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

      Wednesday, February 17, 1999, Vol. 2, No. 33

                    Headlines

* I N D O N E S I A *

ASTRA INTERNATIONAL: Sweetens offer in debt talks


* J A P A N *

MITSUBISHI MOTORS: Seeks a foreign partner
NIPPON CREDIT BANK: Ex-MOF head not aware of bad-loan sum


* M A L A Y S I A *

COMMERCE ASSET: Analysts see net loss at RM120-600m
PLUS: 93% of toll collected to go towards loan repayment


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

C&P HOMES: C&P reports PhP15.5-B liabilities
PHILIPPINE AIRLINES: Net loss doubles to $255m


* T H A I L A N D *

B-LAND: Results announcement
INTER FAREAST: Results announcement
PAN ASIA FOOTWEAR: Results announcement
SECURITIES ONE: Announces B5.62bn loss
SIAM CEMENT: Analysts praise restructuring

SYN MUN KONG INSURANCE: Results announcement
TYONG: Results announcement


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

ASTRA INTERNATIONAL: Sweetens offer in debt talks
-------------------------------------------------
Astra International, the Indonesian car maker, yesterday
said it had sweetened its offer in troubled negotiations on
restructuring $1.17bn in debt.

Astra proposed last week to add interest payments to an
earlier offer, including $25m in early instalments, and
increase the proportion of debt that would be repaid within
three years, as opposed to six years.

The company, which assembles cars with Toyota and a host of
other car makers, also raised an offer for an early debt
buy-back from 25 cents to 30 cents to the dollar, though it
cut the total amount available from $70m to $45m, to free
up $25m for interest payments.

Astra was among the most advanced in debt renegotiations
among Indonesian enterprises and the talks were seen as a
potential trendsetter. But its decision to halt interest
payments last autumn caused some Japanese creditors to
declare the company in default.

Rini Soewandi, Astra president director, said she had tried
to accommodate bankers who objected to the debt buy-back,
insisting on interest payments instead. She also pledged to
speed up asset sales, aiming to raise $115m by the end of
2000 and ease concerns that Astra was unwilling to
sacrifice profitable subsidiaries to save the core
business. (The Financial Times 16-Feb-1999)


=========
J A P A N  
=========

MITSUBISHI MOTORS: Seeks a foreign partner
------------------------------------------
Katsuhiko Kawasoe, president of Mitusbishi Motors, has told
the Financial Times he is actively seeing a foreign partner
for a "business relationship", and would allow a foreign
vehicles manufacturer to buy a controlling stake in the
company as part of its effort to return to profitability.

The group is already viewed as a possible target amid the
wave of consolidation in the global car and truck industry.

But it has more than $17.54bn in debts and these pose a
formidable obstacle to foreign suitors looking for a
foothold in the Japanese and Asian markets. This was one of
the reasons Mitsubishi had not entered talks about a
capital tie-up with a foreign car maker. (The Financial
Times 16-Feb-1999)


NIPPON CREDIT BANK: Ex-MOF head not aware of bad-loan sum
---------------------------------------------------------
Former Finance Minister Hikaru Matsunaga had no knowledge
of Nippon Credit Bank's (NCB) bad loans as of last March
when he approved an infusion of 60 billion yen of public
funds into the bank, the nation's top banking supervisor
said Tuesday. Financial Supervisory Agency (FSA)
Commissioner Masaharu Hino made the statement at the House
of Representatives Budget Committee. NCB was nationalized
last December after the FSA declared it insolvent.

Although the Finance Ministry's banking inspectors had
completed an examination of NCB books in September 1997 --
about six months prior to the panel's approval -- Matsunaga
was not informed by ministry officials of the specific
number of the bank's outstanding third-category loans, Hino
said. (Kyodo News 16-Feb-1999)


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

COMMERCE ASSET: Analysts see net loss at RM120-600m
---------------------------------------------------
Commerce Asset Holdings Bhd is expected to report shortly
a 1998 net loss of 120-600 million Malaysian ringgit
(S$53-$266 million) after a profit of RM180.72 million in
1997 due largely to heavy provisioning for bad loans,
analysts said.

The disparity in the projections reflects uncertainty over
the provisioning for Bank of Commerce's exposure of about
US$150-200 million (S$253-338 million) to Hottick
Investments and the general level of provisioning the
company will adopt.

For the six months to June, Commerce Asset reported a net
loss of RM51.50 million after a profit of RM166.52 million
a year earlier, with net interest income rising to RM386.32
million from RM269.34 million while loan loss provisions
increased to RM318.00 million from RM32.08 million.

A finance analyst at a foreign-based research house
projects a net loss of RM120 million. This assumes
provisions of 35 per cent for bad loans but does not
include provisions for exposure to Hottick Investments.

