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19900
19850
19800
19750
August 27
HSI - Movers Name
Gaming table U-turn mystifies operators J
ust days after the government confirmed the introduction of a new method for counting poker and mahjong tables the proposal has been dropped. The new method would create leeway for operators to add more live gaming tables. According to sources heard by Business Daily, the public acknowledgement of the new measure was not well received by top officials, which feared that Beijing would come knocking to collect on Macau’s political commitment to keep tables under the 5,500 cap until 2013. Authorities were quick to publish a statement in Chineselanguage Macao Daily News yesterday denying that the new method of counting had ever been applied.
Soon after, casino operators began receiving calls from the gaming regulator, warning them that poker and mahjong privileges would go back to square one. Sources among gaming operators said they were mystified by the about-face, stressing that poker and mahjong have little value for casinos but could help attract a different type of gamblers to Macau. Sands China Ltd, which had planned to invest in developing poker, might now remove poker altogether from casinos, while Wynn Macau Ltd has stopped plans to change the layout of its gaming floors, sources told Business Daily. More on page 2
%Day
CHINA PETROLEU-H
3.35
BELLE INTERNATIO
1.39
TINGYI HLDG CO
0.89
WHARF HLDG
0.81
CHEUNG KONG
0.75
CHINA COAL ENE-H
-1.89
HANG LUNG PROPER
-2.19
PING AN INSURA-H
-2.62
CHINA LIFE INS-H
-3.52
ALUMINUM CORP-H
-3.98
Source: Bloomberg
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News where it matters
Galaxy Macau, gift that keeps giving With one full year of Galaxy Macau on the books, casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd has posted a nine-fold increase in its first-half profit, outpacing the market and analysts’ estimates. The Cotai resort has already paid back 37 percent of the company’s investment. StarWorld also keeps shining. Page 5
Hong Kong protesters defy court order to leave HSBC headquarters
Captains on hold at Air Macau
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O
ccupy Central protesters in Hong Kong defied a 9 p.m. deadline yesterday to leave HSBC Holdings Plc’s Asian headquarters where they have spent more than 10 months demonstrating against income inequality. Media outnumbered the few dozen protesters as cameramen crowded around a band whose music elicited head-banging and shouts from those remaining the makeshift camp. Security guards at the camp didn’t intervene. The demonstrators, who totaled about 50 at their peak, were supposed to evacuate by 9 p.m., according to an order given by Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance on August 13. Police in other countries have evicted activists from the Occupy Movement, which started in New York last year. Authorities in London removed campaigners in London on June 14; while in November, U.S. demonstrations ended in confrontation with authorities. If the Hong Kong protesters don’t leave, a writ of possession will be issued by the court, and executed by a bailiff, HSBC spokesman Gareth Hewett said in an e-mail. Another HSBC spokesman, Brian Gilchrist, said the writ could be granted in a couple of days. “HSBC will work in consultation with the court bailiff to agree the timing and terms of the execution of the writ of www.macaubusinessdaily.com
Non-resident boom for hungry job market
Page 6
possession,” Hewett said. “No eviction will take place on the plaza until the writ of possession is in place.” Occupy Central aimed to create a community space for the discussion and sharing of the group’s ideals, activists said on its Facebook page. They have pitched tents, laid out couches, and conducted English and music classes on the ground floor plaza under HSBC’s Central building since October 15. Bloomberg
Sorry Reolian denies lack of insurance
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Year I - Number 107 Tuesday August 28, 2012 Editor-in-chief: Tiago Azevedo Deputy editor-in-chief: José I. Duarte MOP 6.00
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business daily August 28, 2012
macau
Govt scraps new way of counting gaming tables A government U-turn on how it calculates poker and mahjong tables means casinos must make do with the tables they have Paulo A. Azevedo
pazevedo@macaubusinessdaily.com
Casino operators may remove poker tables from its gaming floors in light of the government’s about-face
T
he old maths is back in: each poker and mahjong table will again count as a single table and casinos will have to live with the official cap of 5,500 tables city-wide. The government has scrapped a new method of calculating the number of live poker and mahjong tables on gaming floors, which was meant to create leeway for casinos to add more tables. It dropped the proposal after the new method stirred up a political storm, sources close to the matter told Business Daily. One source said the negative reaction “came from the top down”. A government source said on Thursday that inspectors would count 20 poker or mahjong tables as one, as long as they were all in a single room. Then the government had a change of heart, according to several industry sources that Business Daily spoke to. Casino operators were told yesterday that the new method would not be used after all. The government imposed the cap of 5,500 on the number of live gaming tables in 2010. The limit will remain until next year at least. Casinos will then be allowed to increase the number of tables by an average of 3 percent a year until 2023. A Chinese-language newspaper in Hong Kong revealed the new method of counting tables last week.
Poorly received Sources in the gaming industry said that initially the government did not see any problem with the new method as there are few poker and mahjong tables here. “It was also a way to diversify a bit more from baccarat in order to
attract different types of gamblers,” one source said. This perception meant the government was inclined to be more flexible about the table cap, even if it never expressed this inclination in writing. But a note to investors by Union Gaming Research Macau, an equity research house that focuses on the global gaming industry, and a report in Business Daily on Friday, both about the new method of counting tables, were not well received by top officials. “The public acknowledgement of this new orientation, more than the orientation itself, was what the officials could not cope with, since there’s a political commitment by the local government to Beijing that the table cap will not go over 5,500 until 2013,” said one source. There were 5,498 live gaming tables
KEY POINTS Govt does U-turn on table count tweak Each poker and mahjong table will again count as a single table Public acknowledgement of the orientation not well received by top officials Operators were about to introduce changes to the layout of their floors
in operation in the second quarter of this year, Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau data show. The new method of counting would have created leeway for casinos to add more tables.
Square one “In practical terms, this equates to a nearly 2 percent increase in table supply market-wide, as we believe there are about 110 poker tables in operation, which would now could be classified as only 10 tables,” Union Gaming’s Grant Govertsen said in his research note. Analysts considered the change a realistic compromise. “We think this move is indicative that the government will be willing to work with casino operators to help ease capacity constraints prior to the expiration of the table cap next year,” Mr Govertsen said. The gaming regulator said it would not comment on any change in the method of counting tables. But the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau lowered the number of poker tables on gaming floors here to “just around 40 or so”. The government decided yesterday to publish a statement in the Chineselanguage Macao Daily News denying that the new method of counting had ever been applied. The newspaper was still hot off the presses when casino operators were receiving calls from the gaming regulator, telling them that poker and mahjong tables would go back to being counted just like they were before: each table would count as one table. Casino operators, who had regarded the new method as a positive in a town
where gaming records consolidate investor confidence worldwide, are now lowering their expectations.
Not fair A source at Sands China Ltd said the company would probably not invest the US$5 million (39.9 million patacas) it had planned to invest in developing poker. On the contrary, Sands China “may remove poker altogether as it’s not optimal use of table count,” the source said. Sands China and Wynn Macau Ltd had plans to change the layout of their gaming floors and their working arrangements, including putting in a central cashier instead of selling chips at the tables. “At least we were still in the beginning of the process so we can stop it without losses, but I don’t know if all can say the same,” a Wynn Macau Ltd source said. A source in Stanley Ho Hung Sun’s Sociedade de Jogos de Macau SA (SJM) said the company was affected, if only indirectly, as poker and mahjong were played in its satellite casinos. Sources among the casino operators said they could not understand the about-face, considering that poker and mahjong are regarded as “social games” of “insignificant value” to casinos. “It’s unfair treatment,” the Wynn Macau source said. Baccarat tables are more profitable for casinos because the casino is also a player. “The economics of poker has nothing to do with baccarat, so we think the government is being over-zealous,” a source at Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd said.
August 28, 2012 business daily | 3
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business daily August 28, 2012
macau New office to handle CE trips, delegations A new office will formally be set up on September 1 to plan the official outside trips of Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On, as well as to handle the high-level delegations visiting Macau. According to a dispatch published in the Official Gazette yesterday, the office working under the Chief Executive could also be asked to organise large-scale events. The Office of the Government Spokesperson stressed that last year alone 100 officials delegations visited the territory, while Mr Chui visited the mainland on 16 occasions and Belgium.
Sands bullish about Macau market Operator eyes Taiwan and neighbouring countries
S
ands China Ltd expects growth to pick up next year in Macau and said it has followed regulations here and Las Vegas. More hotel rooms and transportation to Macau will aid growth in the world’s largest gambling hub next year, Sands China’s chief executive Edward Tracy said in an interview with Bloomberg yesterday. The company, which is being investigated by the Macau government in connection with data transfers to the U.S., doesn’t engage in any “crimes or any illegal activities,” he said. The company and its U.S. parent Las Vegas Sands Corp. are under greater scrutiny amid the Macau investigation and probes by U.S. regulators. “We not only abided by the rules in Macau, we also abided by the rules in Las Vegas,” Mr Tracy said, while declining to comment on
specific investigations. The company’s Venetian Macau Ltd subsidiary is being investigated by the Macau government in connection with the transfer of data to the U.S. Steven Jacobs, the former Sands China chief executive officer who is suing the company, has in filings said that a large amount of evidence in his case has been transferred from Macau to the U.S. Sands China is facing weaker growth this year as China’s economy slows and high-stake gamblers cut spending. But the company is “cautiously optimistic” about revenue growth this year, Mr Tracy said. “Macau will have new supply, new hotel rooms, and new facilities,” Mr Tracy said. “It will keep growing.”
Taipei interest The casino operator is interested in building a resort in Taipei that would
be the size of its Venetian Macao gambling centre, if it can get government permission, he said. Casinos aren’t allowed in Taiwan, only on offshore islands. Matsu could be the site for Taiwan’s first casino resort as residents there said ‘yes’ in a referendum last month. Bill Weidner, a former Las Vegas Sands executive, announced in July that he wants to construct a multi-billion dollar casino resort there. “We like the demographics in Taipei, we think there’s enough population to support an integrated resort,” Mr Tracy said. “We’re not looking at any outlying islands.” Sands would also be interested in expanding to Vietnam, Japan and South Korea if it can get government permissions to set up casinos in those countries, Mr Tracy said. T.A./Bloomberg
Sands China is ‘cautiously optimistic’ about revenue growth, says Edward Tracy
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Bright future ahead for casino school graduates Casino industry will need more employees next year, once the cap on the number of gaming tables is raised Xi Chen
xi@macaubusinessdaily.com
D
emand by casinos for already scarce labour will increase once the government increases the cap on the number of gaming tables next year, according to the president of the Macau Gaming Industry Employees Association, João Bosco Cheang Hong Lok. The government has capped the number of tables at 5,500 but from next year will allow the number to increase at an average annual
rate of 3 percent. Mr Cheang told reporters most casinos would apply for more tables once the cap was lifted and would need more croupiers. The Macau Gaming Industry Employees Association, in collaboration with the Lucky Gaming Training Centre, runs training courses for wouldbe casino staff, and 1,898 students graduated yesterday. Of the 600 graduates that
completed pre-employment training courses, more than 70 percent have been offered jobs in casinos. The rest of the graduates are already employed in the gaming industry and were doing on-the-job training courses. Mr Cheang said more than 20,000 students had graduated from the centre and that more than 80 percent had found work in casinos. The new law that bans people
under 21 years of age from working in or entering casinos was published in the Official Gazette yesterday and comes into effect on November 1. Mr Cheang said the law would not make much difference to graduates from the centre, which would continue to offer courses to students of all ages. However, he said the centre would warn younger students that they could not be employed in casinos until they reached the age of 21. Mr Cheang proposed that the government set up a database of casino employees to help efforts to prevent them from becoming gambling addicts. The law bans casino employees from gambling in their place of employment but not in other casinos. New graduate Don Yu welcomes the ban on people under 21 entering or working in casinos. Mr Yu said gambling was not an advisable activity for young adults. But he is happy to work in the gaming industry because casinos were run by big companies that could offer a stable income and the chance of promotion.
