suggest that BOJ believes the major
banks are seriously undercapitalized.

On 30 September Koizumi reshuffled his cabinet, replacing former
FSA Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa, who had repeatedly asserted the
banks' loan loss reserves and capital are adequate. In contrast,
the new FSA minister, Heizo Takenaka, who will continue in his
existing post of Economics Minister, has consistently stated
that the banking system is suffering from 'a severe illness'
that may require additional capitalization from the public
sector. Upon becoming head of the FSA, Takenaka announced three
principles under which the banking problems are to be resolved:
1) appropriate loan loss reserve levels based on strict
assessment of asset quality, 2) adequate capital levels, and 3)
appropriate corporate governance of banks.

Takenaka also formed a project team with responsibility for
proposing measures to solve the problems of the banking system.
The members are mostly well-known reformers who have advocated
much more aggressive action than has been carried out during the
past 18 months. They are expected to announce their policy
recommendations by the end of October.

On 7 October, the Council on Economic and Financial Policy,
chaired by Koizumi, voted to extend the existing blanket
insurance protection on deposits for two additional years
through March 2005. The two-year extension of the existing
deposit insurance program raises serious moral hazard concerns,
especially its implications for the continued mismanagement of
smaller deposit-taking institutions. However, Fitch recognizes
the additional time requirement to be inevitable given the
fragility and lack of confidence in the banking sector.

But the agency emphasizes that the extension of the guarantee
should be used as an opportunity to weed out weak institutions
in an orderly fashion. There remains a danger that the breathing
space will be used merely to prolong the life of financial
institutions whose failure would be politically awkward.

Against already bearish sentiment in the Tokyo stock market, the
news of Takenaka's appointment as the head of FSA and the
formation of the project team further undermined stock prices,
as the market sensed that Takenaka's forthcoming reforms would
increase corporate bankruptcies and possibly dilute existing
bank shareholders.

The TOPIX plunged to new lows, closing at 844.29 on Wednesday,
down around 20 percent since end-March 2002, or by 10 percent
since end-September. Fitch estimate that the banks Tier 1
capital ratio remains above the regulatory minimum (4 percent
for the 'international' banks and 2 percent for the 'domestic'
banks). It is worth noting that the 'pure' Tier 1 ratios, which
exclude the effect of deferred tax receivables and public funds,
are already negative at most of the major Japanese banks.

Contact Reiko Toritani, Philip Jones or Brett Hemsley at
telephone +81 3 3288 2628, or David Marshall, Brian Coulton, at
telephone +852 2263 9963, or David Riley at telephone +44(0)20
7417 6338, and Fred Puorro at telephone +1 212 908 0500 for
further information.


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


DAEWOO MOTOR: SAIC Takes 10% Stake in GM Daewoo Automotive
----------------------------------------------------------
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), the Chinese partner of
General Motors Corporation (GM), will acquire a 10 percent stake
in GM Daewoo Automotive & Technology Co. (GDAT), a joint venture
between GM and Daewoo Motor Co, the Shanghai Daily and AFX Asia
reported Thursday.

SAIC spokesman Xue Hao told reporters he could not confirm the
information.

GM and SAIC are holding a joint press conference in Shanghai on
Sunday to announce SAIC's participation in the joint venture.

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported that SAIC will pay
around US$60 million for its stake in the venture.


HYNIX SEMICON: Acts Against Counterfeit Memory Distributors
-----------------------------------------------------------
Hynix Semiconductor Europe said it has received contractually
binding agreements from two U.K. distributors, Rombyte Ltd and
First Choice Components Ltd., to cease and desist from importing
and marketing counterfeit memory chips stamped with the Hynix
brand name but not manufactured or marketed by Hynix.

Hynix Semiconductor Europe has agreed to an out of court
settlement with the two distributors in respect of their
infringement of Hynix's rights in its registered trade marks,
and accepted their assurances to immediately stop offering for
sale any further counterfeit Hynix memory chips, destroy any
remaining stock and provide Hynix with full details of the
suspected suppliers of the fake products.

The counterfeit chips seized from the premises of Rombyte and
First Choice by police and trading standards authorities have
been found to contain low-grade die from other memory
manufacturers, and to be packaged in Taiwan with irregular Hynix
markings. They had been purchased from Taiwanese based suppliers
with Hynix as a major brand on third party SDRAM modules.

Hynix has subsequently continued its own investigations into the
suppliers identified in Taiwan to stop this counterfeiting at
its source and to ensure no other distributors of these
counterfeit products are operating in Europe.

Hynix Semiconductor Europe spokesperson Richard Lindo commented,
"We believe that a bona fide memory distributor should be
capable of identifying counterfeit products. We also want to
ensure the interests of our authorized distributors and end
users of our products are protected as far as possible. In
addition Hynix will also co-operate with the relevant
authorities worldwide on any possible criminal proceedings
brought against the counterfeiters. Hynix takes its intellectual
property rights seriously and will not idly tolerate
infringement of the Trade Marks of its memory chips. These
actions have and will be taken to ensure the maintenance of
Hynix rights, reputation for quality and to protect the goodwill
of the Hynix name in the market."

Hynix Semiconductor Deutschland Gmbh and Hynix Semiconductor
U.K. Ltd. are wholly owned subsidiaries of Hynix Semiconductor
Inc www.hynix.com based in Ichon, Korea. Hynix Semiconductor is
an industry leader in the development, sales, marketing and
distribution of high-quality semiconductors -- including DRAM,
SRAM, Flash memory and application specific standard products --
as well as semiconductor manufacturing foundry services. While
Hynix Semiconductor is one of the world's leading DRAM
suppliers, the Company is rapidly diversifying its product
portfolio to meet the needs of emerging markets. The Company
offers deep sub-micron foundry services to strategically broaden
its overall presence in the industry and achieve the goal of
leading the global semiconductor market. Hynix has research;
production, sales and marketing facilities strategically located
worldwide.

For information, contact Hynix Semiconductor U.K. Ltd.'s Richard
Lindo at telephone +44 (0) 1932 827700 or via e-mail at
r.lindo@eu.hynix.com.


HYUNDAI HEAVY: Wins US$60M Barbados Order For Diesel Plant
----------------------------------------------------------
Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) announced Wednesday that it has
received US$60-mil order from Barbados Light and Power Company
(BLPC) in Barbados, a country of isles on the Carribean Sea on
turnkey basis for 60-MW diesel power plant construction and
installation work.

This construction work is intended to use two units of 30-MW
large-sized diesel engine to supply electricity. HHI will
perform all work related to the construction such as
installation and test-run as well as engineering work, machinery
material manufacturing.

Recent order was won amid fierce competition from leading
European diesel power plant companies such as Wartsila.
Beginning from the planning stage, information about the
ordering Company was acquired while prompt and continuous
technological aid were provided to meet the ordering Company's
needs. These efforts heightened the confidence in HHI and
ultimately led to the order.

Diesel power plant's heating power and economic outlook compared
to hydroelectric plant is exceptional. Electric power derived
from large-sized engine creates minimal environmental pollution,
making it environmentally friendly.

Since HHI first entered the diesel engine business in 1985, it
has repeatedly achieved growth by delivering a 60-MW diesel
power plant to government-run DSW of Israel in 1996 and
constructing the world's largest 200-MW diesel power plant for
Maduras of India in 1999. Last July, HHI signed the 15-MW diesel
power plant to be constructed in Haifa, Israel.

HHI will complete this power plant by September of 2004.

TCR-AP reported earlier that Hyundai Heavy Industries and Doosan
Groups saw their market capitalization plunge the most among the
20 largest affiliates of chaebols listed on the Stock Exchange,
citing the Korea Stock Exchange (KSE).

The market capitalization of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group fell
49 percent from 2.68 trillion won (US$2.2 billion) to 1.33
trillion won during the period April 18 until September 25.


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


DEWINA BERHAD: Completing Disposal of MTD Capital by December
-------------------------------------------------------------
AmMerchant Bank Berhad (formerly known as Arab-Malaysian
Merchant Bank Berhad) said in a disclosure to the Kuala Lumpur
Stock Exchange that Dewina Berhad and Puncak Sabit Sdn Bhd have,
on 8 October 2002, agreed to complete the disposal of the entire
issued and paid-up share capital of MTD Prime Sdn Bhd on or
before 31 December 2002, or such other date as the parties to
the MTD Prime Definitive Agreement may further agree in writing.

TCR-AP reported in August that Dewina Berhad disposed its
remaining subsidiaries, Dewina Host Sdn Bhd and Dewina Africa
(Pty) Ltd, as part of its reorganization.


EMICO HOLDINGS: Majority Lenders Grant Extension of Time
--------------------------------------------------------
The Board of Directors of Emico Holdings Berhad said in a Kuala
Lumpur Stock Exchange disclosure that Arthur Andersen Corporate
Advisory Sdn Bhd had on behalf of the Company obtained written
consents from the MAJORITY LENDERS as defined in the Debt
Restructuring Agreement (DRA) dated 8 August 2001 being 7 of the
11 lenders representing 79.88 percent of the TOTAL PRINCIPAL
INDEBTEDNESS (as defined in the DRA) for the extension of time
of the CUT-OFF DATE (as defined in the DRA) for a further two
months from 7 August 2002 to 6 October 2002.

TCR-AP reported in September that Emico Holdings' shareholders
have approved the company's proposed debt restructuring scheme,
proposed two-call rights issue, proposed employee share option
scheme, and proposed increase in authorized share capital.


