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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      

      Friday, March 12, 1999, Vol. 2, No. 50

                    Headlines


* C H I N A   &   H O N G   K O N G *

AWT HOLDINGS: IBA seeks wind-up order against AWT
CATHAY PACIFIC: Loss is first in 35 years
GUANGDONG INTERNATIONAL: Ex-officers under investigation
GUANGZHOU INTERNATIONAL: Sets talks with creditors
SHOP CLOTHING: Creditors push Theme unit into liquidation


* I N D O N E S I A *

PT DHARMALA: IFC may seek review of bankruptcy decision
SALIM GROUP: Selling to bail out its prized BCA


* J A P A N *

NIKON CORP: Sees 67% bigger loss
NISSAN MOTOR: Rejection leaves Nissan red-faced


* K O R E A *

DAEWOO GROUP: Newbridge says indebted groups are bankrupt
HALLA GROUP: Halla gets bridge loan to pay debts
SK GROUPS: Newbridge says indebted groups are bankrupt
SSANGYONG GROUP: Aramco unlikely to save Ssangyong


* M A L A Y S I A *

MBF HOLDINGS BHD: Revises debt restructuring plan
RENONG: PLUS creditors yet to agree to Renong deal


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

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES: PAL on Y2K bug
STANFORD RESOURCES: Developer applies for debt relief


* S I N G A P O R E *

FALMAC: In talks to restructure $21m credit facilities
HK LAND: Net profit dives 67%


* T H A I L A N D *

KASET THAI SUGAR: Assassin kills Deloitte man in Thailand
PROPERTY PERFECT: Negative equity may trigger delisting


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

AWT HOLDINGS: IBA seeks wind-up order against AWT
-------------------------------------------------
According to the South China Morning Post, AWT Holdings was
hit yesterday by a bankruptcy petition filed by
International Bank of Asia (IBA) after allegedly failing to
repay HK$18 million in loans.

AWT shares were suspended for trading at the request of the
company pending a statement on the bankruptcy petition.

An IBA spokesman said the petition was aimed at collecting
the unpaid loan. The spokesman said the bank was not in an
ideal position to negotiate repayment with AWT as there is
much disruption going on.

IBA had already taken over a commercial property put up as
collateral for the loans by AWT.

AWT last month said it was seeking to delay settling
HK$189.9 million in outstanding claims.

This week it reported an unaudited attributable loss of
HK$457.68 million for the year to March 31 last year, a
fivefold increase from the previous corresponding period.
It had postponed the announcement of the result three
times.

A further attributable loss of HK$34.41 million was made in
the six months to Sept 30, on turnover of HK$191.70
million, 45.8 per cent and 38.7 per cent respectively lower
than a year earlier.

According to the Hong Kong Standard, AWT was listed in Feb
1993. It engages in air freight forwarding, property
investment and agency as well as household and business
removals. The company was in serious financial difficulties
in late 1997.

AWT said in a statement that IBA issued a letter on March 6
demanding an immediate payment of $1.25 million which AWT
was unable to pay.

AWT's total liabilities as of Monday this week stood at
$190.3 million, including $19.1 million that it has to
repay to IBA and $125.4 million in bank credit facilities
that have been secured with properties.

AWT's chairman, David Leung Tze-hang said negotiations were
still going on for the sale of its property in Kwun Tong
which is at present being used for the company's freight
forwarding operations.

Mr Leung expressed confidence in solving the firm's
financial problems.


CATHAY PACIFIC: Loss is first in 35 years
-----------------------------------------
Hit by the full impact of the Asian financial crisis,
Cathay Pacific Airways yesterday reported its first full-
year loss in 35 years.

Peppering his remarks with words like "sad", "depressing"
and "disappointing", Cathay chairman Peter Sutch reported a
loss of HK$542 million (S$121.1 million) for the year ended
Dec 31, 1998, and warned that no significant improvement
was expected for the current year.

The loss, which was the first since 1963, was due mainly to
exceptional items worth HK$869 million which wiped out an
operating profit of HK$397 million.