August 28, 2012 business daily | 5
MACAU China tourists turn big-spenders With the number of mainland Chinese tourists growing 20 percent in the first five months of this year, Chinese will soon become the biggest-spending overseas visitors, even though they spend on average less than their Western counterparts, South China Morning Post reported. Mainland travellers overseas spent US$72 billion (575.2 billion patacas) last year, compared with US$84 billion for Germans and US$79 billion for Americans. But the World Tourism Organisation expects Chinese to post 100 million overseas trips by 2020, up from 70 million last year.
Galaxy profits rises nine-fold One-year-old Galaxy Macau resort drives up operator’s profits. Company remains confident on second phase Tony Lai
tony.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com
A rise of 36 percent in the revenue to HK$3.3 billion from mass-market gamblers was recorded while revenue from VIP tables rose 15 percent from the second half of last year to HK$11.4 billion. StarWorld, the group’s flagship property in the Macau peninsula, remained solid so far this year with a year-on-year growth above 50 percent in the mass gaming revenue to HK$1.1 billion. However, the mass market registered a slight drop of 3.4 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months to HK$545 million. The revenue in the high-rollers market, which StarWorld focuses on, rose by 11 percent in the first half to HK$9.9 billion as the amount of bets reached HK$339.1 billion, up by 10 percent. Meanwhile the four City Club casinos of the group underperformed with a drop of 23 percent in operational profit to HK$82 million from a year ago.
‘Confident’ on tables
Galaxy Entertainment Group has already recovered 37 percent of its Galaxy Macau investment
C
asino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd remained strong in the first half of this year with a nine-fold rise in profits, driven by its newest Cotai resort. The company, controlled by the family of tycoon Lui Che Woo, released yesterday its interim results, stating its profits increased to HK$3.4 billion (US$438 million) in the first six months, up from just HK$378 million a year ago. The result beats by 23 percent an
average forecast of HK$2.8 billion from five analysts polled by Reuters. Galaxy’s revenue more than doubled to HK$28.3 billion in the first half while operational profit grew even faster to HK$4.7 billion, up by 159 percent year-on-year. The company “continues to outpace market growth with respect to gaming volumes across all segments,” Union Gaming Research Macau managing partner Grant Govertsen wrote in a note to investors. Galaxy vice-chairman Francis
Junkets not interested in ‘triad wars’ return
Lui Yiu Tung is “confident” on the continuous growth of his company, amid the glooming outlook on the mainland China economy and the decline in visitor arrivals. “There is a moderation in the mainland economy, as well as on visitation to Macau, but we believe these factors are short-lived,” said Francis Lui during a press conference. “I have confidence on the market in medium-to-long term as there are many on-going infrastructure projects.” The number of visitors travelling to Macau dropped for the third consecutive month in July. Francis Lui also told reporters that he expects the city’s gaming revenue growth to pick up in the remaining months of this year due to seasonal factors. Last month gaming revenue increased by just 1.5 percent to 24.6 billion patacas from a year ago.
Solid Galaxy
E
ven though two gamblingrelated murders and a hammer-wielding attack have raised concerns that Macau may be backsliding to the bad old days of the late-1990s, the city’s biggest VIP gambling promoters are not interested in a return to ‘triad wars’. “The major junkets don’t want this [more violence],” Hoffman Ma Ho Man, deputy chairman of Success Universe Group Ltd, told Reuters. Success Universe owns a stake of 49 percent in a joint venture with casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung Sun’s SJM Holdings Ltd that operate Macau casino Ponte 16. “Many of them [junkets] are involved in other industries and have been using their connections to get into other businesses like bullion and forex in Hong Kong. They’re diversifying,” he said.
The murder and mayhem in the late1990s was sparked by the triads’ aggressive manoeuvring to capture more of the lucrative VIP gambling market. The VIP gambling market currently accounts for over 70 percent of total revenues but before the launch of the individual visa scheme for mainland Chinese visitors that figure was probably even higher. “If you look at the structure of the VIP room operation in Macau, it’s a completely different story from 1998,” said Davis Fong Ka Chio, the director of the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at the University of Macau. Several gambling promoters have also gone public – including one, Asia Entertainment & Resources Ltd, listed in New York – in an attempt to secure more capital. V.Q./Reuters
Galaxy Macau, which opened on May 15 last year, continues to account for over half of the group’s revenue and operational profit. The casino’s first-half revenue jumped to HK$16 billion, a 14-percent increase from the second half of last year, while its operational profit registered a near one-third growth to HK$2.9 billion.
HK$3.4 billion Galaxy’s profits in first half 2012
Though Galaxy’s performance remains strong, it recently lost its edge over rival Sands China Ltd for the second place in the city’s gaming market share ranking, led by Stanley Ho Hung Sun’s Sociedade de Jogos de Macau SA. “I am not worried as we should not only look at the market share,” said Francis Lui. “We should also consider other indicators like revenue and ROI [return on investment].” The return on investment on StarWorld was 97 percent while its Galaxy Macau registered a ratio of 37 percent in its first year of operation. The vice-chairman also thinks that the new Sands properties will be “beneficial to Galaxy and the overall leisure and hotel market” by drawing more visitors to Cotai. And analysts agree. “I think Galaxy will be a beneficiary because as Sands gets increased traffic on the Cotai strip there will be a spillover into Galaxy,” said Michael Ting, analyst at CIMB Group in Hong Kong. Sands China opened the first phase of Cotai Central in April and the first tower of Sheraton Macau Hotel will be ready next month. While its rivals are moving in on Cotai, Galaxy expects the second phase of its resort to be completed on schedule by mid-2015. By then important infrastructure projects such as the Light Rapid Transit system could also be finished. With an investment of over HK$16 billion, Galaxy Macau’s phase 2 will double the area of the current site with 1,300 hotel rooms and over 100,000 square metres of retail space. The expansion will also add as many as 500 gaming tables. Even though the government has pledged to control table growth, Francis Liu remains optimistic: “We are confident that we will have the back-up from the government on this issue.” Galaxy’s strong balance sheet – available cash rose from HK$7.7 billion in the second half of last year to HK$11 billion – will give the company “flexibility in options” for investing in the expansion, chief financial officer Robert Drake told reporters. with Reuters
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business daily August 28, 2012
macau
Fewer jobless despite imported staff record Number of expatriate workers surpasses a four-year-old record Vítor Quintã
vitorquinta@macaubusinessdaily.com
T
he unemployment rate fell to 2 percent last month although the number of non-resident workers reached a new record. According to data released by the Human Resources Office yesterday, expatriatelabourreached104,938people at the end of last month, overtaking the previous record of 104,281 workers set in September 2008. Almost all of the 2,600 new jobs created in the city last month went to expatriate workers. Some 2,381 non-residents were hired last month, with the greatest share, 937, headed to the hotel and restaurant sector.
More than one out of every 10 job posts in restaurants went unfilled in March, when there was almost 3,400 vacancies. The construction industry, buoyant from the launch of the second phase of Galaxy Macau and Wynn Macau Ltd’s Cotai resort, employed another 393 non-resident employees. Hotels and restaurants aside, employment in the retail sector also grew but the declining manufacturing sector lost even more employees last month. The Statistics and Census Service said yesterday that the number of unemployed fell by 100 to 7,000, which sent the unemployment rate back to
Hotels and restaurants hired 937 non-resident workers last month
2 percent – an historically low level. A significant proportion, 14.9 percent, up by 4.7 percentage points, was searching for their first job. In June, the Statistics and Census Service said a rare increase in the unemployment rate was due to more
Air Macau awaits regulator’s call on captain promotions Aviation regulator primed to offer ruling that could allow Air Macau to resume pilot promotions Vítor Quintã
vitorquinta@macaubusinessdaily.com
A
ir Macau Co. Ltd is waiting to see if the Civil Aviation Authority will allow it to resume promoting pilots, more than eight months after the aviation regulator stopped it from doing so on its own. The Civil Aviation Authority told Business Daily the airline reported to it on August 15 about the implementation and effectiveness of a revised programme for the promotion of first officers to captain. Air Macau conducted a six-month trial of its Upgrade-to-Command Selection Programme, which ended last week. During the trial all promotions to captain had to be approved by
Seven Air Macau pilots have been promoted to captain since February under the Civil Aviation Authority’s supervision
the Civil Aviation Authority. Since February, the airline has proposed nine candidates for captain. “Seven of these candidates passed the training and were granted by us with the captain rating,” a spokesperson for the authority said.
The other candidates were proposed near the end of trial period, so the authority will decide on their promotion only after it has reviewed Air Macau’s report. The authority declined to comment on whether it thought
people looking for short-term work during the summer holidays. Theunderemploymentratefelltoless than 1 percent. The statistic measures the percentage of people working in jobs below their qualifications or who can only find part-time work.
that the airline had corrected the flaws that led to the suspension of promotions of flight-deck crew, saying it was still studying and analysing the report. Business Daily tried to get Air Macau to comment but did not receive a reply by the time we went to press. The Civil Aviation Authority stopped Air Macau from promoting pilots last December after it found that the airline had failed to follow fully its own internal procedures. The government looked into promotions after an Air Macau airliner wet-leased to Air China lost communication with air traffic control during a flight last October 1. The flight from Beijing landed safely in Hong Kong but air traffic controllers in the airspace the flight had passed through had been unable to establish contact for about an hour. The Civil Aviation Authority suspended the licences of two Air Macau pilots for six months as punishment for their “negligence in maintaining an effective radio listening watch”. The airline’s shareholders approved last November a capital restructuring entailing the injection of 700 million patacas (US$87.6 million) by the government, which is meant, among other things, to improve staff training.
Weather Beijing 32/22o C Changchun 26/18o C
Harbin 30/19o C
Xian 31/19o C Shanghai 32/26o C Chengdu 33/21o C Kunming 26/17o C Haikou 32/24o C Sanya 33/28o C
Guangzhou 35/25o C
MACAU (13-18 August) Day
Temperature
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Shenzhen 34/25o C
ASIA (today)
Hong Kong 33/27o C
Manila
TOKYO
Jakarta
27/24o C
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Macau 33/26o C
Bangkok
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28/22o C
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taipei
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August 28, 2012 business daily | 7
MACAU New Macau uses tech against political reform The New Macau Association will organise a virtual graffiti action against the government-backed political reform tomorrow evening at the Nam Van old court building. The graffiti will be displayed through a projector in digital format on the facade of the building. The public can join the event by posting their views on the pan-democrats’ website or by sending their opinions through text messages. Earlier tomorrow, the political reform bills will be voted at the Legislative Assembly.
