Macau Business Daily, June 6, 2012

Year I - Number 48 - Wednesday June 6, 2012 Editor-in-chief: Tiago Azevedo Deputy editor-in-chief: José I. Duarte

MOP 6.00

Beautifully structured - Wynn Cotai funding Page 2

Roads to reform

Legislator walkout over politics revamp T

hree members walked out of the Legislative Assembly yesterday in protest at the city’s political reform programme. They complain the changes will make the system less accountable than before by disproportionately increasing the number of indirectly elected seats in the chamber.

The reform adds four new seats to the Legislative Assembly, divided equally between directly and indirectly elected. But that means indirectly elected membership rises higher in real terms. In addition, the reform package adds 100 seats to the election committee of Macau’s Chief Executive.

Pan-democrats Ng Kuok Cheong, Au Kam San and Paul Chan Wai Chi all voted against the changes and Mr Ng and Mr Au then exited the chamber. But the bill passed anyway with the necessary two-thirds plus majority. Another member, José Pereira Coutinho, left the chamber prior to the voting process being completed.

The political reforms were based on flawed consultation and take the political system “backwards, not forwards,” said the New Macau Association yesterday; emphasising the point with a banner in several locations around the city.

But Secretary for Administration and Justice, Florinda Chan, said the reform was fully in accord with the “position of the government” and it had the “support of the population”.

Sunny side down: egg price rockets

Page 7

China services PMI in 19-month high page 8 & 9 www.macaubusinessdaily.com

Brought to you by

More on page 3

HANG SENG INDEX 18400

18360

18320

18280

18240

18200

Blue skies above red tape

City’s China FDI at 10-yr low

Clear business opportunities rather than ease of regulations will draw investors to Hengqin New Area, local small and medium-sized enterprises tell Business Daily. The priority is “what business opportunities they can have” – regulations come second, said Wong Din Kun, a trading firm boss.

Hengqin Business Bureau was set up last month under the jurisdiction of Guangdong province with a pledge to simplify commercial red tape.

Despite tax breaks and favourable rules, direct investment from Macau to the mainland dropped by more than onethird in the first four months of 2012. Under the Common Economic Partnership Arrangement – known as CEPA – Macau and its neighbouring Special Administrative Region Hong Kong are given many incentives to boost trade with the motherland in the move to integrate further Greater China’s economy.

Page 4

Page 5

La Scala still on hold The government will wait to receive the Court of Final Appeal’s judgement in Ao Man Long’s third corruption trial before making any decision on whether to take back the La Scala plots, the staff of the secretary for transport and public works, Lau Si Io, said yesterday.

They issued a written statement saying the government “does not

exclude the possibility” of revoking the 2006 concession of the five plots on which the La Scala housing development will occupy.

They said the government it would “start the relevant procedures, according to the law and the experiences acquired in handling plot concessions” involved in Mr Ao’s first two corruption trials.

Last month Mr Lau said 16 deals impugned in Mr Ao’s first two trials had been revoked.

But yesterday the statement made no mention of the eight plots granted in

June 5

HSI - Movers

March 2011, a concession criticised

by Chan Meng Kam yesterday.

Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, Mr Chan said that even though housing prices had soared, the plots granted in 2011 had been granted at the same average price of 270 patacas (US$33.80) per square foot as the plots granted in 2006.

He also questioned the “unusually” fast approval of the request filed by La Scala developer Chinese Estates Holdings to merge the 13 plots into a single parcel.

V.Q.