HIAP AIK: KLSE Approves Application for Time Extension
------------------------------------------------------
AmMerchant Bank Berhad (formerly known as Arab-Malaysian
Merchant Bank Berhad), on behalf of Hiap Aik Construction Berhad
(Special Administrators Appointed), related the Kuala Lumpur
Stock Exchange, via its 4 October 2002 letter, approved the
Company's application for an extension of time up to 31 October
2002 to procure the general mandate from shareholders for its
recurrent related parties transactions (RRPT) and to seek
shareholders' approval for ratification of RRPT.

A circular containing information on the Proposed Shareholders'
Mandate will be issued to the shareholders of HACB in due
course.


IDRIS HYDRAULIC: Falls 10% on Failure to Get Insurance License
--------------------------------------------------------------
Idris Hydraulic was down 10 percent at 4.5 sen due to group's
failure in obtaining Takaful or Islamic insurance license.

According to a Dow Jones Newswires report, Bank Negara decided
to revoke approval for its unit Tahan Insurance to acquire
Malaysia & Nippon. No reason was given for withdrawal.

Idris Hydraulic is appealing to central bank to allow
acquisition to go through.


MALAYSIAN PLANTATIONS: Rating Undervalued by Kenanga
----------------------------------------------------
KenangaResearch.com has buy call on Malaysian Plantations after
its recent selldown due to overhang of its recent rights issue,
Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Current P/NTA multiple is 0.87X, which is 27 percent below its
2001 low on September 17, 2001. It added that Malaysian
Plantations could become next prime takeover target in second
round of bank mergers.

At conservative P/NTA multiple of 1.05X Malaysian Plantations
could be worth MYR1.05/share, a 17.7 percent discount to current
price of 86.5 sen.

In September, the TCR-AP reported that Alliance Bank Malaysia
has resolved to wind up Malaysian Plantations subsidiaries
Alliance Putra Asset Management Berhad, Sabah Brilliant Berhad
and Sabah Advance Berhad. Venkiteswaran Sankar was appointed
liquidator.


MYCOM BERHAD: Says No Change in Default Status
----------------------------------------------
The Board of Mycom Berhad said in a disclosure that there has
been no change in the status of default since the last
announcement made on 9 September 2002.

The next hearing date has been fixed on 15 October 2002 against
its wholly owned subsidiaries namely, Tingkayu Plantations Sdn
Bhd and Pertama Development Sdn Bhd.

In May 2000, Mycom and certain of its subsidiaries entered into
a restructuring agreement with its financial institutions to
undertake a proposed debt and corporate restructuring scheme.
Implementation of the restructuring exercise is expected within
the 2001 financial year.

In September, the TCR-AP reported that Mycom Berhad applied to
the Securities Commission for an extension of time to 7
September 2003 to implement its Proposed Restructuring Scheme.


ROAD BUILDER: Condoheights Winding-up Gets Approval
---------------------------------------------------
Road Builder (M) Holdings Bhd said that at an Extraordinary
General Meeting held on 9 October 2002, the shareholder of
Condoheights Development Sdn Bhd had approved the special
resolution to undertake a Members' Voluntary Winding-up of
Condoheights and the appointment of Mr Chuah Seong Phaik of Paul
Chuah & Co at No 17, Jalan Ipoh Kecil, 50350 Kuala Lumpur as
Liquidator for the purpose of winding-up.

Condoheights is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seremban Two Sdn
Bhd (STSB), which in turn is a 70 percent equity owned
subsidiary of Road Builder.

The proposed Liquidator will be authorized to distribute the
Condoheights's assets to its sole shareholder, STSB in cash or
in kind after allowing for creditors' payments and liquidation
expenses.

As of 30 June 2002 (unaudited), the total investment cost in
Condoheights is RM29.4 million whilst advances owing to STSB
amounted to RM128.9 million.


ROAD BUILDER: Wins $29M Road Upgrade Contract in India
------------------------------------------------------
Construction and infrastructure firm Road Builder won a contract
worth 112 million ringgit ($29 million) for road upgrades in
India.

The company expects to complete the works, involving two
sections of roads in Kerala state, by October 2004.


SENG HUP: AmMerchant Reveals Restructuring Plan
-----------------------------------------------
On 23 February 2001, Seng Hup Corporation Berhad (SHCB)
announced that it is an affected issuer pursuant to PN4.

On 9 September 1999, Mr Tan Kim Leong, JP and Mr Siew Kah Toong
of BDO Binder were appointed as Special Administrators of SHCB
(SA) under Section 24 of the Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional
Berhad Act 1998 as amended by Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional
Berhad Act 2000 (Act).

With the appointment of the SA, the SA are required to prepare a
workout proposal to regularize SHCB's financial position, which
will be examined by an independent advisor and approved by
Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Berhad and the secured creditors
of the Company (if applicable).

On 27 August 2002, SHCB announced that it has entered into a
Principal Agreement (PA) with Kumpulan Emas Berhad (KEB), for
the proposed acquisition of the entire issued and paid-up share
capital of Salcon Engineering Bhd (SEB), a subsidiary of KEB,
from KEB and the other shareholders of SEB by a new company to
be incorporated (Newco), to regulate and record the basic
understanding of the key areas of agreement pending finalization
and approval of the workout proposal prepared by the SA,
pursuant to Section 44 of the Act (Workout Proposal).

The Workout Proposal will in summary entail the following:

(i) Incorporation of a new company, Newco, which shall be the
vehicle to undertake the proposals referred to below;
(ii) Proposed exchange of the ordinary shares in SHCB for new
ordinary shares in Newco at a ratio to be determined later
resulting in the acquisition by Newco of the entire issued and
paid-up share capital of SHCB;
(iii) Proposed acquisition by Newco of the entire issued and
paid-up share capital of SEB;
(iv) Proposed offer for sale and/or placement by shareholders
cum vendors of SEB;
(v) Proposed public issue of new Newco shares at an issue price
to be determined later;
(vi) Proposed transfer of listing status from SHCB to Newco and
from the Second Board to the Main Board of the Kuala Lumpur
Stock Exchange;
(vii) Proposed cash settlement of all known debts, secured (if
any) or unsecured, and any other creditors of SHCB; and
(viii) Proposed disposal and subsequent liquidation of SHCB upon
implementation of (i) to (vii) above.

The Newco, i.e. Salcon Sdn Bhd (SSB), was incorporated with the
intention to acquire and hold SHCB exclusively for the
implementation of the Proposed Restructuring Exercise. SSB will
be converted into a public company in due course.

On 30 September 2002, the Company entered into a supplemental
principal agreement with KEB (Supplemental PA) to amend, modify
and/or vary the PA. On the same date, a conditional sale and
purchase agreement was entered into between KEB, Mampu Alam Sdn
Bhd (MASB) and Eminent Triumph Sdn Bhd (ETSB) (collectively SEB
Vendors), SSB and SHCB for the Proposed Acquisition (as defined
below).

AmMerchant Bank Berhad (formerly known as Arab-Malaysian
Merchant Bank Berhad), on behalf of the Company wishes to
announce the following (Requisite Announcement):

(a) Proposed acquisition by SSB of the entire issued and paid-up
share capital of SHCB involving the issuance of 833,250 new
ordinary shares of RM0.50 each in SSB (SSB Shares) at an issue
price of RM0.50 per SSB Share to the existing shareholders of
SHCB on the basis of one (1) new SSB Share for every twenty four
(24) ordinary shares of RM1.00 each in SHCB (SHCB Shares) held
(Proposed Share Exchange);

(b) Proposed acquisition by SSB of the entire issued and paid-up
share capital of SEB from KEB, MASB and ETSB for a total
consideration of RM80,198,000 to be satisfied by the issuance of
160,396,000 SSB Shares at an issue price of RM0.50 per SSB Share
(Proposed Acquisition);

(c) Proposed exemption to SEB Vendors and parties acting in
concert with them (Parties Acting In Concert), from the
obligation to extend an unconditional mandatory general offer
(GO) for all the remaining SSB Shares not already owned by them
in SSB after the Proposed Acquisition (Proposed Exemption);

(d) Proposed public issue by SSB of 29,200,000 new SSB Shares at
an indicative issue price of RM1.20 per SSB Share to the
eligible directors and employees of SEB group of companies and
the Malaysian public (Proposed Public Issue);

(e) Proposed offer for sale / placement by SEB Vendors of
17,920,000 SSB Shares to the Malaysian public and potential
investors at an indicative offer price of RM1.20 per SSB Share
(Proposed Offer For Sale / Placement);

(f) Proposed debt settlement to SHCB's respective creditors for
the outstanding debts due from SHCB to such creditors (SHCB
Creditors) (Proposed Debt Settlement);

(g) Proposed transfer of listing status of SHCB on the Second
Board of the KLSE to SSB (Propose Transfer of Listing Status);

(h) Proposed disposal of the entire issued and paid-up share
capital of SHCB to a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for a
consideration of RM1.00 and the subsequent liquidation of SHCB
and all of its subsidiaries (Proposed Disposal of SHCB to SPV);

(Collectively referred to as the Proposed Restructuring
Exercise)

(i) Proposed transfer of SSB Shares to the Main Board of the
KLSE (Proposed Transfer to Main Board); and

(j) Proposed Employee Share Option Scheme (Proposed ESOS).

(Collectively referred to as Proposals)

This serves as the Requisite Announcement as required under PN4.

DETAILS OF THE PROPOSED RESTRUCTURING EXERCISE

Details Of The Proposed Share Exchange

The Proposed Share Exchange involves the exchange of SHCB Shares
whereby shareholders who are named as depositors in the Central
Depository System (CDS) Record of Depositors on a date to be
determined and announced later, on which the entitlements of
shareholders of SHCB to SSB Shares to be issued pursuant to the
Proposed Share Exchange will be exchanged with 833,250 new SSB
Shares at an issue price of RM0.50 per SSB Share on the basis of
one (1) new SSB Share for every 24 existing ordinary shares of
RM1.00 each held in SHCB.