Analysts' forecasts were in a wide range as the amount of
losses were highly dependent on whether the airline was
going to make huge provisions for its retired aircraft last
year.

Predictions of the losses ranged from HK$350 million to as
high as HK$768 million while the consensus estimate,
according to The Estimate Directory, was HK$378.5 million.

Cathay earned HK$1.69 billion in 1997.

Cathay said the disappointing results reflected the full
impact of the Asian financial downturn on the company's
operations. The widespread economic weakness saw reductions
in both passenger loads and yields.

Turnover fell 12.7 per cent to HK$26.7 billion from HK$30.6
billion while operating profit fell 84 per cent to HK$327
million from HK$2.04 billion. (Singapore Business Times
11-Mar-1999)


GUANGDONG INTERNATIONAL: Ex-officers under investigation
--------------------------------------------------------
Several former senior officials at China's failed Guangdong
International Trust and Investment Corp (GITIC) are being
investigated for possible corruption, a government official
was quoted as saying.

"We had found signs of the problem before the closure of
GITIC," Wang Qishan, executive vice governor of the
southern province of Guangdong, was quoted as saying in the
March edition of the Securities Market Weekly magazine.

"Some high-level managers are under legal investigation,"
Wang said in an interview with the magazine seen by Reuters
on Wednesday. He did not identify them.

The magazine said in a separate report that GITIC's former
president Huang Yantian was detained by authorities in
autumn last year. It gave no specific date.

Wang, who is in charge of the province's financial sector,
was quoted by the magazine as saying the authorities had
also launched an investigation into other troubled
financial firms. (Reuters and Business Day [Thailand]
11-Mar-1999)


GUANGZHOU INTERNATIONAL: Sets talks with creditors
--------------------------------------------------
The Hong Kong Standard reports on Gzitic's appointment of
PricewaterhouseCoopers as it financial adviser and the
creditors meeting scheduled or next Wednesday, March 17.

According to the report, a creditor said that it would be
too soon for PricewaterhouseCoopers to be able to present a
debt restructuring proposal, even though the meeting had
been put back a week from the originally planned March 10.

Sources said the meeting would lay out a blueprint of what
the banks could expect going forward, as the financial
adviser was still in the process of gathering information.

Gzitic's own accounting shows that the company has total
assets of 20 billion yuan against liabilities of 19 billion
yuan.

Bankers said creditors of Gzitic and its Hong Kong unit
Guangzhou Finance Co. had a meeting in Hong Kong last
Friday in which the banks proposed sending a letter to
Gzitic and the Guangzhou government, with copies to the
central bank.


SHOP CLOTHING: Creditors push Theme unit into liquidation
---------------------------------------------------------
According to the South China Morning Post, the court
yesterday ordered that Shop Clothing, a subsidiary of Theme
International Holdings, be liquidated under the supervision
of the courts.

Legal action had been launched by five subsidiaries of
conglomerate Wharf (Holdings) since November last year to
wind up Shop Clothing amid debts of $575,185 due. The five
companies -- Charris, Mullein, Wettersley, Bright Smart and
Excellent Base -- owned the Plaza Hollywood shopping
complex in Tze Wan Shan, home of a Theme outlet up to
August 3 last year.

Theme International Holdings recently posted a $106.05
million net loss for the six months to September 30, citing
poor sales and high rental costs.

The company suffered a wave of lawsuits over the past six
months, claiming $11 million in unpaid rent.

According to the Hong Kong Standard, the directors of the
debtor believed voluntary winding-up would serve the best
interest of both creditors and contributories as this could
avoid cumbersome procedures and save expenses.

The directors of the debtor had already scheduled an
extraordinary general meeting on Monday to pass a
resolution to wind up the debtor voluntarily  and a
creditors' meeting was also scheduled for the same day.

However the judge noted that there were some questions
relating to the proposed voluntary winding-up. First, it
seemed the resolution proposed was a members' voluntary
winding up rather than a creditor' voluntary winding up.
Second, the notice of the meeting is "inadequate" because a
21-day notice is required for a special resolution.