Bank of Commerce is expected to report a loss of RM96
million, she said. However, if provisions are applied for
Bank of Commerce's exposure to Hottick, the losses could be
far higher, she said, adding: "The thing is Maybank and RHB
Bank have provisioned already (against Hottick) and Bank
Bumiputra has as well." (AFX-Asia and Singapore Business
Times 16-Feb-1999)


PLUS: 93% of toll collected to go towards loan repayment
--------------------------------------------------------
Projek Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan Bhd (Plus) expects to
collect RM1.01bil in toll payments this year and of the
amount RM940mil or 93% will go towards repaying its bank
loan. Plus said that for every ringgit collected last year,
75 sen went toward repaying loan and 25 sen to maintain
highways.

The Plus statement followed objections from motorists to
the rise in toll rates from March 1.

"A big chunk of Plus' income goes to repay its bank loan
which is expected to be settled only in 2006," it said.

>From 2006, Plus would need to repay its RM3.5bil government
loan.

The company would be making profits only from 2012--24
years after it started its project. (Bernama and The Star
16-Feb-1999)


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

C&P HOMES: C&P reports PhP15.5-B liabilities
--------------------------------------------
Low-cost housing developer C&P Homes and its subsidiaries
reported 15.5 billion Philippine pesos (PhP) in total
liabilities. C&P said as of October last year, short-term
bank loans stood at PhP6.5 billion while long-term
commercial papers amounted to PhP3 billion. Foreign loans
totaled $150 million or PhP6 billion based on a PhP40-to-$1
exchange rate.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday,
C&P president Jerry Navarrete said the figure is the
updated debt-service obligations of the company.

C&P closed unchanged yesterday at 65 centavos per share.
There have been fears that the company might default on its
loan payments as interest rate on C&P's debts is pegged at
15% annually or 1.25% a month, about PhP175 million, a
BusinessWorld source said earlier.

The company reportedly started settling some debts to
creditor banks last year in kind.

Creditors have allowed extension in C&P's repayment term  
until December 1999 even as the company stopped paying
interest payments since November last year. (BusinessWorld
16-Feb-1999)


PHILIPPINE AIRLINES: Net loss doubles to $255m
----------------------------------------------
Philippine Airlines (PAL) said yesterday its net loss more
than doubled in the nine months to December, and announced
an asset sale and a roadshow to seek the support of
creditors for a plan to keep it flying. The loss rose 109
percent from a year earlier to 9.98 billion pesos ($255
million) in the nine months to December, PAL said in a
statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

PAL said its net loss in the three months to December alone
rose 50 percent from the previous year to 3.9 billion
pesos.

In its report to the SEC, the airline said it had continued
to suffer problems after a pilots' strike in June which led
to the airline shutting down for 13 days in September.

PAL's revenues in the first nine months of its fiscal year
fell 44 percent to 14.81 billion pesos ($379 million) while
its expenses contracted 41 percent to 16.73 billion pesos.

PAL, the nation's flag-carrier and Asia's oldest airline,
uses a fiscal year that ends in March.

In a letter to PAL staffers yesterday, officials of the
airline announced several measures including a meeting with
major foreign creditors in the United States, Paris and
Hong Kong over the next two weeks to seek their support for
a new rehabilitation plan.

PAL remains saddled with a debt of more than $2 billion.

Its creditors rejected an initial recovery plan submitted
by the airline in December and PAL is trying to forge a new
plan by March 15. In their meetings with European credit
agencies and the US Export-Import Bank, PAL will get
"initial feedback" on the viability of the new
rehabilitation plan, the letter said.

The airline also said it was selling off its "maintenance
and engineering base" which would include a hangar, a base
facility and an engine shop "because we need the money".

"We are at present talking to several airlines and airline-
related companies" about a possible sale, PAL said, adding
that the engineering base, with a capacity to handle 50-
plus aircraft, was "our most marketable asset".

The letter did not say how much it would sell the
facilities for but local newspapers have quoted officials
as saying it would go for $250 million. (Agence France-
Presse and Business Day [Thailand] 16-Feb-1999)


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

B-LAND: Results announcement
----------------------------
Property companies Bangkok Land (B-LAND) and Tanayong
(TYONG), both majority-owned by the Kanchanapas family, are
still running in the red as the sluggish property market
hampers their ability to generate adequate sales to cover
costs, analysts said.

B-LAND, the bigger brother, posted a loss of about 4.2
billion baht in the nine months ended December 31, 1998,
down from the huge loss of 18 billion baht a year earlier.
Most of the reduced loss stemmed from currency gains during
April and December, in which the baht strengthened by about
a quarter.

Meanwhile, TYONG reported to the Stock Exchange of Thailand
(SET) yesterday that it saw a loss of 404 million baht
during the nine-month period ended December 31, 1998, down
from a loss of 7.6 billion baht in the same period of 1997.