Upon completion of the Proposed Share Exchange, SHCB will become
a wholly owned subsidiary of SSB. It is the intention of SSB to
acquire and hold SHCB exclusively for the implementation of the
Proposed Restructuring Exercise with a view of its subsequent
disposal to a SPV, as further explained in Section 2.9 of this
application.

Pursuant to the Proposed Share Exchange, the shareholders of
SHCB will receive 833,250 new SSB Shares in exchange for
19,998,000 ordinary shares of RM1.00 each in SHCB held by them.

SSB will be converted into a public company in due course.
Upon completion of the Proposed Restructuring Exercise, SSB will
become the investment holding company for the restructured
group. SSB will subsequently be admitted to the Official List of
the KLSE and SHCB will be delisted accordingly pursuant to the
Proposed Restructuring Exercise.

Ranking Of The New SSB Shares

The new SSB Shares to be issued pursuant to the Proposed Share
Exchange shall, upon allotment and issue, rank pari passu in all
respects with the then existing issued SSB Shares except that
the new SSB Shares shall not be entitled to any dividends,
rights, bonuses, issues or other allotments or distributions
which relevant book closing date is on or before the date of
allotment and issue.

Basis of Arriving at the Issue Price

The issue price of RM0.50 per SSB Share is based on the par
value of SSB Shares.

Proposed Acquisition

It is proposed that SSB acquire the entire issued and paid-up
share capital of SEB. In this respect, on 30 September 2002, SSB
has entered into a conditional share sale agreement with SEB
Vendors, namely KEB, MASB and ETSB for the proposed acquisition
of the entire issued and paid-up share capital of SEB comprising
20,000,000 shares (SEB Shares) for a total purchase
consideration of RM80,198,000 to be satisfied by the issuance of
160,396,000 new SSB Shares at an issue price of RM0.50 per SSB
Share (Conditional SPA).

Upon completion of the Proposed Acquisition, SEB will become a
wholly owned subsidiary of SSB and accordingly, the principal
activities of the SEB Group will be the core business of the SSB
group of companies (SSB Group) going forward.

SEB was incorporated in Malaysia under the Companies Act, 1965
as a private limited company on 3 April 1974. The authorized
share capital of SEB is RM50,000,000 comprising 50,000,000
shares, of which 20,000,000 shares have been issued and fully
paid-up.

SEB Group is principally involved in the following activities:

* design, construction, operation and maintenance of municipal
potable water, sewerage and industrial waste water facilities;
* design, construction and commissioning of palm oil mills;
* provision of mechanical and electrical engineering services
for general industries;
* marketing, sales and servicing of equipment for water and palm
oil mill industries; and
* investment holding.

SEB is also a registered Grade 7 contractor with the
Construction Industry Development Board of Malaysia in the areas
of building, civil, mechanical and electrical engineering. It is
also a registered Class A contractor with Pusat Khidmat
Kontraktor, Kementerian Pembangunan Usahawan which basically
permits SEB to tender for government projects all over the
country.

SEB Group also has a class D license granted by the Ministry of
Housing and Local Government to build and construct sewerage
system. Its procurement, construction, testing and commissioning
of petrochemical facilities and industrial plants activities are
accredited with ISO9002 certification.

As at 31 July 2002, the SEB Group has approximately RM601.4
million gross value of contracts on hand.

Salient Terms Of The PA And Supplemental PA

The salient terms of the PA as amended by the Supplemental PA
include, inter-alia, the following:

(i) Incorporation of a new company, SSB;

(ii) Proposed acquisition by SSB of the entire issued and aid-up
share capital of SHCB involving the issuance of 833,250 new
ordinary shares of RM0.50 each in SSB at an issue price of
RM0.50 per SSB Share to the existing shareholders of SHCB on the
basis of one (1) new SSB Share for every twenty four(24)
ordinary shares of RM1.00 each in SHCB held;

(iii) Proposed acquisition by SSB of the entire issued and paid-
up share capital of SEB from KEB, MASB and ETSB for a total
consideration of RM80,198,000 to be satisfied by the issuance of
160,396,000 SSB Shares at an issue price of RM0.50 per SSB
Share;

(iv) Proposed offer for sale / placement by SEB Vendors of
17,920,000 SSB Shares at an indicative offer price of RM1.20 per
SSB Share;

(v) Proposed public issue by SSB of 29,200,000 new SSB Shares at
an indicative issue price of RM1.20 per SSB Share and the
underwriting of the same, such underwriting arrangement to be
procured within 45 days from the date of approval from the SC;

(vi) Proposed issue by SSB of 833,250 SSB Shares at an issue
price of RM0.50 per SSB Share to the SHCB Creditors through the
SA and/or creditors' agent in part settlement of the debts of
SHCB;

(vii) Proposed cash payment of RM28.0 million by SSB to the SHCB
Creditors through the SA and/or creditors' agent in part
settlement of the debts of SHCB, such payment to be secured as
provided in the Supplemental PA;

(viii) Proposed transfer of listing status of SHCB on the Second
Board of the KLSE to SSB and from the Second Board to the Main
Board of the KLSE;

(ix) Proposed disposal of SHCB by SSB to a special purpose
vehicle for a total nominal consideration of RM1.00.

Salient Terms Of The Conditional SPA

The SEB Vendors shall sell, and SSB shall purchase 20,000,000
fully paid ordinary shares of RM1.00 only each in the capital of
SEB constituting 100% of the entire issued and paid-up capital
of the SEB (Sale Shares) free from all charges, liens and other
encumbrances and with all rights attaching thereto including but
without limitation all bonuses, rights, dividends and
distributions declared paid or made in respect thereof in
consideration of the purchase price of RM80,198,000 only to be
satisfied by the issuance of 160,396,000 SSB Shares issued at
RM0.50 per SSB Share, credited as fully paid up upon the terms
and subject to the conditions of the Conditional SPA.

The conditions precedent of the Conditional SPA include, inter
alia:

(i) The approvals (if required) of the lenders of SEB, in
accordance with the terms and conditions of the financing or
credit facilities agreements between the lenders and SEB for the
acquisition by SSB of the Sale Shares being obtained and not
withdrawn;

(ii) The approvals of Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad and Southern
Bank Berhad (both being existing chargees of the Sale Shares)
for the disposal by the SEB Vendors of the Sale Shares being
obtained and not withdrawn;

(iii) The approvals of the respective shareholders of the SEB
Vendors for the disposal by the respective SEB Vendors of the
Sale Shares being obtained and not withdrawn; and

The completion date will be the date falling two months after
the date on which the last of the conditions precedent of the
Conditional SPA have been fulfilled or on the next succeeding
business day if the completion date would otherwise fall on a
non-business day.

Shares Acquired Free From Encumbrances

The Sale Shares shall be acquired free from all charges or liens
or any other encumbrances and with all rights now or hereinafter
attaching thereto including but without limitation to all
bonuses, rights, dividends and distributions declared, paid or
made in respect thereof as from the date of completion of the
Proposed Acquisition.

Basis Of Arriving At The Purchase Consideration

The purchase consideration of RM80,198,000 for the Proposed
Acquisition was arrived at on a willing-buyer willing-seller
basis after considering SEB Group's net tangible assets (NTA)
value of RM80,198,000, which was derived from the audited
accounts of SEB Group as at 31 July 2002 and a net price
earnings (PE) multiple of approximately 3.0 times based on SEB
Group's consolidated profit forecast after taxation of
approximately RM26.4 million for the financial year ending 31
July 2003.

Basis Of Determining The Issue Price For The New SSB Shares

The issue price of RM0.50 per SSB Share is based on the par
value of SSB Shares.

Ranking Of The New SSB Shares

The new SSB Shares to be issued pursuant to the Proposed
Acquisition shall, upon allotment and issue, rank pari passu in
all respects with the then existing issued SSB Shares except
that the new SSB Shares shall not be entitled to any dividends,
rights, allotments and/or distributions, the entitlement date of
which is prior to the date of allotment of the new SSB Shares.

Assumption Of Liabilities

SSB will not assume any liabilities pursuant to the Proposed
Acquisition.

Moratorium On SSB Shares

SEB Vendors will hold 160,396,000 new SSB Shares or an aggregate
of 83.86% of SSB's enlarged issued and paid-up share capital of
191,262,502 SSB Shares upon completion of the Proposals other
than the Proposed Offer For Sale/Placement and Proposed ESOS.

In complying with item 18.09(5) of Chapter 18 of the SC's
Policies and Guidelines on Issue / Offer of Securities (SC
Guidelines), the SEB Vendors will place a total of 80,198,000
SSB Shares (Moratorium Shares) representing 50% of the total SSB
Shares to be received as consideration for the Proposed
Acquisition under moratorium. Accordingly, the Vendors will not
be allowed to sell, transfer or assign the Moratorium Shares
within one (1) year from the admission of SSB to the Official
List of the KLSE. Thereafter, the SEB Vendors are permitted to
sell, transfer or assign up to a maximum of one third (1/3) per
annum (on a straight line basis) of the Moratorium Shares.
The details of the Moratorium Shares are set out in Table 1.
The 17,920,000 SSB Shares to be offered for sale / placed out by
the SEB Vendors under the Proposed Offer For Sale / Placement
will be the SSB Shares which are not subjected to the
moratorium.

Proposed Exemption

Upon completion of the Proposed Acquisition, the SEB Vendors
will hold 160,396,000 SSB Shares representing approximately
83.86% of the enlarged issued and paid-up share capital prior to
the Proposed ESOS.