The judge said the court has the discretion to make an
order to wind up the debtor under the Companies Ordinance
and declared the debtor insolvent.


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

PT DHARMALA: IFC may seek review of bankruptcy decision
-------------------------------------------------------
The Asian Wall Street Journal reports that the
International Finance Corporation (IFC) is considering
asking for a judicial review of the Indonesian Supreme
Court previous rejection of an appeal by the creditors
of PT Dharmala Agrifood Company to declare it bankrupt.  

This appeal was originally filed after the Jakarta
commercial court last December threw out a bankruptcy
petition by the IFC, as well as similar motions by PT ING
Indonesia Bank and PT Bank Niaga.  

The IFC petition was filed after Dharmala, a producer of
animal feed, failed to repay loans valued at 16.04 billion
rupiah and $51.7 million.

However, the court rejected the petition saying that the
IFC and ING loans had not yet fallen due, a prerequisite
for a bankruptcy claim. A similar petition by the Bank
Niaga was rejected since the court ruled that this loan was
actually a derivative contract to cover foreign-currency
risks, and therefore not a true loan agreement.

The reports state that the creditors involved all insist
that the loans had been due earlier in 1998.

The International Finance Corporation is the private
financing arm of the World Bank.


SALIM GROUP: Selling to bail out its prized BCA
-----------------------------------------------
Indonesia's largest and once most politically-connected     
conglomerate, the Salim group, is selling parts of its vast     
business empire in the region to raise cash to bail out its
crippled Bank Central Asia (BCA), industry sources told BT.

The group, controlled by Liem Sioe Liong, a close confidant
of former president Suharto and Indonesia's most prominent
Chinese businessman, has stakes in a large number of
companies in Singapore, Hongkong and China.

But BCA is the jewel in the crown and Mr Liem is reluctant
to let it go, said one Jakarta analyst. "The question now
is which businesses they least want to keep and which will
fetch the best price."

The bank, taken over by the government following a run on
it, has not been put on the list of banks to be closed
under its banking recapitalisation plan.

Salim needs to raise US$4 billion over the next three years
to repay the government for the liquidity support it
extended to BCA last May.

Three foreign banks including Deutsche Bank, ING Baring and
ABN Amro plus Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei are
believed to have expressed interest in buying up the 30 per
cent held by the Suharto children.

Banking sources told BT that the group is still negotiating
with the government to hammer out a deal which will allow
it to retain its majority shareholding in BCA. The
government effectively took over the management of BCA last
May, but has not made any announcement as to whether it
will close the country's largest private bank or find a
foreign investor to inject fresh liquidity. (Singapore
Business Times 11-Mar-1999)


=========
J A P A N  
=========

NIKON CORP: Sees 67% bigger loss
--------------------------------
Nikon Corp, the world's largest maker of steppers used to      
etch a microchip's circuitry onto silicon wafers, said it
will expand its group loss forecast by about two-thirds for
the year ending March 31 on capital-spending cuts by
computer chipmakers.

Spokesman Takeo Nishigaki said the company's group net loss
and parent net loss will widen "about the same rate".

Nikon's parent net loss forecast will grow to 10 billion
yen (S$142 million), the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported,
without citing sources. That would be 66 per cent larger
than its previous forecast, revised in September.

Based on Mr Nishigaki's statement, Nikon's net loss will
likely grow to 20 billion yen from the previous forecast
revision of a 12 billion yen loss. The company in September
forecast sales of 340 billion yen, down 8.1 per cent from
its initial projection. (Bloomberg and Singapore Business
Times 11-Mar-1999)


NISSAN MOTOR: Rejection leaves Nissan red-faced
-----------------------------------------------
Rejection by DaimlerChrysler comes as a deep embarrassment
for Nissan Motor, Japan's second largest carmaker and proud
icon of Japanese manufacturing prowess. The group will now
have to pick up the pieces and try to find another partner
or come up with its own recovery plan.

Not only is Nissan staring at another year of losses -- it
is forecasting Y30bn in group net losses in the year to
March -- but it also has a mountain of debt that must be
reduced if the group is to remain competitive.