Reolian insists it’s doing right thing Reolian manager and insurer say the bus operator has paid for the medical expenses of an injured employee Xi Chen
xi@macaubusinessdaily.com
Reolian general manager Cédric Rigaud had worn criticism that his company is not doing enough for its injured worker
R
eolian Public Transport Co Ltd has proper employee insurance cover, its insurer has claimed in response to questions about whether the bus operator is shouldering its responsibility to help
a severely injured employee. Last Tuesday, a Reolian bus hit a company employee at the Border Gate bus terminus. The employee was severely injured and remains in Kiang Wu Hospital’s intensive care unit.
Macau Insurance Co Ltd staff member Patrick Lai said his company was waiting for the report on the medical expenses incurred by the injured employee and had not paid any claim. Reolian was paying all the employee’s medical expenses and his company would cover the expenses in accordance with the terms of Reolian’s policy. The law says an employee injured in an occupational accident is entitled to cover for up to 3 million patacas (US$375,500) in expenses. Macau Insurance would not reveal the ceiling for Reolian’s cover. Reolian general manager Cédric Rigaud told Business Daily the company had paid all the medical expenses incurred by the injured employee so far and that the employee’s family had not had to pay anything in advance. Media reports have said that the family was in dispute with the bus operator and had refused to accept a
donation of 100,000 patacas. Mr Rigaud said the victim’s family had accepted the gift, comprising 60,000 patacas from the company and 40,000 patacas from its staff. The company has refused to sign a written declaration saying it accepts responsibility for all medical costs that has been drawn up by the injured employee’s family. The company would not sign because it considers the employee’s injuries the result of an occupational accident. Reolianmanagersmettheemployee’s family on Friday. The president of the New Macau Association, Jason Chao Teng Hei, and activist Andrew Cheong Shu Kin were also in the meeting. Mr Cheong helped secure a similar declaration for an 82-year-old woman who had both legs amputated after being involved in a Reolian bus accident in March. Mr Rigaud said the company could not say if it would pay for any expenses incurred beyond those covered by its insurance policy. “It is not the right time to answer this question,” he said. “We are trying to give him the best treatment now to get through the critical stage. What will happen in the future will depend on the doctors’ comments as well as his recovery status.” Mr Rigaud said the employee was conscious and may leave intensive care this week.
Eight taxi drivers refused insurance The operators of the 200 newly licensed taxis could struggle to get insurance cover as accidents scare away insurers Tony Lai
tony.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com
T
he Monetary Authority of Macau has been asked to intervene to help eight taxi drivers get motor vehicle insurance this year. In a written reply to inquiries by Business Daily, the Monetary Authority said it had received 221 applications up until last month from drivers seeking assistance in getting third-party insurance, and that eight were from taxi drivers. The law says all drivers must have at least third-party insurance cover before they are allowed on the road. But if a driver is refused cover by three or more insurers they can ask for help from the Monetary Authority. The authority will then set the terms of an insurance policy to be written jointly by a number of insurers of its own choosing. The insurers must accept the policy, otherwise they could be banned from writing any other car insurance policies for between six months and three years.
Any valid claim is paid jointly by the insurers that wrote the policy. The Monetary Authority did not say if any of the eight taxi drivers that had sought its help intended to drive any the 200 new taxis licensed by the Transport Bureau. Last week, a new federation of taxi associations told reporters that two insurers have refused cover to holders of these licences because the taxi operators have had too many accidents. In the first half of this year, taxis were involved in 687 traffic accidents, 90 fewer than a year before. Some taxi operators are worried that insurers will double their premiums before October, when the first 50 of the 200 newly licensed cabs must be ready for service. The Monetary Authority had no comment on this concern, saying only it that it would continue to assist anybody in need of help in getting third-party insurance. The authority said it had helped
342 drivers get coverage last year, 21 of them taxi drivers. It helped 235 drivers, eight of them taxi drivers, in 2010. Business Daily asked the Macau Insurance Association to comment but had not received a reply by the
time we went to press. A Consumer Council survey released in January found that at least six insurers admitted to refusing coverage to some drivers, particularly if they had been caught driving recklessly or dangerously.
Taxis were involved in 687 traffic accidents in the first half of this year
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business daily August 28, 2012
greater china
Wen warns of difficult times ahead Growth may touch 13-Year low, exports down
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hina’s Premier Wen Jiabao urged extra measures to support exports and help meet economic targets as evidence mounts that the nation’s slowdown is deepening. “The third quarter is a crucial period for realising full-year targets on export growth,” Mr Wen said during an inspection tour of Guangdong, the nation’s biggest exporting province, the official Xinhua News Agency said August 25. “Facing the current difficulties, China should substantially improve the environment for companies’ operation and improve companies’ confidence.” This visit was the latest in his tours of export-reliant provinces on the coast as he tries to boost confidence in an economy at risk of the weakest expansion in 13 years. Policy makers have limited the scale of stimulus after interest-rate cuts in June and July as they seek to support growth without fuelling inflation or driving a rebound in property prices. “The most important thing right now and the purpose of Mr Wen’s trips is to reboot the confidence of businesses and focus more on employment,” said Helen Qiao, chief China economist with Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong. “We’ve seen a significant deterioration in exports and the government really has very few tools to stimulate external
demand, but it’s an important gesture that the government shows it’s trying to help.”
Tax relief Mr Wen called for faster payment of export tax rebates, greater use of export credit insurance and reduced inspections and fees to ease the burden on companies, Xinhua said. He also said financial products for hedging foreign-exchange risks should be expanded. Xinhua and state television reports on the visit made no mention of the yuan, which has dropped about 1
The most important determinant for exports is economic growth in other countries, which China can do almost nothing about Lu Ting, Bank of America
percent against the U.S. dollar this year after a 4.7 percent rise in 2011, giving some relief to exporters facing weak demand. China will refrain from allowing a steeper drop in the currency for fear of capital outflows and possible retaliation from trading partners including the U.S., according to Ms Qiao and Lu Ting, head of Greater China economics at Bank of America Corp. in Hong Kong “A depreciation could trigger more trade protectionism and could backfire,” said Ms Qiao. “With the transition to a new leadership in China and a U.S. presidential election this year, this would be the last possible option to consider. The most they can do is stay put.”
Guangdong tour During his Guangdong tour, Mr Wen said there are many “negative factors that will affect stable economic operations in the second half” and the difficulties of stabilising growth are “relatively large,” according to Xinhua’s report. He reiterated that the government needs to increase the intensity of macro-economic adjustments to stabilise expansion. The tour included Dongguan, a city where economic growth slumped to 2.5 percent in the first half of the year compared with 7.8 percent for the nation, according to government data. Earlier this month, he went to Zhejiang province, where he urged government leaders and companies to have confidence and said the country was capable of meeting its growth targets. In July he visited Jiangsu, where he called for more aggressive fine-tuning of economic policies.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made an inspection tou
China’s export growth collapsed to 1 percent in July from a year earlier and industrial output and new yuan loans trailed estimates. A private survey on August 23 showed
1%
July export growth, y-o-y
Domestic price controls Refiners look abroad for increased earnings
C
hina Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia’s largest refiner, and rival PetroChina Co. are poised to seek assets overseas to diversify as domestic earnings are depressed by state-controlled prices for processed fuels. Refining losses resulted in China Petroleum, known as Sinopec, reporting a 41 percent decline in first-half net income to 24.5 billion yuan (US$3.9 billion) on Sunday. PetroChina, the nation’s biggest oil
and gas producer, last week said first-half profit declined 6 percent to 62 billion yuan. Chinese refiners, which sell gasoline and diesel below cost because the government caps retail prices to contain inflation, aren’t waiting for the controls to be relaxed. PetroChina said it plans to generate more than half its oil and gas output from overseas projects by 2020 to offset refining losses, while China Petrochemical Corp., Sinopec’s state-owned parent,
Looking for overseas assets
August 28, 2012 business daily | 9
greater china Australia’s Sundance agrees to revised offer Changes in market conditions invoked for lower price
A
ur to Guangdong on Friday and Saturday
manufacturing may contract in August at the fastest pace in nine months and a gauge of new export orders was at its lowest level in more than three years. “Stabilising economic growth is the key task for second- half economic work,” Mr Wen said during his latest trip. Overseas shipments in the first seven months rose 7.8 percent and imports gained 6.4 percent, putting China at risk of missing a 10 percent goal for trade growth this year.
Policy Support “The most important determinant for exports is economic growth in other countries, which China can do almost nothing about,” said economist
Mr Lu. “If the government refuses to roll out further policy measures to support domestic demand in the next few months there is downside risk to our GDP forecast.” Export growth could slump to 6 percent this year from 20 percent last year, according to Mr Lu. He cut his estimate this month for 2012 economic expansion to 7.7 percent from 8 percent due to worsening external demand and the limited room for policy stimulus given continued curbs on the property market and government concerns that inflation will rebound. That would be the weakest economic growth in 13 years and down from 9.2 percent in 2011.
ustralian iron ore company Sundance Resources Ltd said yesterday it had accepted a revised takeover offer from China’s Hanlong (Group) Co. Ltd in a deal worth about Aus$1.4 billion (US$1.45 billion). Sundance said it had accepted Hanlong’s proposal to acquire 100 percent of the company for 45 cents per share – down from the recommended 57 cents offer of 2011 – due to changes in financial markets. Shareholders will now determine whether the proposed offer by Chinese suitor Sichuan Hanlong Group will proceed after China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) granted provisional approval earlier this month. “The board believes that the revised offer is worthy of putting to shareholders in light of several key considerations,” Sundance chairman George Jones said. “These include the requirements expressed in the NDRC provisional approval and the change in financial markets since
the original agreement was struck in October 2011.” The requirements in the NDRC approval included a reasonable acquisition price and Hanlong, which already holds about 18 percent of Sundance shares, securing equity and debt funding from relevant banks. Mr Jones said the company had considered the current Sundance share price, feedback from shareholders, and the opportunity that the revised offer allows Sundance to seek alternative offers, in making its decision. Shares in Sundance, which were last above 44 cents in mid-May, were trading early Monday at 35 cents. Sundance said the board had concluded that the revised scheme was “currently in the best interests of shareholders” and recommended the Hanlong proposal in the absence of a better offer. Hanlong wants Sundance for its Mbalam iron ore project on the border of the Congo and Cameroon in western Africa.
Bloomberg
Acquisition still needs approval to go forward
s hit profits said it would more than double its foreign production by 2015. “Every dollar spent on domestic refining projects would be a waste of a dollar, since it generates absolutely no return,” said Simon Powell, the Hong Kong-based head of Asian oil and gas research at CLSA Ltd. “Overseas acquisition is a short cut to balance refining losses, but it’s a gradual process and takes a long time because of political scrutiny and availability of assets globally.” China’s state oil companies have spent more than US$100 billion on assets over the past decade to supply the world’s largest energy importer.
Price controls Gasoline and diesel prices are set by the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s economic planner, under a system that tracks the 22-day moving average of a basket of crudes, including Brent, Dubai and Indonesia’s Cinta. NDRC has indicated it may relax price controls on natural gas and fuels in the second half, PetroChina president Zhou Jiping said at a post-earnings briefing on August 23. The fuel pricing reform may not materialise in the second half, especially after the government
has made and missed similar commitments in the past, said Shi Yan, a Shanghai-based energy analyst at Uob-Kay Hian Ltd. “I believe both Sinopec and PetroChina understand the situation well and both of them are determined to expand in upstream quickly with or without the pricing reform being finally implemented,” she said.