Pursuant to Part II Section 6 of the Malaysia Code on Take-Overs
and Mergers 1998 ("Code"), the SEB Vendors and Parties Acting In
Concert are required to extend an unconditional mandatory GO for
all the remaining SSB Shares not already owned by them in SSB
after the Proposed Acquisition.

An application by the SEB Vendors and Parties Acting In Concert
to seek a waiver from this obligation under Practice Note 2.9.3
of the Code will be made to the SC to exempt the aforementioned
parties from having to undertake a mandatory general offer upon
completion of the Proposed Acquisition.

Proposed Public Issue

The public shareholding spread requirement as stipulated in the
SC Guidelines and KLSE Listing Requirements requires that at
least 25% of the issued and paid-up capital of a public listed
company (PLC) be in the hands of the public with a minimum
number of 1,250 shareholders holding not less than 1,000 shares
in the PLC whereby at least 750 shareholders are public
shareholders who are not employees of the PLC, its subsidiaries
or holding company. However, out of the minimum requirement, 500
shareholders could also be employees of the PLC and its
subsidiaries.

It is proposed that in order to comply with the minimum number
of shareholders, upon completion of the Proposed Acquisition,
SSB will undertake a public issue of 29,200,000 new ordinary
shares of RM0.50 each in SSB at an indicative issue price of
RM1.20 per SSB Share.

The public issue of 29,200,000 SSB Shares will be allocated in
the following manner:

(i) 2,800,000 new ordinary shares of RM0.50 each will be
reserved for the eligible employees and directors of the SSB
Group as well as the business associates of the SSB Group; and

(ii) 26,400,000 new ordinary shares of RM0.50 each will be made
available for application by Malaysian citizens, companies,
societies, co-operatives and institutions, of which at least 30%
is to be set aside strictly for Bumiputera individuals,
companies, societies, co-operatives and institutions.

KEB and/or the other SEB Vendors will undertake to procure
underwriters for the Proposed Public Issue, within 45 days from
the date of the approval from the SC.

Basis of Arriving at the Indicative Issue Price

The indicative issue price of RM1.20 per SSB Share was arrived
at after considering various factors including the following.
However, it should be noted that the aforementioned issue price
is an indicative price only and may be subject to changes
depending on the prevailing market conditions during the period
prior to the issue of the prospectus for the listing of SSB.
(i) SSB Group forecasts a consolidated profit forecast after
taxation of approximately RM26.4 million for the financial year
ending 31 July 2003 (before deducting an exceptional item
amounting to RM28.8 million in respect of payment of RM28.0
million in cash to SHCB Creditors, approximately RM0.4 million
worth of SSB Shares to the SA and/or creditors' agent and
approximately RM0.4 million worth of SSB Shares to SHCB
shareholders (collectively referred to as Exceptional Item) and
pre-acquisition profits amounting to RM20.0 million). Based on
the proposed enlarged issued and paid-up share capital of SSB
prior to the exercise of ESOS options of RM95,631,251 comprising
191,262,502 SSB Shares the net earnings per share (EPS) of the
SSB Group is 13.8 sen for the year ending 31 July 2003.

Therefore, the indicative issue price of RM1.20 per SSB Share
will represent a net PE multiple of approximately 8.7 times
based on the said profit forecast.

(ii) The proforma NTA value of SSB Group as at 31 July 2002
after the Proposed Public Issue is approximately RM68.1 million
or approximately RM0.36 per SSB Share based on the proposed
enlarged issued and paid-up share capital of SSB prior to the
exercise of ESOS options of 191,262,502 SSB Shares.

Therefore, the indicative issue price of RM1.20 per SSB Share
will represent a premium of RM0.84 or 233% to the said proforma
NTA per SSB Share.

Proposed Offer For Sale / Placement

It is proposed that in order to comply with the 25% public
shareholding spread requirement and to give the SEB Vendors
avenue to realize part of their SSB Shares, the SEB Vendors will
undertake an offer for sale / placement of 17,920,000 SSB Shares
held by the SEB Vendors to the Malaysian public / investors at
an indicative offer price of RM1.20 per SSB Share.

The proceeds arising from the Proposed Offer For Sale /
Placement will accrue to the SEB Vendors. No part of the
proceeds will be received by SSB.

Additionally, the actual method for the offer for sale /
placement to be undertaken by the SEB Vendors will be determined
at a later juncture upon receipt of the SC's approval on the
Proposed Restructuring Exercise.

Proposed Debt Settlement

The Proposed Debt Settlement is formulated to restructure SHCB's
outstanding debts with its creditors.

In accordance with the Workout Proposal, the Proposed Debt
Settlement comprises the following proposals:

(i) Proposed Issue of SSB Shares to SHCB Creditors
(ii) Proposed Share Sale by SA and/or Creditors' Agent
(iii) Proposed Settlement of Essential Creditors
(iv) Proposed Settlement of Hire Purchase and Lease Creditors
(v) Proposed Settlement of Unsecured Creditors
(vi) Proposed Settlement of Corporate Guarantee Creditors
(vii) Proposed Settlement of Contingent Creditors

It is proposed that the date of all debts be fixed on 9
September 1999 (Cut Off Date), such that all known debts
outstanding inclusive of Essential Creditors (as defined in the
Workout Proposal) as at this date shall be included in the
Proposed Debt Settlement. In order to ascertain the known debts,
a proof of debt exercise was conducted. In the event that the
outstanding liabilities to the creditors of SHCB (SHCB
Creditors) vary from the initial sum subsequent to the proof of
debts exercise, the ratio of the Proposed Debt Settlement will
be adjusted accordingly at the sole discretion of the SA. Any
SHCB creditor who fails to prove its debt shall not be entitled
to any allocation, unless otherwise determined solely at the
discretion of the SA. The inclusion of any SHCB Creditor in the
Workout Proposal is not an admission of liability of SHCB and
each SHCB Creditor may be required to produce its proof of debt
before settlement will be effected.

The proceeds amounting to RM28,000,000 to be raised from the
Proposed Public Issue and proceeds from the Proposed Share Sale
by the SA and/or creditors' agent will be utilized for
settlement to the SHCB Creditors.

The Proposed Debt Settlement entails the following:

Proposed Issue of Shares to SHCB Creditors

The Proposed Issue of Shares to the SHCB Creditors involves the
issuance of 833,250 new SSB Shares at an issue price of RM0.50
per SSB Share, to be held by the SA and/or creditors' agent for
the benefit of the SHCB Creditors, as part settlement to the
SHCB Creditors.

Proposed Share Sale by SA and/or Creditors' Agent

Subsequent to the Proposed Issue of Shares to SHCB Creditors,
and as set out above, the SA and/or creditors' agent will
dispose 833,250 SSB Shares in the open market upon the listing
of and quotation for SSB Shares at a price no lower than RM1.20
per SSB Share. The proceeds raised from the said disposal will
be distributed to the SHCB Creditors on a pro-rated basis.

An approval is to be obtained from the SHCB Creditors holding
not less than 50% in value of the debts outstanding as at the
Cut-Off Date in the event a disposal of the aforementioned SSB
Shares at a price lower than RM1.20 per SSB Share is required.

Proposed Settlement of Essential Creditors

The total amount outstanding due to the Essential Creditors as
at the date of the Workout Proposal is estimated at RM4,500,000.
This amount is subject to changes until the discharge of the SA
by the Oversight Committee (as defined by the Act). It is
proposed that the Essential Creditors be settled from the
available cash balance of SHCB and proceeds arising from the
proposed liquidation of SHCB. All Essential Creditors will be
settled in priority over all other classes of SHCB Creditors.

Proposed Settlement of Hire Purchase and Lease Creditors

The total amount owing to Hire Purchase and Lease Creditors (as
defined in the Workout Proposal) as at the Cut-Off-Date and
which liabilities have yet to be settled in the ordinary course
of business since such date, was RM1,286,799.

The proposed settlement may be summarized as follows:

a) The liabilities will be reduced by the market value of the
hire purchase and lease assets;

b) All existing hire purchase and lease agreements will be
terminated; and

c) Subsequent to steps (a) and (b) above, the liabilities net of
the market value of the assets owing to the Hire Purchase and
Lease Creditors is estimated at RM1,036,799. This remaining
liability shall remain as unsecured debts owing by SHCB and be
settled under the Proposed Settlement of Unsecured Creditors.

Proposed Settlement of Unsecured Creditors

As at the Cut Off Date, the total amount outstanding to
Unsecured Creditors (as defined in the Workout Proposal), was
RM74,918,244. Unsecured Creditors consist of financial
institutions that have extended credit facilities to SHCB and
which are not secured by any charge over the assets of SHCB,
trade and non-trade creditors, Preferential Creditor (as defined
in the Workout Proposal) and the balance owing to Hire Purchase
and Lease Creditors (after the settlement of the market value of
the assets).

The proposed settlement may be summarized as follows:

a) All charges, interest accrued and penalty charges, if any,
arising after the Cut Off Date shall be completely waived or
deemed waived;

b) Approximately 33.16% of the total outstanding debts amounting
to RM24,770,357 shall be settled by cash via the proceeds from
the Proposed Public Issue and the Proposed Share Sale by SA
and/or creditors' agent; and

c) Subsequent to step (b) above, the remaining outstanding debts
shall be entitled for distribution as unsecured debts under the
proposed liquidation of SHCB.