Renault, which analysts believe is seeking a controlling
33.4 percent stake, yesterday shed little light on the
state of its talks. (The Financial Times 11-Mar-1999)


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

DAEWOO GROUP: Newbridge says indebted groups are bankrupt
---------------------------------------------------------
The Korea Herald reported that the US buyers of the Korea
First Bank (KFB) are demanding that the bank's equity be
estimated based on each debtor's ability to repay, in
accordance with standard international practice.

Additionally, the US financial consortium led by Newbridge
Capital and GE-Capital is insisting on the inclusion of the
debt-to-equity ratios of each client as a major factor in
evaluating KFB loans. The US purchasers of KFB consider
clients with debt-to-equity rations greater than 200
percent to be bankrupt. Furthermore, the Americans want
loans on which no interest has be paid for three months are
to be categorized as non-performing.  

The KFB is the main creditor of the Daewoo and SK groups.  
Newspaper reports have listed the end of 1998 debt to
equity ratio of the Daewoo Group as 306 percent, and that
of the SK group as 378 percent.

Early this year, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC)
announced that the government (which had held a 93.75
percent stake in the KFB) exchanged a memorandum of
understanding with this US consortium for acquisition of a
controlling 51 percent stake in the Korea First Bank.  

The article stated that the FSC is arguing that such a
position by the consortium cannot be accepted considering
the local business practice. An FSC official was cited as
saying that he can only interpret these demands as meaning
that the US consortium has no serious intention of  
completing this deal.


HALLA GROUP: Halla gets bridge loan to pay debts
------------------------------------------------
The Korean Times reported that the Halla Group has received
$345 million, the first part of a $1 billion loan from
Rothschild Inc., that will be used to pay off the debts of
some of its subsidiaries. This money will reportedly be
used to immediately pay off all of the debts Halla Cement
and 48 percent of the debts of Halla Engineering and Heavy
Industries Company.

However, the article reported that Halla may still miss a
March 15 deadline to pay off the debts of its subsidiaries.  
This deadline was part of an agreement with some creditors
in exchange for writing of other accounts.

Rothschild, a leading American fund manager, provided this
loan in return for an agreement by Halla to sell off some
of its subsidiaries debt free to foreign investors. Halla
has raised additional funds on its own by selling Halla
Pulp and Paper, Halla Climate Control, Halla Euro, and
Camco. Halla is also seeking buyers for its real estate and
some of assets of Mando Machinery Company and Halla
Engineering and Heavy Industries Company.

Receivership proceedings last November indicated that the
total debt of four large Halla affiliates (Halla
Engineering & Heavy Industries, Mando Machinery, Halla
Cement, and Halla Construction) was 6.1894 trillion won.
Creditors reportedly agreed to write off as much as 51
percent of Halla Engineering & Heavy Industries Company
Halla went bankrupt last year under the huge debts of Halla
Engineering & Heavy Industries Company.


SK GROUPS: Newbridge says indebted groups are bankrupt
------------------------------------------------------
The Korea Herald reported that the US buyers of the Korea
First Bank (KFB) are demanding that the bank's equity be
estimated based on each debtor's ability to repay, in
accordance with standard international practice.

Additionally, the US financial consortium led by Newbridge
Capital and GE-Capital is insisting on the inclusion of the
debt-to-equity ratios of each client as a major factor in
evaluating KFB loans. The US purchasers of KFB consider
clients with debt-to-equity rations greater than 200
percent to be bankrupt. Furthermore, the Americans want
loans on which no interest has be paid for three months are
to be categorized as non-performing.  

The KFB is the main creditor of the Daewoo and SK groups.  
Newspaper reports have listed the end of 1998 debt to
equity ratio of the Daewoo Group as 306 percent, and that
of the SK group as 378 percent.

Early this year, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC)
announced that the government (which had held a 93.75
percent stake in the KFB) exchanged a memorandum of
understanding with this US consortium for acquisition of a
controlling 51 percent stake in the Korea First Bank.  