Overseas targets PetroChina wants half its oil and gas output to come from overseas by the end of the decade, Chairman Jiang Jiemin said in March. Production abroad rose 0.9 percent to the equivalent of 62.5 million barrels, accounting for 9.4 percent of the company’s output in the first half. Chinese companies can sell oil and gas from overseas assets at market prices. PetroChina’s Mr Zhou said in Hong Kong on August 23 the explorer is looking closely at assets in Central Asia, east Africa, Australia and Canada. Mr Zhou said he’s “completely confident” of achieving the 2020 goal. China Petrochemical, Sinopec’s parent, aims to produce 50 million metric tons of crude a year overseas by 2015. Last year, foreign production was 22.9 million tons. Sinopec said it boosted first-half crude output 4.3 percent to 163.09 million barrels and overseas production jumped 82 percent to 11.13 million barrels. Bloomberg
Beijing’s car registration at record low Beijing’s car licence plate lottery saw less than 2 percent of applicants in August winning the right to register private vehicles, the official Xinhua news agency reported. More than 1 million people entered the lottery in the Chinese capital this month, with only 19,926 obtaining the right to register cars, Xinhua said, citing local authorities. A total of 240,000 new private car plates are issued every year under the lottery plan, introduced in 2011, Xinhua reported. Beijing’s municipal government has limited the number of vehicles and increased parking fees as it struggled with congestion caused by the growing number of cars in the city. After the restrictions were imposed, traffic jams eased to an average 55 minutes during weekdays in the first quarter, compared with 75 minutes a year earlier, the Beijing Transportation Research Centre said in June. There are currently more than 5 million vehicles in the capital, Xinhua reported. Beijing plans to build a system for imposing road-congestion charges on motorists.
Yuan declines as PBOC lowers fixing China’s yuan dropped as the central bank lowered the currency’s fixing the most in three weeks after Premier Wen Jiabao urged greater support for exporters. The People’s Bank of China lowered the yuan’s reference rate by 0.14 percent, the most since August 2, to 6.3392 per dollar yesterday. “Wen’s remarks signal the export outlook remains weak, which weighed on the yuan,” said Banny Lam, chief economist at CCB International Securities in Hong Kong. “The yuan won’t return to an appreciation trend this year.” The currency is allowed to trade as much as 1 percent on either side of the daily fixing. One-month implied volatility, a measure of exchange-rate swings used to price options, was steady at 1.2 percent. In Hong Kong, the yuan dropped 0.05 percent to 6.3620 per dollar. Twelve-month non-deliverable forwards declined 0.08 percent to 6.4480, a 1.4 percent discount to the onshore spot rate, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
AFP
10 |
business daily August 28, 2012
asia Billabong swings to annual loss Billabong International Ltd, the surfwear maker facing a takeover approach from TPG International LLC, posted its first annual loss since listing in 2001. The loss was A$276 million (US$287 million) in the 12 months ended June from net income of A$119 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement yesterday. The result includes impairments of A$343 million as Billabong wrote off 42 percent of the value of its namesake label. Billabong closed stores, sold assets and replaced its chief executive to reduce debt amid slumping earnings and a consumer slowdown.
Samsung shares plunge on verdict Technology firm slumps most in 4 years as it faces U.S. sales ban Jun Yang and Saeromi Shin
Samsung tumbled 7.5 percent, biggest daily drop since October 2008
S
amsung Electronics Co. plunged the most in almost four years, wiping out more than US$10 billion in market value, on concern some of its devices may be banned in the U.S. after a jury said it violated Apple Inc. patents. Samsung plummeted as much as 8 percent after a California court on Friday ruled the world’s biggest handset maker infringed six of seven patents. Jurors said the South Korea-based company must pay more than US$1 billion in damages in the first lawsuit between the dominant global smartphone
rivals to go before a U.S. jury. A ban may undermine Samsung grip on a smartphone market valued at US$219.1 billion by Bloomberg Industries and set a precedent for rival handset makers that use Google Inc.’s Android operating system. A judge scheduled a hearing next month to consider Apple’s request for a permanent U.S. sales ban on devices such as the Galaxy S and S II smartphones and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 computer. “What’s concerning is whether any ban will be extended to flagship models and will have impact on
cases in other places,” Seo Won Seok, a Seoulbased analyst at Korea Investment & Securities Co., said yesterday. “Perhaps Samsung has technology to avoid some infringements, but they also need to come up with ways to get around Apple’s patents within the Android operating system.”
Samsung memo Shares in Samsung tumbled as much as 8 percent to 1.173 million won (US$1,000), before closing at 1.180 million won. The broader Seoul market
fell 0.1 percent. The stock had gained 21 percent this year through August 24, compared with a 64 percent climb for Apple. Yields on Samsung’s five-year US$1 billion U.S. dollar-denominated bonds due April 2017 rose 4 basis points to 1.6 percent, according to prices from Credit Agricole SA. It’s “regrettable” that the verdict has caused concern among employees and customers, Samsung said in an internal memo on its blog yesterday. “We trust that the consumers and the market will side with those who prioritise innovation over litigation, and we will prove this beyond doubt.” The company will ask the judge to overturn the verdict and, if she doesn’t, will appeal the case, Mira Jang, a spokeswoman for Samsung, said in an e-mail. The verdict may delay Samsung’s introduction of new products using Android software so it can redesign them. North America is the third largest region for Samsung’s mobile-phone sales after Asia Pacific and Western Europe, according to HMC Investment Securities Co. The Korean company generated 16 percent of its revenue in the Americas as of June 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Moody’s raises South Korea rating Global rating agency cites fiscal, economic strength
M
oody’s raised South Korea’s sovereign credit rating by one notch yesterday to the highest on record and on par with Japan and China, citing its strong fiscal position, economic resilience and reduced external vulnerability of the country’s banks. Moody’s Investors Service raised the country’s government bond rating to Aa3 from A1, nearly five months after it changed the rating outlook to “positive” from “stable” and the highest since it began rating the country. It also said the upgrade was supported by stable
relations with North Korea as it goes through a leadership transition. “A possible step-up in Pyongyang’s economic engagement with Beijing, as seen in the announcement of three new industrial zones along the China-North Korea border, suggests that the risk of an collapse of the autarkic communist state during the leadership transition phase is diminishing,” it said. “In a way, ratings agencies are following the market,” said Erik Lueth, RBS senior regional economist in Hong Kong, adding that he did not expect a fresh surge in capital
inflows due to the upgrade as the Korean bond market is already considered a safehaven already. It remains to be seen whether other ratings agencies will follow suit. Yesterday’s upgrade puts Moody’s rating for South Korea one notch above Fitch Ratings’ A-plus rating and Standard & Poor’s ratings Services’ A rating. Fitch upgraded South Korea’s outlook to positive in November 2011, but S&P has kept a stable outlook on the rating due to risks associated with North Korea’s regime change. “I think basically some
ratings agencies would still be conservative, especially S&P,” said DBS economist Ma Tie Ying in Singapore. Analysts said the ratings upgrade would help boost foreign portfolio investment into the country over the long term but any additional inflows would be limited for the short run as foreign investors have already boosted their holdings sharply. Foreigners’ net investment in South Korean won bonds have risen by 5.91 trillion won (US$5.21 billion) for the first seven months of this year, official data shows. Reuters
“The verdict is worse for Samsung than what many had anticipated, and it will have to change some products in its pipeline,” Chang In Whan, president of Seoul-based KTB Asset Management Co., which oversees the equivalent of US$5.8 billion, said. “There could be delays in developing and releasing new models, which together with a potential sales ban could weigh on corporate value.”
Injunction chances U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, who presided over the four-week trial in San Jose, California, set a hearing for September 20 on Apple’s request for a sales ban on some Samsung products. She ordered Apple to file a one-page chart by today identifying which devices it seeks to ban. She could also later triple the damages under federal law. “We expect there is a twothirds chance of an injunction against Samsung products, Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. Inc., wrote in an August 26 report. Samsung’s schedules for introducing products won’t be affected by the verdict, James Chung, a Seoul-based spokesman for the company, said last Saturday. The global lineup for the rest of this year includes the
August 28, 2012 business daily | 11
asia Indonesia stock trading delayed The Indonesian stock exchange delayed trading after almost a third of its members failed to connect to the bourse’s system. Only 84 of 114 bourse members were able to connect, director Uriep Budhi Prasetyo said yesterday. The exchange’s board is discussing yesterday’s problem and will release a statement later, Samsul Hidayat, another director at the bourse, said. “It creates a reputation problem,” Siswa Rizali, from PT Andalan Artha Advisindo Sekuritas, said. “It happened before. The stock exchange has to convince people that they have the capability to provide smooth transactions.”
next version of the Galaxy Note, which sold more than 10 million units in less than a year. The company began selling a tablet edition of the Note this month, following the May release of the Galaxy S III, the newest version in its bestselling smartphone series.
Competitors benefiting The verdict may affect other makers of Androidbased devices. Apple has sued other smartphone makers, including HTC Corp., the world’s fourth-largest, which generated US$15.8 billion in revenue last year mostly by selling phones. HTC shares dropped as much as 3.2 percent to NT$254 in Taipei trading yesterday. “Having Samsung’s products banned in the U.S. may be a bigger danger to HTC than the damages award because of the precedent it sets for the industry,” said Marcus Clinch, an intellectual property lawyer at Eiger Law in Taipei. Two of the patents in the case brought by Apple against Samsung are also part of the iPhone maker’s
case targeting more than a dozen HTC devices before the International Trade Commission. HTC declined to comment in an e-mail. Nokia Oyj and Microsoft Corp., both looking to increase U.S. sales of smartphones, stand to get a much-needed boost as Samsung products face a possible ban and handset makers come under pressure to consider alternatives to Google Inc.’s Android software. Some Android-equipment makers may turn to platforms such as Microsoft’s Windows 8 to avoid a similar trip to court, said Carolina Milanesi of the research firm Gartner Inc. “I am sure that vendors in the Android ecosystem are wondering how long it will be before they become Apple’s target,” Ms Milanesi said. “This might sway some vendors to look at Windows Phone 8 as an alternative, and for the ones like HTC Corp. and even Samsung, who have already announced plans to bring to market a WP8 device, how much stronger their investment should be.” Bloomberg
Japan contraction risk rises Faltering global demand dragging economy Keiko Ujikane
Japan may downgrade its assessment of the domestic economy today
J
Moody’s upgrade is a vote of confidence in President Lee Myung Bak’s efforts
apan’s risk of an economic contraction this quarter has increased as faltering demand from Europe to China drags down exports, strengthening the case for more government measures to support growth. JPMorgan Securities Japan Co. forecasts a 0.3 percent annualised decline in gross domestic product in the three months through September after previously seeing 1 percent growth. BNP Paribas SA estimates a 0.9 percent fall after earlier predicting no change. China’s failure to secure an economic rebound is adding to austerity measures in Europe and unemployment in the U.S. in limiting prospects for Japanese trade and growth. Pressure may build for an extra government budget and additional stimulus from the Bank of Japan as subsidies for purchases of fuel-efficient cars wind down, damping consumer spending. “We’ve revised down our forecast because the global economy is looking weaker than we anticipated,” said Ryutaro Kono, chief Japan economist at BNP and a former government nominee for the central bank board. “We expected a gradual rebound for the emerging economies but the recent data aren’t signalling it. Europe continues to slump and exports to the U.S. also are slowing.”