Proposed Settlement of Corporate Guarantee Creditors

As at the Cut Off Date, the total amount outstanding to the
Corporate Guarantee Creditors (as defined in the Workout
Proposal) of SHCB was approximately RM17,058,826. The Corporate
Guarantee Creditors are presently secured against the assets of
the subsidiary companies of SHCB.

Proposed Settlement of Contingent Creditors

Contingent creditors are trade and non-trade creditors who may
have legal action filed against SHCB. The settlement amounts
provided for contingent creditors are only provisionally
provided for under the Workout Proposal, and will be subject to
the sums awarded by the Court or through out-of-Court
settlement, as further elaborated below. The total estimated
contingent creditors' claims is approximately RM6,261,484 as at
the date of the Workout Proposal.

Their proposed settlement may be summarized as follows:

a) All charges, interest and penalty charges, if any, arising
after the Cut Off Date shall be completely waived or deemed
waived or not recognized;

b) The probable entitlement of contingent creditors will be
allocated to the trustee/creditors' agent as stakeholder, to be
only released in the event that each of their claim is
successful for an amount no less than that stated in the Workout
Proposal. In the event that the amount successfully claimed is
less than that stated in the Workout Proposal, the allocated
entitlement of the contingent creditors will be proportionately
reduced. In the event that the amount successfully claimed is
more than that stated in the Workout Proposal, the allocated
entitlement of the contingent creditors will be deemed to be the
full and final settlement of such higher amount; and

c) All claims not established after a period of 3 years from the
effective date will not be considered for settlement, and
subsequently all cash allocated to contingent creditors will be
distributed by the creditors' agent to the other SHCB Creditors
on a pro-rated basis.

Proposed Transfer of Listing Status

It is proposed that upon the completion of the Proposed Share
Exchange, Proposed Acquisition, Proposed Public Issue, Proposed
Offer for Sale/Placement and Proposed Debt Settlement, the
listing status of SHCB on the Second Board of the KLSE shall be
transferred to SSB. Consequently, SHCB will be delisted from the
Second Board of the KLSE and SSB will be listed on the Second
Board of the KLSE. An application will be made to the KLSE for
the following:

(i) The admission of SSB to the Official List of the KLSE and
the listing of and quotation for the entire enlarged issued
capital of SSB of 191,252,502 SSB Shares upon the completion of
the Proposed Restructuring Exercise on the Second Board of the
KLSE: and

(ii) The removal of SHCB from the Official List of the KLSE and
the de-listing of the entire issued capital of SHCB from the
Second Board of the KLSE.

Proposed Transfer to Main Board

SSB will be seeking to transfer its listing of and quotation for
the Second Board to the Main Board of the KLSE.

Proposed Disposal of SHCB to SPV

It is proposed that a SPV be incorporated to undertake the
proposed disposal of SHCB to the SPV, for a purchase
consideration of RM1.00 after the Proposed Transfer of Listing
Status. This SPV will be managed and controlled by the
creditors' agent and the operational costs will be borne by SEB.
Subsequently, it is also proposed that SHCB and each of the
subsidiary and associated companies of SHCB be put into
liquidation. The creditors of each of the respective companies
are expected to be settled from the proceeds realized from their
respective liquidation in accordance with the laws applicable to
winding up pursuant to the Companies Act, 1965 and the Companies
Winding Up Rules, 1972.

Creditors with corporate guarantees from SHCB are expected to
enforce their respective collaterals and rank the balance net
amount of their debts pursuant to the Proposed Debt Settlement
mentioned in Section 2.6 above provided that the total
settlement to the Corporate Guarantee Creditors shall not be
more than the liabilities owing to them as at the Cut Off Date.
The Corporate Guarantee Creditors will also be entitled to rank
the full amount of their debts for distribution in the winding
up of the respective subsidiaries provided also that the total
settlement to the Corporate Guarantee Creditors shall not be
more than the total liabilities owing to them by the respective
subsidiary companies.

INTERCONDITIONALITY

All the proposals within the Proposed Restructuring Exercise are
interconditional. The Proposed Transfer to Main Board is
conditional upon the Proposed Transfer of Listing Status and the
Proposed ESOS is conditional upon the Proposed Restructuring
Exercise.

PROPOSED ESOS

SSB proposes to offer to eligible employees (including eligible
executive directors) of SSB, options to subscribe for new
ordinary shares of RM0.50 each in SSB. The maximum number of new
SSB Shares offered under the Proposed ESOS shall not exceed ten
per cent (10%) of the issued and paid-up share capital of SSB at
any point in time during the duration of the Proposed ESOS.

All executive directors and employees of SSB will be eligible to
participate in the Proposed ESOS provided they meet the
conditions for eligibility stipulated in the draft Bye-Laws. The
Proposed ESOS will be administered by an Option Committee
appointed by the Board of Directors of SSB. In determining the
number of options to be offered to each eligible employee, the
Option Committee will take into consideration the seniority,
performance and length of service of each eligible employee.

The principal features of the Proposed ESOS, details of which
are set out in the draft Bye-Laws are as follows:

Quantum

The maximum number of new SSB Shares, which may be issued and
allotted pursuant to the exercise of options granted under the
Proposed ESOS shall not exceed ten per cent (10%) of the issued
and paid-up capital of SSB at any point in time during the
duration of the Proposed ESOS.

Eligibility

Only eligible employees who are Malaysian or foreigners and
executive directors who need not be Malaysian and employed full
time by SSB and its future subsidiaries which are not dormant
(SSB Group), who fulfill the following conditions shall be
eligible to participate in the Proposed ESOS.

(a) An employee or an executive director who has attained the
age of eighteen (18) years;

(b) An employee or an executive director is employed by a member
of the SSB Group (provided that the member is not dormant) and
has served such member of the SSB Group for a continuous period
of at least one (1) year and whose employment has been confirmed
in writing. In the case of an executive director, he must be
involved in the day to day management and is on the payroll of a
member of the SSB Group (provided that the member is not
dormant);

(c) Is not a participant of or has not been offered option(s)
under any other employees share option scheme implemented by any
other member of the SSB Group which is in force for the time
being;

(d) In addition, where an employee (including an executive
director) is serving under a fixed term employment contract, the
contract must be for a duration of at least three (3) years and
must be confirmed in writing; and

(e) Each executive director can be offered options under more
than one scheme depending on his sitting on the board of
directors.

Subscription Price

It is proposed that the subscription price for the first
allocation of options to the eligible employees and directors be
at a discount of not more than 10% from the indicative public
issue price of RM1.20 per SSB Share.

The subscription price for the subsequent allocations shall be
the higher of the following:

(a) a price to be determined by the Board of Directors of SSB
upon the recommendation of the Option Committee which is at a
discount of not more than 10% from the weighted average market
price of the SSB Shares for the five market days immediately
preceding the date of offer of the options; or

(b) the par value of the Shares.

Rationale for the Proposed ESOS

The implementation of the Proposed ESOS will serve the following
purposes:

(a) to recognize the contribution of eligible employees and
executive directors whose services are valued and considered
vital to the operations and continued growth of the SSB Group;

(b) to motivate employees and executive directors of the SSB
Group towards better performance through greater productivity
and loyalty;

(c) to stimulate a greater sense of belonging and dedication
since employees and executive directors are given the
opportunity to participate directly in the equity of SSB;

(d) to encourage employees to remain with the SSB Group thus
ensuring that the loss of key personnel is kept to a minimum;
and

(e) to reward employees and executive directors by allowing them
to participate in SSB's profitability and eventually realize
capital gains arising from any appreciation in the value of
SSB's Shares.

Ranking of New Shares arising from the Proposed ESOS

All SSB Shares issued pursuant to the exercise of Options shall:

(a) rank pari passu in all respects with all existing issued SSB
Shares, save and except as to entitlement to dividends, rights
and other distributions; and
(b) be entitled to any dividends, rights and other distributions
which are declared after the date of allotment of such SSB
Shares in respect of the financial year in which such SSB Shares
are allotted and subsequent financial years.

Duration of the Proposed ESOS

The Proposed ESOS shall be in force for a period of five years
from its commencement. However, SSB may, if the Board of
Directors of SSB deem fit upon the recommendation of the Option
Committee, extend the Proposed ESOS scheme for a further five
years. Such extended scheme shall be implemented in accordance
with the terms of the Bye-Laws, save for any amendments and/or
changes to the relevant statutes and/or regulations currently in
force and shall be valid and binding without further obtaining
the approvals as listed in the Bye-Laws provided that SSB shall
serve appropriate notices on each grantee and/or make necessary
announcements to any and/or all the parties as mentioned in the
Bye-Laws within 30 days prior to the expiry of the scheme.

RATIONALE FOR THE PROPOSED RESTRUCTURING EXERCISE

The SHCB group of companies (SHCB Group) has not been able to
meet its obligations to the creditors due to its poor financial
position. On 9 September 1999, the SA were appointed and
required to prepare a Workout Proposal to regularize SHCB's
financial position. Hence, the Proposed Restructuring Exercise
has been formulated to provide a better recovery to the
shareholders and creditors of SHCB as compared to the prospects
of recovery in the event of the liquidation of SHCB without the
Proposed Restructuring Exercise.

In this respect, the Proposed Share Exchange and Proposed Debt
Settlement will:

* Enable the existing shareholders of SHCB to recover part of
their investment through the Proposed Share Exchange and
participate in the future profitability of the SSB Group; and

* Enable an amount of RM28.0 million to be raised from the
Proposed Public Issue, and the proceeds from the Proposed Share
Sale by the SA and/or creditors' agent at a price that is no
lower than RM1.20 per SSB Share to be available to settle the
debts owing by SHCB to SHCB Creditors in accordance with the
Workout Proposal.