Name

%Day

TPK HOLDING CO L

6.99

ACER INC

6.97

SINOPAC FINANCIA

6.90

HOTAI MOTOR CO

6.41

LARGAN PRECISION

4.16

UNITED MICROELEC

-0.42

FORMOSA PLASTIC

-0.78

FORMOSA CHEM & F

-1.31

COMPAL ELECTRON

-1.55

FAR EASTONE TELE

-1.62

Source: Bloomberg

Brought to you by

2012-6-06

2012-6-07

2012-6-08

25˚ 31˚

26˚ 31˚

27˚ 32˚

2 |

business daily June 6, 2012

Photo by Manuel Cardoso

macau

Growth of the market has been so spectacular, the expansion so dramatic, it is unrealistic for it to continue at that rate Steve Wynn, chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts Ltd

US$4bn price tag for Wynn Cotai Scheme may take 6 months longer than first hoped Associate Editor

W

ynn Cotai will cost US$4 billion to build and will have around 500 gaming tables confirmed the project’s creator Steve Wynn in a media briefing yesterday.

Mr Wynn, the 70-year-old chairman and chief executive of Wynn Resorts Ltd and Wynn Macau said: “We are very confident that the US$3.9 or US$4 billion that we are investing is well considered and will have an appropriate return,” adding “We use about 500 table games a year in this building [at Wynn Macau], and we don’t see why we would need any more in the [new] hotel.” He said the split on table numbers would be 60:40 in favour of the mass-market, the same as Wynn Macau.

The casino entrepreneur revealed the Wynn Cotai project would take nearly four years to build rather than the three-and-a-half years originally suggested, because of the need for deep pilings – up to 92 metres, equivalent nearly to the length of a football field – on what is a landfill site reclaimed from the Pearl River Delta. “… a job like this is 46-48 months, as opposed to 34 or 36 months in a place like New York City where everything is resting on granite,” said the Wynn chairman.

He said he wasn’t worried that a slowdown in demand for VIP gambling in May might prove to be a trend and pose any kind of threat to the economics of the scheme.

“Right now, the company’s cash position is close to US$2 billion and our debt is beautifully structured and the maturities are way out there and we have very low debt,” stated Mr Wynn.

Slowing market Data showed last week that gambling revenue growth in Macau had slowed to 7.3 percent in May. That was its slowest expansion

rate since July 2009 although total revenue was still the second highest for a single month.

“I am not sure that the picture is clear that there has been a marked slowdown,” said Mr Wynn. “The market is still growing, and I think that it will continue to grow,” he added. “Growth of the market has been so spectacular, the expansion so dramatic, it is unrealistic for it to continue at that rate.”

A senior executive from one of Wynn’s Macau market rivals, Las Vegas Sands Corp., said at a Goldman Sachs investor conference in New York on Monday that the Macau mass-market continued

down because of the nature of the business.”

Mr Wynn conceded that even if demand for gambling remains strong in Macau, with only two percent employment in the city and infrastructure schemes happening all over the Pearl River Delta region, it would be a challenge to get the necessary labour for Wynn Cotai.

“With all the public work being done is Southern China, in Guangdong province, Hong Kong and here in Macau – light rail, buildings being built, schools being built, there is

give you all the tools you need to get the job done. In other words, it is time to get going, Steve. Build the next hotel, and that is exactly what we are going to do.”

One of the features of Wynn Cotai revealed by Mr Wynn was a plan for an air-conditioned, Austrian-built ‘gondola’ lift or cable car to transport up to 216 people at a time around the non-stop fountains planned for the eight-acre (3.2- hectare) lake at the front of the property.

Casino gambling revenue will probably increase by 15 percent to 24 billion patacas in Macau this month, Citigroup Inc. analysts including Anil Daswani said in

to be robust.

Michael Leven, president and chief operating officer of LVS told that conference: “I don’t think on a mass market basis we’ve seen anything negative whatsoever. The high end gaming is always going to be a bit choppy and go up and

a tremendous pressure on labour.

Unemployment in Macau hardly exists. This is a fully employed community.”

But he added: “What is interesting here; is that once this government sends a signal or gives you permission to proceed, then they

a note with a Monday dateline.

Morgan Stanley analysts including Praveen Choudhary forecast 17 percent growth.