Japan will downgrade its assessment of the domestic economy for the first time in 10 months in a report to the cabinet today, according to the Nikkei newspaper. The nation had a wider-thanestimated trade deficit in July as shipments to the European Union fell 25 percent from a year earlier and those to China slid 12 percent.
Stocks, yen “Chronic” upward pressure on the yen is placing downward pressure on Japan’s economy, central bank Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said last Friday. Gains in the currency erode the sales and profits of exporters such as Nissan Motor Co. For now, the economists forecasting a contraction this quarter are in a minority. The median of 27 forecasts compiled by Bloomberg News this month was for a 1 percent expansion. Besides BNP and JPMorgan Securities Japan, those now seeing a decline include Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse Group AG. Growth was 1.4 percent in the second quarter. Mitsubishi Research Institute, the best forecaster of Japan’s GDP in the past two years according to Bloomberg data, sees a 0.2 percent expansion in the third quarter and a 0.7 percent gain in the fourth quarter, with
earthquake reconstruction work playing a role.
Avoiding recession “Exports are slowing more than we thought,” said Akihiro Morishige, an economist at Mitsubishi Research. “However, Japan will probably be able to avoid a recession because the reconstruction demand continues to support the recovery.” Second-quarter figures for gross domestic product showed that consumption rose the least since households cut spending in the immediate aftermath of the March 2011 earthquake. “Without a smooth baton pass from domestic demand to external demand, the Japanese economy may get into serious trouble,” said Masamichi Adachi, a senior economist at JPMorgan Securities in Tokyo and a former central bank official. “There is high possibility that not only the Bank of Japan but also the government will need to introduce stimulus measures.” Weakness in Chinese manufacturing has dashed hopes for a quick, strong recovery in Japan’s exports in coming months, Masaaki Kanno, chief economist at JPMorgan Securities Japan Co. in Tokyo and a former BOJ official, wrote in a report. “The odds are rising that real exports will contract in the third quarter.” Bloomberg
12 |
business daily August 28, 2012
MARKETS Hang SENG INDEX NAME
NAME
PRICE
Day %
VOLUME
13
-0.7633588
26058716
10.98
-1.436266
1857000
SANDS CHINA LTD
65.1
0
2057180
CNOOC LTD
14.74
-0.4054054
42170554
1405189
COSCO PAC LTD
10.44
0.3846154
6759610
ESPRIT HLDGS
12.18
-0.6525285
26.75 111
PRICE
Day %
VOLUME
AIA GROUP LTD
26.9
0.5607477
18299666
CHINA UNICOM HON
ALUMINUM CORP-H
3.14
-3.975535
17580331
CITIC PACIFIC
BANK OF CHINA-H
2.93
-0.6779661
196350823
BANK OF COMMUN-H
5.15
-0.3868472
16235581
28.55
0.3514938
14.6
1.388889
BANK EAST ASIA BELLE INTERNATIO BOC HONG KONG HO
CLP HLDGS LTD
PRICE
Day %
VOLUME
61.45
0.6552007
1238445
27.1
-1.811594
8578606
SINO LAND CO
13.38
-0.5943536
2909033
SUN HUNG KAI PRO
101.9
0
1984641
1586063
SWIRE PACIFIC-A
92.35
0.1084011
1156491
4367557
TENCENT HOLDINGS
245
0
1473144
-1.582046
2651955
TINGYI HLDG CO
22.6
0.8928571
6978485
0.7259528
459582
WANT WANT CHINA
9.85
-1.401401
5639000
49.65
0.8121827
4642646
24.4
-0.8130081
8746966
HANG LUNG PROPER
CATHAY PAC AIR
12.94
-0.154321
4764574
HANG SENG BK
CHEUNG KONG
107.1
0.752587
3013465
HENDERSON LAND D
48.95
-0.2038736
2864621
6.74
-1.892285
19971630
HENGAN INTL
73.35
-0.2040816
1853500
HONG KG CHINA GS
18.38
0.3275109
5684771
HONG KONG EXCHNG
106.1
-0.748363
2202523
HSBC HLDGS PLC
68.05
-0.3660322
6202852
HUTCHISON WHAMPO
68.6
-0.3631082
4117593
IND & COMM BK-H
4.31
-1.822323
233255361
CHINA COAL ENE-H CHINA CONST BA-H CHINA LIFE INS-H CHINA MERCHANT CHINA MOBILE
5.22
-0.7604563
198293748
20.55
-3.521127
49060243
24
0
1499283
83.55
0.602047
14291801
CHINA OVERSEAS
18.2
-0.4376368
7808404
CHINA PETROLEU-H
7.41
3.34728
105728614
CHINA RES ENTERP
23
-1.075269
766000
CHINA RES LAND
15.28
0.1310616
CHINA RES POWER
16.58
CHINA SHENHUA-H
28.95
NAME POWER ASSETS HOL
WHARF HLDG
MOVERS
14
4 20140
INDEX 19798.67
12.82
0.7069914
27410251
HIGH
20132.24
MTR CORP
27.8
-0.5366726
942192
LOW
19777.88
5350190
NEW WORLD DEV
9.96
-1.581028
6477688
-0.7185629
3099000
PETROCHINA CO-H
9.5
-1.554404
91613800
-1.864407
13742036
PING AN INSURA-H
57.55
-2.622673
20596533
LI & FUNG LTD
31
52W (H) 21760.33984 19770
(L) 16170.35 23-Aug
27-Aug
Hang SENG CHINA ENTErPRISE INDEX NAME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
23.45
-3.298969
14081600
CHINA PETROLEU-H
7.41
3.34728
105728614
17580331
CHINA RAIL CN-H
6.12
-1.607717
-1.459854
4810000
CHINA RAIL GR-H
3.04
2.93
-0.6779661
196350823
CHINA SHENHUA-H CHINA TELECOM-H
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
AGRICULTURAL-H
3.02
-1.628664
70452060
AIR CHINA LTD-H
5.02
0.1996008
4636000
ALUMINUM CORP-H
3.14
-3.975535
ANHUI CONCH-H
20.25
BANK OF CHINA-H
NAME CHINA PACIFIC-H
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
YANZHOU COAL-H
11.4
-2.39726
43854980
ZIJIN MINING-H
2.59
-1.520913
22929175
6603500
ZOOMLION HEAVY-H
8.65
-2.149321
13837400
0.330033
9576000
ZTE CORP-H
11.08
-7.04698
10512463
28.95
-1.864407
13742036
5.15
-0.3868472
16235581
4.41
-0.4514673
46758319
13.36
-2.765648
2079900
DONGFENG MOTOR-H
10.22
-3.584906
16947029
CHINA CITIC BK-H
3.91
-0.7614213
12949158
GUANGZHOU AUTO-H
5.76
-0.3460208
2563634
CHINA COAL ENE-H
6.74
-1.892285
19971630
HUANENG POWER-H
5.41
0.5576208
7426000
CHINA COM CONS-H
6.74
-1.605839
11695202
IND & COMM BK-H
4.31
-1.822323
233255361
CHINA CONST BA-H
5.22
-0.7604563
198293748
JIANGXI COPPER-H
18.18
-1.941748
6588081
CHINA COSCO HO-H
3.23
-1.823708
9771500
PETROCHINA CO-H
9.5
-1.554404
91613800
PICC PROPERTY &
BANK OF COMMUN-H BYD CO LTD-H
CHINA LIFE INS-H
20.55
-3.521127
49060243
CHINA LONGYUAN-H
5.07
0.1976285
1306000
PING AN INSURA-H
CHINA MERCH BK-H
13.82
-0.5755396
8140959
SHANDONG WEIG-H
9.18
-0.5417118
10768400
57.55
-2.622673
20596533
8.6
-1.262916
4220000
NAME
MOVERS
5
0 9850
INDEX 9544.62 HIGH
9848.2
LOW
9531.71
CHINA MINSHENG-H
6.9
-1.287554
23390100
SINOPHARM-H
25
-0.3984064
1637538
52W (H) 11916.1
CHINA NATL BDG-H
7.53
-3.954082
75510000
TSINGTAO BREW-H
42.65
-1.158749
1014100
(L) 8058.58
13
-0.1536098
4126237
WEICHAI POWER-H
21.4
-2.947846
1813134
CHINA OILFIELD-H
35
9530
23-Aug
27-Aug
Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 NAME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
AGRICULTURAL-A
2.65
0
60731201
DATANG INTL PO-A
5.32
-0.5607477
1875676
SHANG PUDONG-A
8.87
0.1128668
46679612
AIR CHINA LTD-A
6.04
-1.145663
11547270
DONGFANG ELECT-A
21.52
0.419972
3804885
SHANGHAI ELECT-A
5.48
0.3663004
5113409
ALUMINUM CORP-A
6.95
2.0558
18421977
EVERBRIG SEC -A
13.39
-2.191381
10875327
SHANXI LU'AN -A
26.86
1.974184
12251316
16.13
0.1863354
17298950
GD MIDEA HOLDING
13.81
1.172161
16250599
SHANXI XINGHUA-A
75.96
3.038524
1787123
31433990
GD POWER DEVEL-A
2.58
-0.3861004
15008325
SHANXI XISHAN-A
17.81
3.426249
33893608
SHENZ DVLP BK-A
15.77
0.3180662
8569485
7.35
-0.6756757
12346259
ANHUI CONCH-A BANK OF BEIJIN-A BANK OF CHINA-A BANK OF COMMUN-A BAOSHAN IRON & S BYD CO LTD -A
9.77
-0.509165
NAME
3
0.3344482
8714988
30.5
-4.118202
12067944
4.71
0.856531
34425311
GREE ELECTRIC
21.73
0.4623209
8814415
SHENZEN OVERSE-A
4.8
0.2087683
12340018
GUIZHOU PANJIA-A
31.98
4.441541
8177901
SINOVEL WIND-A
15.38
0.1954397
716214
2995104
HAITONG SECURI-A
9.93
-1.292247
55031525
SUNING APPLIAN-A
9.8
-0.203666
26464092
HANGZHOU HIKVI-A
44.95
-2.705628
1569986
TONGLING NONFE-A
21.45
3.623188
22651820
3
0.6711409
14588830
TSINGTAO BREW-A
36.76
1.828255
1131292
24.58
1.570248
GF SECURITIES-A
NAME
CHINA CITIC BK-A
4.29
0.4683841
8097510
CHINA CNR CORP-A
4.28
2.884615
100172309
CHINA COAL ENE-A
9.17
1.325967
7127281
HENAN SHUAN-A
62.63
-0.5873016
951027
WEICHAI POWER-A
31.36
0.1277139
3212670
CHINA CONST BA-A
4.52
0.4444444
18576626
HUATAI SECURIT-A
10.51
-3.400735
22392037
WULIANGYE YIBIN
33.96
1.222057
22024196
9.79
-1.706827
40200242
XIAMEN TUNGSTEN
46.6
3.601601
10366391
HEBEI IRON-A
CHINA COSCO HO-A
5
-0.990099
10694933
HUAXIA BANK CO
CHINA CSSC HOL-A
31.59
-3.777033
13856811
IND & COMM BK-A
4.23
-0.4705882
39166846
XINJIANG GUANG-A
26.98
2.702703
10178311
CHINA EAST AIR-A
4.05
0.4962779
9875131
INDUSTRIAL BAN-A
13.48
0.4470939
26813155
YANGQUAN COAL -A
19.24
-0.1556824
16741889
CHINA EVERBRIG-A
2.95
0
23754270
INNER MONG BAO-A
44.8
2.775866
92709863
YANTAI CHANGYU-A
96.65
2.069912
743013
CHINA LIFE INS-A
17.78
0.2254791
5427391
INNER MONG YIL-A
22.95
2.227171
8238891
YANTAI WANHUA-A
14.31
1.633523
6300389
CHINA MERCH BK-A
11.64
0.6920415
46862803
INNER MONGOLIA-A
6.36
1.597444
74687876
YANZHOU COAL-A
22.84
0.7498897
6334750
CHINA MERCHANT-A
12.74
-0.5464481
12936709
JIANGSU HENGRU-A
28