In essence, the Proposed Restructuring Exercise will assist the
SHCB Group in restructuring and regularizing its financial
condition in accordance with the requirements of Practice Note
4/2001 on the criteria and obligation of an affected listed
issuer pursuant to paragraph 8.14 of the KLSE Listing
Requirements (PN 4).

The Proposed Restructuring Exercise will substantially alleviate
the current debt burden of SHCB through the proceeds raised from
the Proposed Public Issue and Proposed Share Sale by SA and/or
creditors' agent. The Proposed Acquisition will allow the SEB
Group, an engineering group with proven track record, to be
injected into SSB, which will in turn provide long-term benefits
to SSB and its shareholders.

RISK FACTORS

The risks pertaining to the Proposals include, inter-alia,
business (including credit risk) and risk pertaining to
investment on overseas ventures, foreign exchange fluctuations,
quality of treated water and general political, economic,
regulatory and environmental considerations.

EFFECTS OF THE PROPOSALS

Share Capital

The Proposals will allow the restructured group i.e. SSB Group
to undertake a profitable business, which is expected to provide
long term financial benefits to the SSB Group.

Earnings

The Proposals will allow the restructured group i.e. SSB Group
to undertake a profitable business, which is expected to provide
long term financial benefits to the SSB Group.

Dividend

In view that the Proposed Restructuring Exercise is expected to
complete by the end of the financial year-end 31 July 2003, SSB
will not be declaring any dividends for the financial year
ending 31 July 2003.

Conditions to the Proposals

The Proposed Restructuring Exercise, Proposed Transfer to Main
Board and Proposed ESOS are subject to and conditional upon the
following:

(a) The approval of the Workout Proposal in accordance with the
provisions of the Act:
(i) Approval of the secured creditors for the Workout Proposal
pursuant to Section 46(4) of the Act, if applicable; and
(ii) Approval of Danaharta for the Workout Proposal pursuant to
Section 45(2) of the Act.

(b) The approval of the Securities Commission for the Proposals
including the SEB Vendors' application for the Proposed
Exemption;

(c) The approval of the Foreign Investment Committee for the
Proposals;

(d) The approval of the Ministry of International Trade and
Industry for the Proposals;

(e) The approval in principle from the KLSE for:
(i) The transfer of listing status from SHCB to SSB;
(ii) Listing of and quotation for the entire issued and paid-up
share capital of SSB and new SSB Shares to be issued upon
exercise of ESOS options.

(f) The approval of shareholders of SSB at an Extraordinary
General Meeting (EGM) to be convened for the Proposed ESOS;

(g) The approval of respective shareholders of KEB, MASB and
ETSB at EGMs to be convened respectively for the Proposed
Acquisition; and

(h) Approvals from any other relevant authorities.

DISCLOSURE OF DIRECTORS' AND SUBSTANTIAL SHAREHOLDERS' INTERESTS

As far as the SA is aware, none of the present or former (within
the preceding twelve (12) months from the date of the
announcement on the PA) directors and substantial shareholders
of SHCB as well as persons connected with them has any interest,
direct and/or indirect, in the Proposals.

APPOINTMENT OF ADVISER

AmMerchant Bank has been appointed as the Adviser to the Company
in connection to the Proposals.

STATEMENT BY THE SA

The SA, having considered all aspects of the Proposals, is of
the opinion that the Proposals are in the best interests of the
Company.

DOCUMENTS FOR INSPECTION

The PA, Supplemental PA, Conditional SPA and Workout Proposal
will be available for inspection at the registered office of
SHCB at Unit E-9-6, 9th Floor, Megan Phileo Promenade, 189 Jalan
Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur during normal office hours from
Mondays to Fridays (except public holidays) from the date of
this announcement until the approval of all relevant authorities
have been obtained.

SC GUIDELINES

Save for the waivers sought from the SC as below, the Proposals
do not depart from any policies of the SC Guidelines:

(a) A waiver from Paragraph 2 (b) of the SC's Guidelines on
Employee Share Option Schemes issued on 10 May 2001 in respect
of the price payable for the shares under ESOS;

(b) A waiver for the proposed bye-laws of the Proposed ESOS in
the event that the number of options granted pursuant to the
Proposed ESOS is in excess of the maximum ten percent (10%)
allowable under the SC's Guidelines on Issue/Offer of Securities
for ESOS as a result of a share buy-back; and

(c) Pledging of up to 80,198,000 SSB Shares representing the
entire amount of the Moratorium Shares, as security to certain
Banks, if required. The details are set out in Section 2.2.10 of
this announcement.

SUBMISSION TO THE SC

The application to the SC on the Proposals should be made within
one week from the date hereof.

The SEB Vendors will make a separate submission on the Proposed
Exemption to the SC within one month from the date hereof.


SIME DARBY: Dunearn Distribution Unit Goes Into Liquidation
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sime Darby Berhad said in a disclosure to the Kuala Lumpur Stock
Exchange that its wholly owned subsidiary, Dunearn Distribution
Services Limited (DDS), a company incorporated in Singapore,
held an Extraordinary General Meeting on 22nd August 2002 at
which it was resolved that the company be wound up voluntarily.

The shareholder also approved the appointment of Mr Chang Kong
Leong and Mr Tan Soo Meng as the liquidators of DDS.

DDS was involved in the business of providing warehousing and
delivery services until the cessation of its business operations
with effect from 1st July 2002.

The voluntary liquidation of DDS is not expected to have a
material effect on the earnings or net tangible assets of the
Sime Darby Group for the financial year ending 30 June 2003.
None of the directors or substantial shareholders of Sime Darby
or persons connected to them has any interest, direct or
indirect, in the voluntary liquidation.


SIME DARBY: Shares Flat at MYR4.88
----------------------------------
Shares of Sime Darby were flat at MYR4.88 despite news that the
18 percent-owned AAPICO Hitech's IPO in Thailand were heavily
oversubscribed.

Lead underwriter Asset Plus Securities did not provide figures.

Shares begin to trade on Stock Exchange of Thailand on October
17.


TENAGA NASIONAL: Sees Power Demand Up 6% Next Year
--------------------------------------------------
State power utility Tenaga Nasional Bhd expects that demand for
electricity next year will be more than 6 percent.

According to Tenaga Nasional chairman Jamaludin Jarjis, his
projection was based on the government's forecast of 6.0-6.5
percent growth in the economy in 2003, adding that electricity
demand grew five to six percent in the fiscal year to end August
2002.

Tenaga shares were unchanged at 8.55 ringgit at 0323 GMT on
Thursday.


TENAGA NASIONAL: Selling $500M of Bonds in 6 Months
---------------------------------------------------
Shareholders of Tenaga Nasional Bhd have approved a plan to sell
$500 million of convertible bonds to global investors within six
months.

Tenaga's new management team is actively restructuring debt,
which is expected to reduce interest costs and foreign exchange
risk, and extend debt maturities. Although proceeds from asset
sales should reduce debt over time, overall debt might increase
to finance future generation, distribution, and transmissions
expansion.

Tenaga has a cash balance of Malaysian ringgit (RM) 967 million
(US$255 million) and unutilized credit facilities of RM2.4
billion as of June 30, 2002. These resources should be
sufficient to address near-term debt repayments of RM1.1
billion.

Debts maturing over the next four years total about RM7.7
billion.


YCS CORPORATION: Replies to KLSE Queries Re Payment Default
-----------------------------------------------------------
YCS Corporation Berhad refers to Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange
letter of 3rd October 2002, Ref No. KM-021001-64534 on the
Company's default in payment in respect of RM58,520,000
irredeemable convertible unsecured loan Stock-A 2000/2005.

YCS detailed below the additional information the Exchange has
requested:

1. In default of payment and inaccordance to the terms and
conditions of the Trust Deed, there maybe a likelihood that a
civil legal proceeding to be commenced against YCS. The
Restraining Order dated 15th February 2000 is still applicable;

2. There is no security holders; and

3. The default in payment does constitutes an event of default
under a Supplemental Agreement (Scheme A - YCSB Unsecured
Lenders) dated 13th July 2000 and (Scheme C - PCSB Unsecured
Lenders) dated 24th October 2000.

TCR-AP reported earlier this month that YCS Corporation has
defaulted in the payment of interest amounting to RM2,018,823.16
on the RM58,520,000 Irredeemable Convertible Unsecured Loan
Stock-A 2000/2005 (ICULS - A), which was due on 4th May 2002.


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


FIRST E-BANK: Agrees to Execute Asset Sale Deal by December 2
-------------------------------------------------------------
First E-Bank Corporation refers to the Circular for Brokers No.
2603-2002 dated October 2, 2002, in connection with the approval
by the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas of the
proposal by Banco de Oro Universal Bank (BDO) to purchase select
assets and assume the deposits and certain other liabilities of
First e-Bank Corporation (FSTE).

In relation to this FSTE, in a letter to the Exchange dated
October 8, 2002, further disclosed that:

Please be informed that while we have targeted December 2, 2002
to implement the Memorandum of Agreement with Banco de Oro,
negotiations between the parties are still underway.
Consequently, pending the finalization of the terms and
conditions of the transaction, the date when the transaction is
to be submitted to the Bank's stockholders could not likewise be
finalized.

The Company commit, however, to serve timely notice to the
stockholders of the Bank in accordance with the period provided
for by the Bank's charter.