The article stated that the FSC is arguing that such a
position by the consortium cannot be accepted considering
the local business practice. An FSC official was cited as
saying that he can only interpret these demands as meaning
that the US consortium has no serious intention of  
completing this deal.


SSANGYONG GROUP: Aramco unlikely to save Ssangyong
--------------------------------------------------
A report on the South China Morning Post said that a plan
by Ssangyong Group to sell its stake in its oil refiner has
stalled as the strongest potential buyer, Saudi Aramco
appears to be uninterested, according to analysts.

An official at the Commerce, Industry and Energy Ministry
said the talks between Ssangyong Oil Refining and Aramco
were still going on about options to sell a stake in the
joint venture.

Analysts, however, were skeptical as Aramco's only interest
in Ssangyong Oil is to sell Ssangyong crude oil for 20
years under their contract, and the financial status of
crude oil exporters doesn't look good.

Aramco, the world's largest oil producer, has denied it
plans to increase its holding in Ssangyong from its present
35 per cent stake.

Lee Sang-chun, a spokesman for Ssangyong Group's flagship
Ssangyong Cement Industrial, yesterday said talks with
Aramco had not ended. A day earlier, he denied Ssangyong
would be the Korean refiner in which Energy Minister Park
Tae-young said Aramco planned to invest US$500 million.

Cash-hungry Ssangyong put its 28.4 per cent stake in the
refiner up for sale in September in a desperate bid to help
the group stay afloat.

Mr Lee said Ssangyong had contacted three or four foreign
possible contenders including United States oil refiners
and one or two domestic companies.

Analysts said international firms remained uninterested in
Korean refiners as they are too expensive and the market is
too restrictive.


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

MBF HOLDINGS BHD: Revises debt restructuring plan
-------------------------------------------------
The Asian Wall Street Journal reports that MBf Holdings
Bhd., one of Malaysia's largest finance companies with
interest in property, motor-vehicle distribution, and
education, is revising its debt restructuring plan. This
revised plan includes a reduction and consolidation of
share capital, a reduction in share premium and the issuing
of warrants. This action will result in a credit of 383.6
million ringgit, which will be used to reduce the company's
audited accumulated losses at the end of 1998.  

MBf Holdings received court protection from its creditors
in July of last year. At that time newspapers reported that
the firm had loans totaling more than 1.5 billion ringgit.  


RENONG: PLUS creditors yet to agree to Renong deal
--------------------------------------------------
The creditors of toll road operator PLUS -- which is       
essentially financing the new restructuring exercise of       
debt-laden Renong and associate United Engineers Malaysia
-- have not endorsed the rescue plan yet.

An official of Credit Suisse First Boston, which is the
adviser to Renong, told BT that PLUS creditors will be
given the detailed proposal by the end of this month or in
April.

He expressed confidence that the lenders, who are owed 7.5
billion Malaysian ringgit (S$3.4 billion) for the
construction of the 840km North-South Expressway in the
1980s, would not reject the fresh proposal to help retire
RM8.4 billion of debts chalked up by Renong and UEM.

"They will get what they are entitled to," the CSFB
official said.

However, analysts said there could be a minor glitch.

PLUS -- fully owned by UEM -- will experience a shortfall
in its projected cashflow between 2003 and 2005 due to a
new toll structure agreed with the government in exchange
for an extension to the concession period.

In order to placate disgruntled motorists during a crucial
election year, the Malaysian government slashed future toll
rates and extended the lifespan of the privatised
expressway by 12 years.