0.3584229
1550090
YUNNAN BAIYAO-A
52
1.344767
1311673
JIANGSU YANGHE-A
168.08
7.077786
1645242
ZHONGJIN GOLD
22.91
0.9251101
10800754
25.61
1.950637
11486669
ZIJIN MINING-A
4.13
0.2427184
37168755
9.61
0
35892712
15.59
-2.501563
21029027
CHINA MERCHANT-A
23
0.9214568
2941985
CHINA MINSHENG-A
6.56
0.9230769
66183957
JIANGXI COPPER-A
CHINA OILFIELD-A
18.3
1.779755
5328928
JINDUICHENG -A
13.83
1.54185
6861501
CHINA PACIFIC-A
21.1
0.6199332
8143990
JIZHONG ENERGY-A
19.81
2.113402
15796424
CHINA PETROLEU-A
6.98
0.867052
25821767
KWEICHOW MOUTA-A
223.19
2.418319
2884345
CHINA RAILWAY-A
2.68
3.076923
55051692
LUZHOU LAOJIAO-A
42.78
2.246654
8739804
CHINA RAILWAY-A
4.36
3.317536
31944565
METALLURGICAL-A
2.64
1.538462
20553122
26
1.404056
13227933
NARI TECHNOLOG-A
19.79
-1.296758
6041703
CHINA SHIPBUIL-A
5.71
-0.1748252
18714512
NINGBO PORT CO-A
2.66
-5.673759
86235795
CHINA SOUTHERN-A
4.62
-0.4310345
15568024
PANGANG GROUP -A
8.01
3.088803
50760122
9.52
0.1051525
13367933
CHINA SHENHUA-A
ZOOMLION HEAVY-A ZTE CORP-A
MOVERS
32
10 2310
INDEX 2228.204
CHINA STATE -A
3.25
0.931677
33058259
PETROCHINA CO-A
CHINA UNITED-A
4.1
-0.4854369
43473917
PING AN INSURA-A
41.62
0.5071239
15580665
CHINA VANKE CO-A
8.67
1.048951
29233305
POLY REAL ESTA-A
12.72
-0.0785546
11601583
HIGH
2307.84
CHINA YANGTZE-A
6.72
-0.4444444
14121444
QINGDAO HAIER-A
12.03
-0.5785124
18830631
LOW
2228.2
CHONGQING WATE-A
6.31
1.610306
13894499
QINGHAI SALT-A
32.41
1.34459
3221441
CITIC SECURITI-A
12.94
-0.9946442
59987514
SAIC MOTOR-A
15.12
-0.3952569
11857754
CSR CORP LTD -A
4.83
3.426124
60371912
SANY HEAVY INDUS
13.71
0.2192982
17589018
7.5
0.6711409
61296772
SHANDONG GOLD-MI
34.34
0.556369
5819114
DAQIN RAILWAY -A
258
52W (H) 2907.398 (L) 2228.151
2220
23-Aug
27-Aug
FTSE TAIWAN 50 INDEX NAME
NAME
PRICE DAY %
Volume
ACER INC
26.45 -0.5639098
10465984
FORMOSA PLASTIC
ADVANCED SEMICON
22.55
0.8948546
16309197
FOXCONN TECHNOLO
ASIA CEMENT CORP
34.85 -0.7122507
1839782
ASUSTEK COMPUTER
279.5 -0.5338078
2118607 57888715
AU OPTRONICS COR
PRICE DAY %
Volume
NAME
PRICE DAY %
81.6
-0.729927
4140529
TAIWAN MOBILE CO
114.5
1.777778
10840282
TPK HOLDING CO L
FUBON FINANCIAL
30.2 -0.1652893
10209531
TSMC
HON HAI PRECISIO
87.5
0.6904488
32248085
UNI-PRESIDENT
HOTAI MOTOR CO
209.5
0.2392344
360324
UNITED MICROELEC
108 -0.4608295 394.5
Volume 3250826
-1.251564
5073436
83
1.219512
25735159
49.85
-2.446184
8727686
12.05 -0.8230453
21935017
9.25
-1.804671
CATCHER TECH
156
-1.886792
12062463
HTC CORP
257.5
-1.904762
18145751
WISTRON CORP
33.4
0.7541478
5387001
CATHAY FINANCIAL
29.6 -0.1686341
10839996
HUA NAN FINANCIA
16.25
0
3844766
YUANTA FINANCIAL
14.2
-2.739726
17261037
YULON MOTOR CO
54.8
-1.261261
3337906
CHANG HWA BANK CHENG SHIN RUBBE CHIMEI INNOLUX C CHINA DEVELOPMEN CHINA STEEL CORP CHINATRUST FINAN CHUNGHWA TELECOM COMPAL ELECTRON
15.45
0
5409822
LARGAN PRECISION
637
3.409091
3428535
72.5 -0.6849315
5486566
LITE-ON TECHNOLO
35.5 -0.5602241
2430153
10 -0.4975124
19588239
MEDIATEK INC
319
0.3144654
10374348
7.15 -0.4178273
26765894
MEGA FINANCIAL H
22.8
-1.084599
20169856
26 -0.3831418
17169821
NAN YA PLASTICS
57.4 -0.5199307
3990609
17.95 -0.2777778
16414586
90.1
0
26.7 -0.3731343
PRESIDENT CHAIN
165
0.9174312
548156
4945253
QUANTA COMPUTER
74.2
-0.669344
5277546
6536467
SILICONWARE PREC
DELTA ELECT INC
102.5
1.99005
2978737
SINOPAC FINANCIA
33.45 -0.7418398 12.2
0
6373840
FAR EASTERN NEW
31.55
0
4639580
SYNNEX TECH INTL
67.3
0.748503
1627310
FAR EASTONE TELE
74.9 -0.2663116
1848049
TAIWAN CEMENT
33.85 -0.1474926
3117807
12
32
6 5150
INDEX 5124.44
5166022
FIRST FINANCIAL
17.6
0.5714286
9899321
TAIWAN COOPERATI
16.6 -0.3003003
7768202
FORMOSA CHEM & F
79.5
-1.242236
3018886
TAIWAN FERTILIZE
74 -0.8042895
2712922
FORMOSA PETROCHE
89.2 -0.4464286
1266597
TAIWAN GLASS IND
29
2589349
0.6944444
MOVERS
HIGH
5150.31
LOW
5109.12
52W (H) 5621.53 (L) 4643.05
5110
23-Aug
27-Aug
August 28, 2012 business daily | 13
MARKETS GAMING STOCKS - DAILY PERFORMANCE (Hong Kong Stock Exchange) gaLaXy eNTerTaINMeNT
MeLCo CroWN eNTerTaINMeNT
MgM CHINa HoLDINgS 31.0
22.7
13.00
22.5 12.95
22.3
30.5
22.1
12.90
21.9 Max 22.7
average 22.354
Min 21.7
21.7
Last 21.75
Max 30.5
SaNDS CHINa LTD
average 30.5
Min 30.5
Last 30.5
30.0
SJM HoLDINgS LTD
Max 13
average 12.946
Min 12.86
Last 12.86
WyNN MaCaU LTD 16.2
27.9
19.1
27.7
19.0 16.1
27.5 27.3
18.9 18.8
16.0
27.1 average 27.427
Max 27.9
Min 27.05
26.9
Last 27.1
18.7 15.9 Max 16.12
average 16.023
Commodities PRICE
DAY %
YTD %
(H) 52W
(L) 52W
WTI CRUDE FUTURE Oct12
97.1
0.988039522
-1.501318726
110.6499939
78.15999603
BRENT CRUDE FUTR Oct12
114.55
0.845144819
9.543846227
123.2900009
89.11000061
GASOLINE RBOB FUT Sep12
319.59
3.830409357
20.31397056
320.4999924
237.3699903
GAS OIL FUT (ICE) Oct12
996.25
0.631313131
10.94097996
1044.75
799
2.754
1.92450037
-16.113311
4.630000114
2.221999884
316.42
1.739493907
11.06742953
332.9600096
251.5599966
1669.88
-0.0371
6.7077
1921.18
1522.75
NATURAL GAS FUTR Sep12 HEATING OIL FUTR Sep12 METALS
Gold Spot $/Oz Silver Spot $/Oz
30.845
0.203
10.8137
43.4088
26.085
Platinum Spot $/Oz
1540.75
-0.5615
10.4876
1896.75
1339.25
Palladium Spot $/Oz
647.08
-0.8382
-0.9824
792.93
537.54 1827.25
LME ALUMINUM 3MO ($)
1918
0.708847467
-5.04950495
2476
LME COPPER 3MO ($)
7640
-0.579087774
0.526315789
9304
6635
LME ZINC
1879
0.912996778
1.842818428
2311
1718.5
3MO ($)
LME NICKEL 3MO ($) AGRICULTURE ROUGH RICE (CBOT) Nov12 CORN FUTURE
Min 15.94
Last 16
16475
0
-11.9454837
22450
15236
15.85
1.019757808
4.242025649
17.5
14.15499973
812
0.432900433
38.50746269
849
499
Dec12
average 18.845
Last 18.78
Min 18.62
PRICE MAJORS
ASIA PACIFIC
CROSSES
AUD GBP CHF EUR JPY MOP HKD CNY INR THB SGD TWD PHP IDR AUDJPY EURCHF EURGBP EURCNY EURMOP EURJPY HKDMOP
(L) 52W
1.0857 1.6455 0.9972 1.4549 84.18 8.0413 7.8077 6.406 57.3275 32 1.3199 30.716 44.35 9662 88.637 1.24736 0.88845 9.2841 11.6793 111.94 1.0311
0.9388 1.5235 0.7712 1.2043 75.35 7.9823 7.7526 6.2769 45.7725 29.87 1.2021 28.911 41.57 8507 72.057 1.1002 0.77553 7.7018 9.6245 94.12 1.0288
MACAU RELATED STOCKS (H) 52W
(L) 52W
3.25
1.88
876522
153.6999969
CROWN LTD
9.11
1.334816
12.60816
9.29
7.47
849368
25.5
19.23999977
AMAX HOLDINGS LT
0.061
0
-29.88506
0.119
0.055
0
102.25
64.61000061
BOC HONG KONG HO
24.4
-0.8130081
32.6087
24.95
14.24
8746966
953.25
629.5
45.21486402
1760.5
1115.75
COFFEE 'C' FUTURE Dec12
162.9
0.648748842
-30.97457627
285.6499939
SUGAR #11 (WORLD) Oct12
19.58
-0.051046452
-14.23565484
COTTON NO.2 FUTR Dec12
75.69
0.638213004
-13.83196721
NAME
CENTURY LEGEND
World Stock MarketS - Indices YTD %
(H) 52W
1.7632 1.7114 -2.1794 -3.3717 -2.2496 0.1327 0.1444 -0.9737 -4.5851 0.8954 3.6285 1.0816 3.8125 -4.8773 -4.054 1.3097 5.1968 2.141 3.4641 1.1366 0.0097
16.81818
23.36805556
0.996246029
DAY %
YTD %
-0.7722008
-0.02813731
1748.75
PRICE
-0.1346 -0.0063 0.073 0.0959 -0.0127 0.005 0.0077 -0.0346 -0.2158 -0.1599 -0.04 0.02 -0.0118 -0.1573 0.1248 -0.0175 -0.1035 0.0904 0.007 -0.1015 0
2.57
888.25
SOYBEAN FUTURE Nov12
COUNTRY
DAY %
1.0389 1.5809 0.959 1.2524 78.68 7.989 7.7562 6.3569 55.615 31.27 1.2512 29.955 42.23 9534 81.746 1.20106 0.79222 7.9637 10.0054 98.54 1.03
ARISTOCRAT LEISU
WHEAT FUTURE(CBT) Dec12
NAME
18.6 Max 19.04
CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES
NAME ENERGY
(H) 52W
(L) 52W
PRICE
DAY % YTD %
VOLUME CRNCY
0.227
0
-1.30435
0.335
0.204
0
CHEUK NANG HLDGS
3.18
-0.3134796
13.57143
3.62
2.3
3000
CHINA OVERSEAS
18.2
-0.4376368
40.21572
19.16
9.99
7808404
CHINESE ESTATES
9.49
0
-24.08
13.68
8.3
0
CHOW TAI FOOK JE
9.84
-0.9063444
-29.31035
15.16
8.4
4741400 1215000
EMPEROR ENTERTAI FUTURE BRIGHT
1.4
0
26.12612
1.48
0.97
1.16
0
176.1905
1.24
0.3
528000
21.75
-3.333333
52.73877
24.95
8.69
11733000
DOW JONES INDUS. AVG
US
13157.97
0.7697515
7.697202
13338.66016
10404.49
NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX
US
3069.786
0.536516
17.83529
3134.17
2298.89
HANG SENG BK
111
0.7259528
20.45578
116.7
84.4
459582
FTSE 100 INDEX
GB
5776.6
0
3.666728
5989.07
4868.6
HOPEWELL HLDGS
25.3
0.7968127
27.39174
25.4
18.56
1485710
HSBC HLDGS PLC
DAX INDEX
GE
6962.03
-0.1296788
18.03351
7194.33
4965.8
NIKKEI 225
JN
9085.39
0.1612875
7.451378
10255.15
8135.79
GALAXY ENTERTAIN
68.05
-0.3660322
15.33898
71.8
56
6202852
HUTCHISON TELE H
3.78
-1.034167
26.4214
3.88
2.53
1726000
LUK FOOK HLDGS I
21.45
1.41844
-20.84871
42.7
14.7
2526000
MELCO INTL DEVEL
6.18
-1.904762
7.10572
9.17
4.3
1901000
MGM CHINA HOLDIN
12.86
0.46875
34.06791
14.804
7.6
1339600
4.18
-3.016241
5.714475
5.217
2.887
3907000
HANG SENG INDEX
HK
19798.67
-0.4092549
7.400729
21760.33984
16170.35
CSI 300 INDEX
CH
2228.204
-2.086104
-5.010689
2907.398
2228.151
TAIWAN TAIEX INDEX
TA
7468.22
-0.1245064
5.601466
8170.72
6609.11
MIDLAND HOLDINGS
KOSPI INDEX
SK
1917.87
-0.1010517
5.046173
2057.28
1644.11
NEPTUNE GROUP
0.162
0.621118
45.94594
0.205