The disclosure is located at
http://bankrupt.com/misc/tcrap_firstebank1010.pdf


METRO PACIFIC: Responds to "Ayala-Campos Offers $100M" Report
-------------------------------------------------------------
Metro Pacific Corporation responded to the news article entitled
"Ayala-Campos group seen offering $100M for BLC state" published
in the October 9, 2002 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The article reported that: "The partnership between Ayala Land
Inc. and United Laboratories Inc.'s Jose Campos is preparing an
offer to settle the $100-million loan extended by Larouge BV to
Metro Pacific Corp., a local subsidiary of First Pacific Co.
Ltd. of Hong Kong, a source privy to the transaction said. The
Ayala Campos group, in exchange for the loan payment, wants to
get First Pacific's 50.4-percent stake in Metro Pacific Corp.
unit Bonifacio Land Corp.

Metro Pacific Corporation (MPC), in a letter to the Exchange
dated October 9, 2002, clarified that:

As previously disclosed, Metro Pacific is engaged in a variety
of discussions with a number of patients with regard to various
debt reductions, restructuring, and or development
opportunities. Among those parties include the Ayala/Campos
Group also as previously disclosed.

As of this date however, no agreements has been reached with any
individual party. Metro Pacific will make a full and fair
disclosure to the PSE as such time is warranted.

The press release can be accessed at
http://bankrupt.com/misc/tcrap_mpc1010.pdf


MULTITEL INTERNATIONAL: Asking SEC for Temporary Relief
--------------------------------------------------------
Multitel International Holdings, Inc. (MIHI) and Multinational
Telecom Investors Corp. (Multitel) and have asked the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC) to halt any further action against
the lending firms, pending the Company's efforts to normalize
their operations, the Business World reported Thursday.

In a letter to SEC Chairperson Lilia R. Bautista, Miltitel
lawyer Vicente D. Millosa said the Company has hired top
accounting firm Sycip, Gorres and Velayo (SGV) to review the
assets and liabilities of Multitel and related enterprises, with
the end view of regularizing its operations. He said the SEC
supports the move.

"Thus, it was the clear understanding that proceedings affecting
our clients would thus be suspended pending the outcome of the
review," he said. "We likewise further request that the conduct
of any proceedings at the behest and cooperation of the SEC
await the results of the SGV's review, which was agreed upon by
the SEC would be provided by your good office."

On September 30, the SEC compliance and Enforcement Department
Director Tomas Syquia led a team of SEC and NBI agents in
searching the residence of Multitel owners Rose and Saturnino
Baladjay at the Aspen Tower, Filinvest Corporate City in Alabang
(southern Metro Manila). Another team raided MIHI's offices in
Enterprise Center Tower 2 in Makati City (central Metro Manila).

Millosa said there was no legal basis for the search, since the
Baladjay couple has been cooperating with the SEC. The lawyer
maintained Multitel and MIHI have not been accepting any
investments from the public, and have even announced stopping
operations.

"The manner in which the searches were conducted reeks of an
outright shakedown or extortion operation The actions of the SEC
employees are not only bereft of any legal justification and
clearly violative of the most fundamental rights of our clients,
disruptive of SGV's ongoing review and detrimental to our
clients' efforts to comply with the directives of the SEC but
smacks of selective enforcement of governmental process," he
said.

Millosa said the SEC has not taken action against MMC Investment
and Financial Management and its holding Company MMC Holdings,
Inc. These two companies had already been included in an SEC
advisory against pseudo-investment firms issuing securities
without appropriate licenses.

The SEC recently issued a cease-and-desist order (CDO) against
MIHI to prevent the Company from soliciting more investments.

In January, the SEC issued a CDO against Multitel for performing
unauthorized quasi-banking, such as accepting deposits and
lending to more than 19 persons without permission from the
Bangko Sentral (Central Bank of the Philippines).


PICOP RESOURCES: NPC Reconnects Power Supply
--------------------------------------------
Picop Resources, Inc. informed the Philippine Stock Exchange
(PSE) that after signing a Memorandum of Agreement on October 8,
2002, National Power Corporation has reconnected PICOP's power
supply on October 10, 2002.

The agreement settled the bulk power supply issues and seeks to
solve the issues of voltage level fluctuation between NPC,
Transco and PICOP. The agreement was reached after a series of
meetings that included the political leadership of Surigao del
Sur, NPC, DOE and PICOP officials.

Primary consideration was given on preserving and improving the
competitiveness of structurally sound industries through bench
making of its major inputs such as energy.

In PICOP's case, economic returns will come in saving 8,000
jobs, livelihood for about 200,000 Caraga residents and revenues
to the National and Local Government units of more than P200
million annually.

PICOP will resume the production of newsprint and limerboard as
the harvesting permit, which Sec. Alvarez withheld for quite
some time, was also released.

The permit was released after Sec. Alvarez could not produce the
law and regulations that be claimed prevented the issuance of
the permit during a meeting attended to no less than by
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who was concerned on the huge
number of workers already retrenched due to the plant shutdown.

According to Wright Investors Service, PICOP Resources
Incorporated at the end of 2001 had negative working capital, as
current liabilities were 1.71 billion Philippine Pesos while
total current assets were only 1.29 billion Philippine Pesos.

For a copy of the press release, go to
http://bankrupt.com/misc/tcrap_picop1010.pdf


UNITRUST DEVELOPMENT: PBCOM Responds to Rehab Bid Report
--------------------------------------------------------
The Philippine Bank of Communications (PBCOM) responded to the
news article "PBCOM expected to revive sUnitrust rehabilitation
bid" as published in the October 8, 2002 issue of Business
World.

PBCOM informed the Philippine Stock Exchange that the Company
has not released any communication pertaining to the
developments reported in the said article.  

There have been no further developments in PBCOM regarding the
rehabilitation of Unitrust Development Bank other than it's
previous disclosures stating that PBCOM had difficulty securing
the additional requirements requested by the Philippine Deposit
Insurance Corporation (PDIC).

For a copy of the disclosure, go to
http://bankrupt.com/misc/tcrap_unitrustdevelopment1010.pdf


* NEA Board Okays Guidelines on EC's Performance Targets  
--------------------------------------------------------
In compliance to the instructions of President Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo to fast track the condonation of the rural
electrifications loans of the electric cooperatives to the
government, the Board of the National Electrification
Administration (NEA) has approved the guidelines on the
preparation, submission and monitoring of the Performance
Improvement Program (PIP) and the Rehabilitation Efficiency Plan
(REP) of electric cooperatives (EC's).   

The approval of the guidelines also comes after a series of
consultation with the EC's led by its umbrella organizations the
Philippine Rural Electric Cooperative of the Philippines
(Philreca) and the National Association of the General Managers
of the Electric Cooperatives (NAGMEC) and the regional
associations of EC's.   

"We are pleased to announce that the NEA Board has approved the
guidelines for the PIP and the REP. This will now signal the
implementation of the needed reforms to improve the operations
of the 119 EC's nationwide," NEA administrator Francisco Silva
said.  

The issuance of the guidelines is mandated by Executive Order -
119, promulgating the Restructuring Program for Electric
Cooperatives (EC's). The restructuring program, among others,
authorizes the condonation of EC's rural electrification loans
incurred as of 26 June 2001, amounting to some P18 billion.   

In issuing EO 119 last August 28, President Arroyo stressed that
assumption of the outstanding financial obligations of the EC's
by the Power Sector Asset and Liabilities Management Corp.
(PSALM) must come hand-in-hand with meaningful and lasting
reforms, both mandated and self imposed.   

This is meant to achieve reliable, secure and cheaper
electricity for all consumers, particularly in the rural areas,
the President added.  

As such, Section 5 of EO 119 detailed the terms and conditions
for the assumption of the rural electrification loans including
the submission of the PIP and REP. The PIP and the REP shall
cover institutional, technical and managerial reform to achieve
the prescribed level of efficiencies.   

"Issuance of EO 119 is really meant to strengthen the technical
capability and financial viability of the EC's to be able to
operate and compete under a deregulated power industry. This is
not in any way means to get rid of the poor performing EC's.
Instead, this is meant to help them improve their performance to
be able to deliver better and efficient service to the
consumers. The bottom line here is the well being of the
electric consumers," Administrator Silva said.

"The condonation I am granting is conditional because in return
we now demand better services, reforms and the permanent
commitment to integrity and transparency. Some cooperatives are
complaining about the conditions set forth in EO 119, but my
answer is- strong institutions require strong discipline. And a
strong Philippine Republic requires institutions. We cannot have
wimps in an industry that is pivotal to global
competitiveness.As President, I would be working to condone
massive loans to the government without exacting a greater
public benefit in return," President Arroyo said during the
signing of the EO 119.   

Under the approved guidelines, well performing EC's with rating
of A+, A and B will be mandated to submit a PIP, which will lay
down the overall program that would further improve their
current performance against the identified key performance
indicators. These indicators include measures of efficiency,
profitability and reliability of service.   

Measures of profitability relate to the payment to power,
average collection efficiency and net margin. Measures of
efficiency and reliability of service, on the other hand, refer
to level of system loss and number of customer per employee,
among others.   

Under performing EC's with ratings of C, D, or E will be
required to submit an REP, and as warranted, comply with
disciplinary measures. The REP will be a detailed plan of action
that would address specific weakness and inefficiencies in the
operations to meet the established indicators.   

The PIP and REP that will be submitted on or before November 7
this year will be a detailed improvement plan that will be good
for 180 days. After which, the EC's will be required to submit a
five-year REP and PIP.


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


CHARTERED SEMICON: Stock Dives 86c on Share Overhang Fears
----------------------------------------------------------
Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing's stock fell to a record
low of 86 cents on Wednesday, down five cents or 5.5 percent,
amid fears of a huge share overhang following the substantial
under-subscription of its $1.1 billion rights issue, the
Business Times reports.

The stock plunge after revealing that just 4.1 percent of
shareholders other its parent Singapore Technologies had
subscribed to its 8-for-10 rights issue, the report said.