The green light from PLUS creditors is paramount in the new
Renong revamp. This is because the new plan requires PLUS
to raise RM8.41 billion through a bond issue to settle
Renong's debts of RM5.45 billion and UEM's loans of RM2.96
billion. All lenders of UEM will receive full repayment in
cash. Renong's secured creditors will get cash while its
unsecured lenders will get half of the loans in cash and
the rest in Plus bonds. (Singapore Business Times
11-Mar-1999)


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

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES: PAL on Y2K bug
-----------------------------------
Troubled Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) has asked the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve  
disbursement of  6.21 million Philippine pesos for its        
purchase of computer software updates to address the
millenium bug problem. PAL asked for the disbursement in
favor of computer software firm Oracle Systems
(Philippines), Inc. The firm has installed the necessary  
software to adjust PAL's computers to be able to cope with
the millennium bug expected to cause havoc on database-
dependent systems. (BusinessWorld 11-Mar-1999)


STANFORD RESOURCES: Developer applies for debt relief
-----------------------------------------------------
Real-estate developer Stanford Resources and Development
Corp. has filed for debt relief with the Securities and  
Exchange Commission (SEC) for obligations amounting to
967.7 million Philippine pesos (PhP).

In its motion, Standord said it asked for the temporary
suspension of its debt payments as it is currently
experiencing cash flow problems. It said most of the
liabilities it has incurred, both secured and unsecured,
"have matured and the others are fast maturing."

The real-estate firm said its operations are still viable
since the regional crisis has already bottomed out. It said
it has more assets than liabilities. As of December 1998,
the firm said its assets stand at PhP1.52 billion.

Stanford said as part of its efforts to solve its problems,
it entered into a joint venture agreement with construction
firm D.M Consunji, Inc. to help it finance and finish one
of its projects, the Diamond Bay Towers in Manila. It also
plans to sell some its properties to be able to raise cash
to finish the project.

Stanford said its problems started when the currency crisis
swept through the region. In particular, it said its sales
drastically went down due to high interest rates stemming
from the peso's devaluation against the dollar.
(BusinessWorld 11-Mar-1999)


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

FALMAC: In talks to restructure $21m credit facilities
------------------------------------------------------
Sesdaq-listed Falmac has joined the growing list of
Singapore companies crippled by a cash crunch.

The knitting machine maker yesterday said it is negotiating
with "several lenders" to restructure existing credit
facilities totalling $21.4 million. The company did not
name the lenders.

The facilities will be repaid by quarterly payments of not
less than $500,000 which will go to the lenders on a pro
rata basis. The minimum amounts may be increased annually
with the agreement of all parties having regards to the
company's cashflow forecast.

The repayment dates will fall on the last day of each
calendar quarter, beginning with March 31, 1999. After the
first four repayment dates, the dates may be varied
annually with the agreement of all the parties.

A debenture over the company's assets and a legal mortgage
over its property at Penjuru Lane will be executed in
favour of the lenders.

Falmac undertakes to distribute the net proceeds from the
sale of properties in China to the lenders on a pro rata
basis.

The lenders will not enforce the existing facilities, take
any action to wind up the company or revise the terms of
any existing facilities unless a default has occurred under
the terms of the restructuring agreement. (Singapore
Business Times 11-Mar-1999)


HK LAND: Net profit dives 67%
-----------------------------
Hit by sharply lower rents and plunging property values,      
Singapore-listed Hongkong Land Holdings yesterday      
reported a 67 per cent drop in net earnings last year.

The property arm of the Jardine Matheson group said net
profit last year plunged to US$126 million (S$218 million),
down from US$392 million after it made provisions of about
US$248 million for its developmental properties and other
property and infrastructure investments in South-east Asia.
Provisions against developmental properties totalled US$190
million while other asset provisions and write-offs
amounted to US$57.6 million. (Singapore Business Times
11-Mar-1999)


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

KASET THAI SUGAR: Assassin kills Deloitte man in Thailand
---------------------------------------------------------
A senior partner working in the Thai office of accountants
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu was shot dead yesterday in an
apparent professional assassination.

Michael I. Wansley, 58, a partner with the firm in
Australia based in Melbourne, was sitting in a van in
central Nakorn Sawan province when he was shot between six
and eight times by a gunman riding pillion on a motorcycle,
a common tactic of hired killers in Thailand. The other
three people in the van, all Thais, were unhurt, police
said. He was travelling to visit a sugar company whose
court-supervised debt restructuring he was appointed to
oversee.