0.08
14230000
S&P/ASX 200 INDEX
AU
4343.699
-0.1217753
7.078378
4448.5
3840.2
NEW WORLD DEV
9.96
-1.581028
59.10543
10.96
6.13
6477688
ID
4145.878
0.01155498
8.474272
4234.734
3217.951
SANDS CHINA LTD
27.1
-1.811594
23.46241
33.05
14.9
8578606
FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI
MA
1648.13
7.669545
1655.39
1310.53
SHUN HO RESOURCE
1.13
0
13
1.28
0.82
0
SHUN TAK HOLDING
2.8
-0.3558719
9.412256
3.892
2.241
1604337
NZX ALL INDEX
NZ
803.306
0.01568764
10.07203
818.513
712.548
SJM HOLDINGS LTD
16
0.1251564
27.94334
18.285
10.079
3212300
PHILIPPINES ALL SHARE IX
PH
3429.29
-0.9396791
12.61888
3531.5
2695.06
SMARTONE TELECOM
16.68
-0.9501188
24.10715
18.5
9.8
652420
WYNN MACAU LTD
18.78
-0.7399577
-3.692308
25.5
14.62
1385200
JAKARTA COMPOSITE INDEX
12.85
HSBC Dragon 300 Index Singapor
SI
585.41
-0.62
17.95
NA
NA
STOCK EXCH OF THAI INDEX
TH
1234.57
-0.2117702
20.40826
1247.72
843.69
HO CHI MINH STOCK INDEX
VN
386.19
-3.384869
9.853511
492.44
332.28
BOC HONG KONG HO
Laos Composite Index
LO
1056.1
0
17.41489
1064.23
876.33
GALAXY ENTERTAIN
ASIA ENTERTAINME
4.23
1.682692
-28.06123
8
2.4
163029
BALLY TECHNOLOGI
44.38
-0.0225276
12.18402
49.32
24.74
371568
3.1
0
29.31821
3.25
1.81
10500
2.9
1.754386
55.08021
3.24
1.08
1576
12.02
0.3338898
-30.11628
18.1701
10.92
3686937
JONES LANG LASAL
71.5
-0.08384572
16.71564
87.52
46.01
251984
LAS VEGAS SANDS
42.63
-1.136364
-0.2340265
62.09
34.72
6609615
MELCO CROWN-ADR
11.9
-0.5016722
23.70063
16.02
7.05
4003399
MGM CHINA HOLDIN
1.64
0
37.61931
1.96
1.0025
10400
MGM RESORTS INTE
10.31
0.1943635
-1.15053
14.9401
7.4
5613251
SHUFFLE MASTER
14.44
0.06930007
23.20819
18.77
7.55
135558
2.03
0
26.27733
2.3177
1.2624
20217
105.33
0.171184
-4.670104
154.7051
90.108
1287489
INTL GAME TECH
Shanghai Shenzhen Composite index is listing the biggest companies by market capitalisation. All data supplied by Bloomberg unless otherwise indicated.
SJM HOLDINGS LTD WYNN RESORTS LTD
AUD HKD
USD
14 |
business daily August 28, 2012
Opinion
Julian Assange’s misrule of law Ana Palacio Former Spanish foreign minister and former Senior Vice President of the World Bank, is a member of the Spanish Council of State
people are persecuted by journalists, who think that by having a pen and a microphone they can direct even their resentment against you. They often insult and slander out of sheer dislike. These are mass media serving someone’s private interests.” And yet this statement came in an exchange with none other than Assange, the self-proclaimed crusader for freedom of expression, during a recent TV show aired on a Russian channel controlled by President Vladimir Putin’s government. Unfortunately, the sham rule of law pushed by Assange, Correa, and other populists is gaining adherents in today’s globalised world. This is dangerous, because their signature approach is the selective and inconsistent application of legal or quasi-legal principles and precepts, which is the very opposite of the rule of law’s dependence on generality and predictability. By distorting reality and impugning the Swedish legal system – a standardbearer for legal certainty, fairness, and professionalism – the champions of this subversion are undermining the foundations of an international system that serves as a bulwark against totalitarian impulses.
Strange silence Embassy of Ecuador in London
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he uproar surrounding Ecuador’s grant of political asylum to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has obscured huge inconsistencies. Only by examining them can we understand what is truly at stake in the case. For starters, a government with a dubious record on freedom in general, and press freedom in particular, is waving the flag of rule of law and respect for freedom of expression while casting doubt on Sweden, a country that leads the world in its respect for due process and international law. That is not all. The head of Assange’s legal team, Baltasar Garzón, has been a fervid champion of the narrowest interpretation of political asylum, gaining international standing with his successful petition to extradite Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Now, however, he is advocating exactly the opposite. Assange’s rejection of extradition to Sweden for questioning on allegations of sexual assault is based on the supposed interference in the case by the United States. But no such interference has materialised in any way, shape, or form. So, while Ecuador waves the banner of anti-colonialism against Britain, the bottom line is that Assange, Garzón, and Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa are simply playing the old “blame America” card to evade a properly issued European Arrest
The strangest aspect of the Assange affair is the deafening silence on the part of those actors and institutions whose existence and legitimacy emanates from the completeness of the rule of law
Warrant (EAW), upheld by the United Kingdom’s Supreme Court.
Populism aplenty Beyond the facts of the Assange case, its significance consists in the current rise of a brand of populism that cloaks itself in the rule of law while invariably undermining the law’s reach and enforcement. Ecuador’s stance on the case has been echoed by other members of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), including Cuba
and Venezuela. And yet, according to Reporters without Borders (RWB), Ecuador ranked 104th out of 179 countries for press freedom in 20112012. Similarly, the 2012 Freedom House Index (FHI) classifies Ecuador as “partly free,” and on a declining trend. It is also worth noting that Venezuela, ALBA’s leading member, ranks no better (117th on the RWB scale and also “partly free” on the 2012 FHI). In marked contrast, Sweden leads the RWB’s rankings, and is one of only two states to receive excellent scores on both political and civil liberties from Freedom House. Beyond the numbers, RWB and Freedom House have noted a decline in freedom in Ecuador recently, pointing to Correa’s persistent campaign against media critics, his government’s use of state resources to influence the outcome of a referendum, and the reorganisation of the judiciary in blatant violation of constitutional provisions. Meanwhile, a recent report on Venezuela by the International Crisis Group notes unfair conditions established in the run-up to the upcoming presidential election and the absence of a level playing field for the media. Correa’s recent statements embody these contradictions. As recently as May 2012, he pontificated that “[t]he governments trying to do something for the majority of the
Yet the strangest aspect of the Assange affair is the deafening silence on the part of those actors and institutions whose existence and legitimacy emanates from the completeness of the rule of law. The European Union’s silence is perhaps the most disturbing. The official Web site of the European External Action Service includes a plethora of pronouncements and condemnations on issues ranging from Syria to Madagascar to Texas, but a keyword search of “Assange” returns a single entry from April 2012 on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s reaction to WikiLeaks. Indeed, no EU leader – not the verbose European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, the ever-grey president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, or the cautious High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton – has seen fit to counter unfounded attacks on two EU members. Nor have they bothered to defend a muchheralded cornerstone instrument of the Union – the EAW, under which the UK first detained Assange. How is it that the EU, much criticised for its proclivity for declarations and statements, is silent on an issue where its voice not only would make sense, but also could make a difference? Whatever the reason, it is time that the Union’s leadership reverse course and speak out, loudly and clearly, taking the initiative that other international leaders and organisations would, one hopes, heed and emulate. © Project Syndicate
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August 28, 2012 business daily | 15
OPINION
Time for Germany’s Bundesbank wires to put up or shut up Business
Leading reports from Asia’s best business newspapers
Korea Herald Samsung Electronics Co., the world‘s top memory chip maker, extended its share of the global semiconductor market to more than 10 percent in the second quarter of the year. According to market information provider iSupply, Samsung accounted for 10.1 percent of the global semiconductor market in the April-June period, or US$7.57 billion, to rank second among the world’s major chip makers. It marks the first time that Samsung‘s global market share has topped the 10 percent mark.