This left lead underwriter Merrill Lynch to mop up a massive
35.4 percent of the issue, or 393.2 million shares, which
analysts say will be hard to place out. Merrill is now left
holding 15.8 percent of Chartered.

Kim Eng Ong Asia's Dharmo Soejanto said overhang fears are
likely to cap the stock price in the short term unless Merrill
can place its shares with long-term strategic investors. As sub-
underwriters of the issue, United Overseas Bank, OCBC Bank and
DBS Bank will share some of the unwanted shares with Merrill,
analysts point out.

NetResearch-Asia analyst Russell Tan says Chartered needs to
generate free cash flow cumulatively in future, or its shares
could become worthless.

Daiwa Institute of Research is not expecting Chartered to be
profitable by the fourth quarter of 2003, after recently
downgrading its fourth quarter 2003 forecast from net profit of
US$56.9 million to a net loss of US$4.1 million. It also expects
Chartered to post net profit of just US$8.6 million in fiscal
year 2004, from its previous forecast of US$238.8 million.

"Being a negative free cash-flow Company, Chartered's long-term
competitiveness vis-a-vis its Taiwanese peers hinges on support
from the capital market and strategic alliances with leading
IDMs and foundry companies," analyst Pranab Sarmah said.

"We have heard of no market activity in the past three months
suggesting hope for a strategic alliance," he added.

DebtTraders reports that Chartered Semiconductor Mnfg's 2.500
percent convertible bond due in 2006 (CSM06SGN1) trades between
89 and 91. For real-time bond pricing, go to
http://www.debttraders.com/price.cfm?dt_sec_ticker=CSM06SGN1


FLEXTECH HOLDINGS: Posts Notice of Shareholder's Interest
---------------------------------------------------------
Flextech Holdings Limited posted a notice of changes in
substantial shareholder Au Sai Chuen's interest:

Date of notice to Company: 09 Oct 2002
Date of change of interest: 08 Oct 2002
Name of registered holder: Citibank Nominees (Singapore) Pte Ltd
Circumstance(s) giving rise to the interest: Sale initiated by
financial institution to meet obligations

Shares held in the name of registered holder
No. of shares of the change: 50,000
Percentage of issued share capital: 0.05
Amount of consideration per share excluding brokerage, GST,
stamp duties, clearing fee: S$0.10
No. of shares held before change: 16,864,493
Percentage of issued share capital: 15.49
No. of shares held after change: 16,814,493
Percentage of issued share capital: 15.44

Holdings of Director and Substantial Shareholder including
direct and deemed interest
                                    Deemed     Direct
No. of shares held before change:     0      16,864,493
Percentage of issued share capital:   0         15.49
No. of shares held after change:      0      16,814,493
Percentage of issued share capital:   0         15.44
Total shares:                         0      16,814,493

Other Interests

No. of Warrants:                         6,153,846

Note: The computation of the above percentage holding is based
on the issued and paid-up capital of S$16,327,047.60 divided
into 108,846,984 ordinary shares of S$0.15 each in the capital
of Flextech Holdings Limited as at 8 October 2002.

In August, TCR-AP reported that the shares of the Company
declined S$0.015 or 6.38 percent at a new all time low of 0.22
on concerns that it may have difficulties in raising funds to
meet debt payments.

Flextech Holdings will continue in its efforts towards raising
funds for additional working capital and further reduction of
bank borrowings.


NEPTUNE ORIENT: Considers Options for Tanker Division
-----------------------------------------------------
Following the withdrawal of the proposed listing of Neptune
Orient Lines (NOL)'s tanker division, American Eagle Tankers
(AET), various interested parties have approached the Company,
GK Goh reports.

NOL is accessing a range of alternatives, including maintaining
the status quo, a possible sale, merger, joint venture, initial
public offering or other transactions. Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) Flemming Jacobs anticipated that the review would be
completed within six months.

GK Goh said, NOL has always prefer to sell AET if there is an
offer at the right price.  Yet, in this market with weak tanker
rates, it is questionable whether the right price is the best
price. AET has been a good contributor to NOL; the Company has a
strong franchise in its own right and it has little debt. We
view selling it now as a poor move.

Moreover, because of the poor timing, the sale is set to give
rise to misconception that NOL might be cash strapped. We
maintain HOLD for NOL pending a labor settlement on the West
Coast. For investors with a longer-term view we remain
comfortable with a buy on the Company, the second half of 2002
will see extraordinary losses as a result of the interruption to
the goods flows, but the worst in the container shipping cycle
is behind us.

TCR-AP reported that Neptune Orient posted a loss of $56.6
million in 2001, compared with a record net income of $178.5
million in 2000, hurt by its container and logistics units. The
Company sees losses this year because of lower freight rates.

According to Deutsche Bank analyst Michael Sia, Neptune Orient
will continue to report losses in 2003 and 2004 because of
falling rates and overcapacity. He forecasts a $300 million loss
in 2003, and lower losses in 2004.


NEPTUNE ORIENT: Preparing to Clear West Coast Cargo Backlog
-----------------------------------------------------------
Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) welcomed news reports that ports on
the west coast of the United States looked set to reopen.

NOL's container shipping unit, APL, has eight vessels currently
waiting on the west coast, with another three due later this
week.

"We are currently working on recovery plans to get our network
back to normal as soon as possible once the terminals reopen
Wednesday evening on the west coast," President and CEO Flemming
Jacobs said today. "We are adding resources to our terminals in
Seattle, Oakland and Los Angeles, and will be operating around
the clock to do what we can to clear vessels and cargoes as
quickly as possible.

"All ships waiting will be handled as they arrived, so some of
our customers' cargo will be available relatively soon. However,
with the significant backlog of vessels overall, depending on
productivity levels it could be four to five weeks before our
schedules throughout are fully back to normal."

Mr Jacobs said current estimates of additional costs due to the
disruption and clearing and repositioning of vessels and
containers were in the order of US$9 to10 million. That could
possibly be impacted by delays to the turnaround of containers
and equipment in the US as a result of congestion, he said.

"We've been fortunate that our pre-planning has allowed us
generally to satisfy customer requirements in Asia and continue
to take bookings during the disruption, while of course exports
from the US have been held back," he said.
"However, we expect that as ports open, the export backlog will
soon push through."

"We are continuing to work with our customers to find ways to
minimize the disruption to their businesses," Mr Jacobs said.

For media inquiries, contact Sarah Lockie at telephone (65)
6371-5022 or via e-mail at sarah_lockie@nol.com.sg.


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


KRUNG THAI: Card Unit to Hold IPO Next Week
-------------------------------------------
Krung Thai Card PCL, a spinoff of state-owned Krung Thai Bank
PCL's credit card business, will sell 51 million shares in its
initial public offering between October 16 and 18, carrying a
par value of THB10 each.

Of the 51 million shares to be offered to the public, 50 million
will be new shares, while 1 million are existing shares.

The IPO is targeted to raise about THB500 million, bringing its
post IPO capital to THB1 billion, which will be divided in 100
million shares. It will also reduce Krung Thai Bank's stake in
the company to 49 percent.

The card unit said price range of the IPO shares has been set at
between THB19 and THB23. The final price will be released on
October 14.

Krung Thai Card's registered capital currently stands at THB50
million baht. Krung Thai Bank will inject another THB450 million
before the IPO.

In September, TCR-AP reported that Krung Thai Bank PCL, the
country's second-largest commercial bank, will likely resume
paying dividends next year after shareholders approved the
capital restructuring plan.

The restructuring will allow Krung Thai to repurchase 10.80
billion warrants from the Financial Institutions Development
Fund (FIDF), which currently controls some 87 percent of Krung
Thai, for 0.61 baht per unit, for a total of 6.59 billion baht.

Registered capital will be reduced by 108 billion baht to 111.96
billion through the cancellation of 10.8 billion unissued shares
reserved for the warrant exercise.

The bank will then reduce par value of shares to 5.15 baht from
10 baht, resulting in paid-up capital falling to 57.6 billion
baht.

Excess reserves and funds gained from the par value reduction
will be used to wipe out accumulated losses of 76 billion baht.

Krung Thai chairman Supachai Pisitvanich said following the
restructuring, accumulated losses would fall to only 84 million
baht.


TONGKAH HARBOUR: Announces Change in Address
--------------------------------------------
Bangkok-based Tongkah Harbour Public Company Limited (THL) said
in a Stock Exchange of Thailand disclosure that the company's
address has been changed from 33 Moo 5 Rachadapisek Road, Huay
Kwang Bangkok 10320 Thailand to 14 Rachadapisek Road, Huay Kwang
Bangkok 10320 Thailand.

THL, which is under rehabilitation, has operated off-shore tin
mining since 1980 and was granted mining lease for the period of
25 years in Phuket Bay, Bangtao Bay and Ao-Chalong Bay for the
total areas of 17,600 Rais.


TONGKAH HARBOUR: Reports Tin Mining Operating Result
----------------------------------------------------
Tongkah Harbour Public Company Limited director Prasit
Jarupokkul reported the tin mining production output for
September 2002:

                       Tin Ore Production Output
                            Unit : Kilograms  
                          September    September
                             2002         2001

Tin Ore Stock               12,000       12,600
Dredged during the period   28,140       45,480
Sold during the period     (26,400)     (38,400)
Balance - end of period     13,740       19,680




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

Troubled Company Reporter -- Asia Pacific is a daily newsletter
co-published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service, Inc., Trenton, NJ
USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington, DC USA. Lyndsey Resnick,
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Copyright 2002.  All rights reserved.  ISSN: 1520-9482.

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