Mr Wansley is the first foreign executive to be murdered
since the Asian economic crisis began in Thailand, where
violent settlements to business disputes are common. The
killing comes as anti-foreign sentiment, particularly in
relationship to bankruptcy and insolvency, is heating up in
the country ahead of a crucial vote tomorrow in the Senate
on a new bankruptcy bill that would give creditors more
power to seize Thai companies.

"At the moment it's too early to come to a conclusion
[about the motive for the shooting.] But we will look
closely to see if there was a business conflict. It's
possible some people felt threatened by the restructuring,"
a regional police spokesman told Reuters.

News of the killing threw Bangkok's foreign consulting
community, recently bolstered by the arrival of scores of
restructuring experts and forensic accountants, into
confusion. The firm's partners are assembling in Bangkok to
discuss the situation.

Mr Wansley was assigned by creditor banks to plan the
restructuring of three related sugar mill companies owned
by the Siriviriyakul family [Kaset Thai Sugar, Ruamphol
Enterprise and Thai Identity Sugar]. They have a combined
debt of about $450m which is in arrears.

In a January interview, Mr Wansley said the likely option
for the mills was to find a new investor to pump in capital
-- Australian sugar refiners, among others, have been
looking at acquisition in Thailand -- a move which he
recognized would lead to existing shareholders seeing their
holdings reduced considerably. A final restructuring plan
was due to be presented to the court in mid-April.

In recent days senior members of Thailand's political
establishment have made violent comments about foreigners
and their attempts to acquire Thai companies via
strengthened bankruptcy laws. (The Financial Times
11-Mar-1999)


PROPERTY PERFECT: Negative equity may trigger delisting
-------------------------------------------------------
Heavily indebted property developer, Property Perfect's
(PERFECT) stock is facing a possible delisting as the
firm's 1998 financial results produced a negative
shareholders' equity.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), on Friday stunned the
market when it announced the possible delisting of 15
stocks.

According to the amended delisting regulation which was
implemented since June 1998, the SET will apply delisting
rules on listed firms only in the cases in which auditors
present a qualified opinion pointing to the company having
a negative shareholders' equity, or when the situation is
indicated in the company's financial statement.

However, if a company recorded a loss incurred from
unrealized foreign exchange loss, the SET would allows it
not to deduct the loss from the shareholders' equity
portion.

Perfect in 1998 posted a loss of 3.71 billion baht,
compared with 5.44 billion baht loss in the previous year.

Perfect's shares were suspended yesterday, persuant to SET
rules, and will be placed under Rehabilitation Sector
(Rehabco) on March 15 before resuming trading on April 16,
after one month suspension.

However, Perfect's shares will be suspended again on May 18
until the company's rehabilitation plan is proven
successful.

To avoid delisting, the company has to appoint an
independent financial advisor to prepare a rehabilitation
plan which would have to be submitted to Perfect's
shareholder meeting for approval within four months from
the date of notice received from the SET on July 12.

Perfect is struggling to restructure its 10 billion baht
debts by appointing JP Morgan to conduct negotiation with
the company's creditors.

The company is approaching foreign investors to invest in
it, using a similar approach to the the one adopted by
Golden Land Property and Sansiri.

However, it is difficult for PERFECT to follow their
footsteps because foreign investors do not want to invest
in a low-rise house property developer, analysts said.
(Business Day [Thailand] 11-Mar-1999)


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., Princeton, NJ USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington,
DC USA.  Debra Brennan and Lexy Mueller, Editors.

Copyright 1999.  All rights reserved.  ISSN: 1520-9482.  

This material is copyrighted and any commercial use,
resale or publication in any form (including e-mail
forwarding, electronic re-mailing and photocopying) is
strictly prohibited without prior written permission of
the publishers.  Information contained herein is obtained
from sources believed to be reliable, but is not
guaranteed.

The TCR -- Asia Pacific subscription rate is $575 for 6
months delivered via e-mail. Additional e-mail
subscriptions for members of the same firm for the term of
the initial subscription or balance thereof are $25 each.
For subscription information, contact Christopher Beard at
301/951-6400.

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