Japan Times In an extraordinary move, drugmaker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. has announced it will start selling medicine via mail order and over the Internet in September. Kobayashi had been selling nutritional supplements and cosmetics in this manner but now intends to expand its offerings through these channels to foster a future growth segment. Kobayashi Pharmaceutical plans to sell medicines designed to treat high cholesterol, joint and back pain and flatulence as well as offer vitamin products. The company hopes to start taking orders from its 480,000-strong customer base on September 1.
Jakarta Globe India’sReliancePowerannounced it had signed a deal with China Datang to develop and operate power and energy projects in India and Indonesia. The companies plan to develop Reliance’s three coal mines in Indonesia and maintain and operate power plants in India and other markets. State-run China Datang has an installed generation capacity of 105,896 megawatts – equalling more than half of India’s current generation capacity – and China is keenly eyeing opportunities in its Asian neighbours.
Business Standard The demand for commercial real estate in India has dropped around 30 percent in the past year, prompted by the economic slowdown. This, in turn, has resulted in at least a 15 percent decline in rentals across many locations. In some areas, office rentals have come down by as much as 50 percent. The slowdown has affected the number of office space deals, as companies are moving from prime locations to suburbs or taking up smaller offices.
Clive Crook Paula Dwyer Bloomberg editors
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he future of the euro and maybe of the European Union itself will turn in the next few weeks on a disagreement between Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, and Jens Weidmann, head of the Bundesbank. Draghi wants the ECB to do “whatever it takes” to preserve the single currency. Weidmann doesn’t. A question arises: how did the Bundesbank, representing just one nation among the 17 members of the euro area, ever acquire the veto over ECB policy it is apparently allowed to wield? There are two main answers. First, when the Bundesbank ruled the roost as Germany’s central bank, its reputation was peerless. In some ways the ECB was modelled on it, and the habit of deference persists. But while the Bundesbank still calls itself a central bank, its role now is to serve as a regional office of the ECB. Second, Germany is the biggest economy in the euro area. But so what? Votes on the ECB’s governing council are distributed not by shares of euro-area gross domestic product or ECB capital. The ECB was purposely designed so that every country in the system sends a member to the council; each of those members has one vote. Germany doesn’t actually have a veto; it just talks as though it does, and the rest of the council usually goes along. Don’t be fooled; Germany understands the limit of its power. Some of its politicians have started complaining about it, saying it’s wrong that Malta has as much voting power as Germany and the rules should be changed. They are worried that Germany’s minority view on the council might soon be voted down.
Buying bonds It has happened before: Axel Weber, a previous Bundesbank president, was outvoted when the ECB decided to buy Greek bonds before resigning early last year. This is how it should be. Minority views on bodies like the council are supposed to be voted down. You might sympathise with the view from Berlin until you understand that one-man, onevote was deliberately written into the ECB’s architecture to prevent what has arisen – policy guided by national interest, rather than by the interests of Europe as a whole. The design, which Germany had a disproportionate say in drawing up, aimed to suppress the very idea of national representatives, which weighted votes would
German Bundesbank, Frankfurt-am Main
have affirmed. At Germany’s insistence, Weidmann’s job under ECB rules is not to represent Germany. It’s the same as Draghi’s – to represent Europe. Weidmann, to be sure, could plausibly say that’s exactly what he’s doing. We’ve been making the case for months that the ECB should act as a lender of last resort by standing behind distressed but solvent sovereign borrowers, and should squelch any doubts that may arise about the system’s integrity. We can see that the case isn’t open and shut; intervention on the needed scale does create moral hazard, as Weidmann has said, and how far you can control it is open to debate. Yet the case against a lender-of-last-resort role for the ECB is increasingly being cast in terms of national interests. You can see why. Measures to help Europe’s distressed governments are increasingly unpopular in Germany. And whatever the rules say, Germany has the power that comes from knowing the euro system needs Germany rather more than it needs Greece.
Undermining confidence Even so, it’s wrong to let those points play so prominent a role, and not just because the ECB’s job isn’t to balance national interests. It’s also wrong because it undermines confidence in the euro project itself. Once the ECB engages, or is seen to engage, with the question of who gets helped and at whose expense, the entire notion of monetary union is called into question. After Draghi’s August 2 promise to defend the euro by any means necessary, German
Since credibility is all, the survival of the system must not be kept perpetually in doubt
Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble expressed agreement – admittedly, not in the clearest terms. (Schaeuble said he would support stronger ECB action “within its mandate.”) In subsequent comments, both have offered the Bundesbank sufficient cover to soften its line. Right now, though, Weidmann may be more
closely aligned with German public opinion than Germany’s elected leaders, a strange position for a central banker to be in and, under present circumstances, an unhealthy one. In our view, the Bundesbank is wrong on the merits about the right way to support the euro system. Whatever their views on that, however, Europe’s central bankers should think back to the founding of the euro and remember how monetary policy in a genuine union is supposed to be run. Since credibility is all, the survival of the system must not be kept perpetually in doubt. And as Germany once insisted, the key to centralbank credibility is political independence. Weidmann must make it clear that he is more concerned about Europe than Germany. That goes with the job. And if need be, the rest of the council must be willing to overrule him. That goes with the job, too. Bloomberg View
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business daily August 28, 2012
CLOSING Iran relaxed on oil market
Tension continues in S. Africa mine
Iran’s governor to OPEC, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, said the international market is balanced and that his country is exporting crude to its usual buyers, without identifying any of these customers. “The global oil market is balanced now, and there isn‘t any extra supply,” he said. “The increase of demand in the global market during the cold season will help the rising trend of prices.” Buyers can use their own tankers and insurance to import Iranian oil, or Iran’s own fleet can deliver it, he added. The European Union banned purchases of Iranian crude on July 1.
Hundreds of defiant strikers regrouped for a protest yesterday near the spot where South African police killed 34 of their colleagues, as platinum giant Lonmin Plc said only 13 percent of employees had shown up for work. The world’s number three platinum firm attributed the sharp drop in attendance to intimidation, after a high of 57 percent of workers reported for duty at the weekend. Around 600 strikers gathered in an open space, just metres from where police shot dead 34 of their colleagues on August 16. Police in armoured trucks kept a close watch over the crowd.
Clinton to attend Pacific Islands Forum Planned trip underlines new regional policy focus
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.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to make a rare foray to the South Pacific this week, in a move analysts say is aimed at curbing China’s growing influence among the region’s small island nations. While Mrs Clinton’s previous trips to the area have focused on Canberra and Wellington, this time she is expected to visit the Cook Islands, a nation of just 11,000 people. The reason is to attend a regional summit hosted by the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), a group consisting mainly of small island states, along with resource-rich Papua New Guinea and the dominant regional powers Australia and New Zealand, both U.S. allies. The impoverished, strategically unimportant island states dropped off Washington’s radar many years ago, former New Zealand diplomat Michael Powles said, as China cultivated diplomatic ties through aid and bilateral agreements. Mr Powles, a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies in Wellington, said the presence of Washington’s top diplomat at the PIF summit would send a pointed message to Beijing that the U.S. intends to re-engage in the region. “If you’re going to be crude about it, it’s almost the Americans saying ‘Hey, don’t forget about us’,” he told. “The U.S. has suddenly started doing a lot more in the Pacific after quite a long time of doing the absolute minimal amount, whereas over the last few years China has been pretty active.” Forum organisers have prepared for Mrs Clinton’s visit, although
Hillary Clinton takes the message across: ‘we are back’
the U.S. State Department has not confirmed her travel plans, in line with normal protocols. Annmaree O’Keeffe, a Pacific specialist at Australia-based thinktank the Lowy Institute, said Washington’s renewed focus on the island states was part of a broader move in U.S. foreign policy towards the Asia-Pacific region. The policy involves the U.S. boosting diplomatic and military resources in the Asia-Pacific, now recognised by the U.S. as a key driver in the global economy, while its engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan winds down. Ms O’Keeffe said Mrs Clinton’s expected appearance at the Cook Islands PIF was “a sideshow” in
the larger context of Washington’s policy shift but represented the U.S. waving the flag in even the remotest areas of the Pacific. “When you have a summit like this it brings together all the main players in one spot, so it’s an important place to be if you’re trying to rebuild your knowledge and influence in the region.” The United States has its own Pacific territories in Guam, the Northern Marianas, Hawaii and American Samoa, as well as close ties with Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands. However, excluding American Samoa, they are all located in the northern or central Pacific, leaving the South Pacific with scant attention from
Washington in recent years. Lowy Institute estimated last year that China had pledged more than US$600 million since 2005 in “soft loans” offering long interest-free periods to nations such as Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands. In contrast, she said the major commitment the U.S. currently has in the South Pacific was a recently-announced US$20 million environmental programme. Mr Powles said while China may be mildly suspicious about U.S. attempts to improve diplomatic ties in the South Pacific, its chief concern would be if Washington pushed the island nations to agree to more military cooperation. AFP
Seoul says free trade talks ‘difficult’ Negotiations marred by maritime territorial spat Cynthia Kim
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outh Korea said resuming negotiations with Japan over a free trade agreement will be difficult given a maritime territorial spat. “Soured relations between Korea and Japan pose a difficulty for us,” head trade negotiator Choi Kyung Lim said at a briefing yesterday in Seoul. “It is difficult for us to decide whether we will resume the talks unless these problems are resolved.” Mr Choi’s comments were the latest indication economic ties between Asia’s second and fourth-
biggest economies have soured since South Korean President Lee Myung Bak’s August 10 visit to rocky islets claimed by both nations. Japan last week said the spat threatens a bond purchase deal that was aimed to strengthen regional cooperation in the face of global uncertainty. “The deal won’t progress for years with the relationship between the two sides this bad,” said Kim Hyung Joo, an economist at the LG Economics Research Institute in Seoul. “There may be working-level discussions, but it will be all- talk,
no-action in this climate.” Japan is South Korea’s secondbiggest trading partner, and commerce between the two rose 16.8 percent to US$108 billion in 2011, according to the Korea International Trade Association website. The two countries played diplomatic ping-pong last week over a letter Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda wrote to Mr Lee protesting the visit to the rocks, known as Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean. South Korea returned the letter without response
because it referred to the islets by the Japanese name. Japan’s foreign ministry initially refused to accept the returned letter. Mr Noda last Friday said Japan will increase security around its outlying islands given separate disputes with South Korea and China. He called South Korea’s occupation of the islets “illegal.” The islets are 87 kilometres (54 miles) east of the closest South Korean territory and 158 kilometres from the nearest Japanese land. Sovereignty over the area means control of fishing grounds and natural gas reserves, and South Korea has bolstered its claims by stationing coast guard personnel there year-round. Bloomberg