"We still do not recommend investing in either TYONG or B-
LAND stocks," an analyst at a local brokerage house said.

"They are likely to continue to lose."

Aside from a large oversupply in the property market, the
two developers are said to have a debt burden of as large
as 30 to 40 billion baht. Their interest burden will bar
both companies from returning to profit for a few years to
come, unless the borrowing conditions are softened.
(Business Day [Thailand] 16-Feb-1999)


INTER FAREAST: Results announcement
-----------------------------------
Inter Fareast Pcl reported quarterly results for the period
ending December 31, 1998 as a net loss of Bt51m, which
compares to a loss of Bt96m for the corresponding 1997
period. (Stock Exchange of Thailand 16-Feb-1999)        


PAN ASIA FOOTWEAR: Results announcement
---------------------------------------
Pan Asia Footwear Pcl reported quarterly results for the
period ending December 31, 1998 as a net loss of Bt19m,
which compares to a loss of Bt169m for the corresponding
1997 period. (Stock Exchange of Thailand 16-Feb-1999)


SECURITIES ONE: Announces B5.62bn loss
--------------------------------------   
Securities One yesterday announced a loss of 5.62 billion
baht loss for 1998, due mainly to writeoffs of bad debt and
investment losses.

The company had an operating profit of 558.8 million baht
for the year, with 277.3 million coming in the fourth
quarter. Total revenue for 1998 was 1.65 billion baht.
Securities One took a loss of 2.11 billion baht for bad
debt and doubtful accounts, and a loss of 3.67 billion baht
on securities investments. Another 399.4-million-baht loss
came from equity losses in subsidiaries and affiliated
companies.

The company said its financial position had improved, with
its debt-to-equity ratio improving to 1.2 times as of
January compared with 1.5 at the end of 1998, after the
exercise of 67.7 million warrants.

Securities One is the country's largest brokerage, with a
10.12% market share.

The book value of the company was 1.6 billion in January,
with liquid assets of 1.01 billion. The firm's net capital
ratio as of January 29 was 48.9%.

A general shareholders' meeting is scheduled for March 29.
The registration book to attend the meeting will be closed
on March 12. (Bangkok Post 16-Feb-1999)


SIAM CEMENT: Analysts praise restructuring
------------------------------------------
Building materials and chemicals group Siam Cement is
refocusing on its core businesses in a restructuring
exercise that most analysts think will add value to the
blue chip company.

"They are trimming their fat to become stronger players in
their field in the future," said Marc Lavoie, building
analyst at Asset Plus Securities.

Siam Cement, 36 percent owned by the Thai Royal family's
Crown Property Bureau investment arm, now has consolidated
assets estimated at up to 320 billion baht ($8.65 billion).

Lavoie expects total assets to be reduced to around 278
billion baht by the year 2002 after the restructuring.

Before the restructuring plan was announced at the end of
last year, many analysts estimated Siam Cement's fair value
at less than 200 baht per share. Key to the company's
restructuring is its treatment of its debt, which analysts
estimate at about 192.4 billion baht. The debts have
ballooned as a result of massive foreign exchange losses
since the devaluation of the baht in mid-1997. (Reuters and
Business Day [Thailand] 16-Feb-1999)


SYN MUN KONG INSURANCE: Results announcement
--------------------------------------------
Syn Mun Kong Insurance Pcl reported quarterly results for
the period ending December 31, 1999 as a net loss of
Bt35.7m, which compares to a loss of Bt32m for the
corresponding 1997 period. (Stock Exchange of Thailand
16-Feb-1999)


TYONG: Results announcement
---------------------------
Property companies Bangkok Land (B-LAND) and Tanayong
(TYONG), both majority-owned by the Kanchanapas family, are
still running in the red as the sluggish property market
hampers their ability to generate adequate sales to cover
costs, analysts said.

B-LAND, the bigger brother, posted a loss of about 4.2
billion baht in the nine months ended December 31, 1998,
down from the huge loss of 18 billion baht a year earlier.
Most of the reduced loss stemmed from currency gains during
April and December, in which the baht strengthened by about
a quarter.

Meanwhile, TYONG reported to the Stock Exchange of Thailand
(SET) yesterday that it saw a loss of 404 million baht
during the nine-month period ended December 31, 1998, down
from a loss of 7.6 billion baht in the same period of 1997.

"We still do not recommend investing in either TYONG or B-
LAND stocks," an analyst at a local brokerage house said.

"They are likely to continue to lose."

Aside from a large oversupply in the property market, the
two developers are said to have a debt burden of as large
as 30 to 40 billion baht. Their interest burden will bar
both companies from returning to profit for a few years to
come, unless the borrowing conditions are softened.
(Business Day [Thailand] 16-Feb-1999)


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

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