The Macau government approved a 51-acre (20.6-hectare) concession on the city’s Cotai strip for the unit of Wynn Resorts Ltd on May 2.

Labour squeeze

June 6, 2012 business daily | 3

MACAU

Assembly passes reforms despite protest walkouts The Legislative Assembly passes the government-backed political reforms without the support of three legislators who walk out in protest Kelsey Wilhelm

kelsey.wilhelm@macaubusinessdaily.com

T

Photo by Manuel Cardoso

hree members walked out of the Legislative Assembly chamber yesterday in protest against the governmentbacked political reforms, which the assembly nevertheless approved by the required majority.

The reforms add four seats to the Legislative Assembly, two directly elected and two indirectly elected, and add 100 members to the committee that elects of the chief executive.

Legislator José Pereira Coutinho stalked out of the chambers during the first part of the voting process, after telling Secretary for Administration and Justice Florinda Chan that she “should have done her homework”.

He expressed disbelief at her response to his questions about the analysis of public opinion on political reform, saying: “I don’t know if you’re lying or didn’t prepare”.

He did not vote on either of the two bills setting out the reforms.

Pan-democrats Ng Kuok Cheong and Au Kam San also left in protest, but only after casting their votes against the reforms.

Unlike conventional bills, the reform bills had to get the approval of least two-thirds of all legislators, which meant 20 votes. Only the

New Macau legislators – Mr Ng, Mr Au and Paul Chan Wai Chi – voted against them.

The three legislators that left the chamber expressed discontent with the lack of progress towards universal suffrage and with what they consider the misrepresentation of public opinion during the consultation process.

The reforms mean the directly elected legislators as a group will have insufficient votes to reject any government bill.

Ms Chan said the reforms had the “support of the population”.

Mr Coutinho impugned the accuracy of this assertion, showing opinions signed “Barack Obama” and “David Cameron” which, he said, had been gathered during the two rounds of public consultations.

Ms Chan denied having seen these names on opinions submitted.

The authorities had sifted through “hundreds of thousands of responses,” she said.

Lack of understanding The process had been conducted fully in accordance with the Chinese National People’s Congress’s interpretation of the Basic Law, Ms

Banners condemn ‘backward’ reform The political reforms approved by the Legislative Assembly yesterday take the political system “backwards, not forwards,” says the banner that the New Macau Association had up yesterday at the Rua do Campo pedestrian overpass. “Corruption will increase, not decrease,” it says. A similar banner, including the image of former government secretary Ao Man Long, who has been sentenced to 29 years in prison for corruption and money laundering, was placed near the Legislative Assembly. The association planned to hang a third banner at the Iao Hon garden to protest against the government-backed political reforms.

Legislators yesterday approved the government-backed political reforms

Chan said.

Writing in her blog last month, former head of the Legislative Assembly Susana Chou expressed her regret that the government had refused to carry out a third round of public consultation on political reform.

Ms Chou wrote that there had been “few or even no” discussions about the political system in general during the consultations, which had focused only on change and the direction of that change.

Several legislators echoed the sentiment that there is a general lack of understanding of the Basic Law. Mr Chan said there had been a need for more transparency in the process to inform the people of the purpose of the changes in the political system.

The increase in the size of the committee that elects the chief executive, he said, was done “to keep it the same”.

“The population doesn’t know the Basic Law,” legislator Mak Soi Kun said. “Many people concentrate on the region without a vision of the country as a whole. Society is divided, in their opinion.”

Legislator Angela Leong On Kei voted in favour of the political reforms, but she also called for better representation of certain industries in the electoral commission.

Other legislators said representation is disproportionately skewed in favour of the financial and banking sector.

“The tourism industry is the pillar of the economy and brings a significant number of workers [to Macau]. I propose this industry be represented in the electoral commission,” Ms Leong said.

Legislator Tsui Wai Kwan expressed full support for the reforms, saying: “These changes correspond to the necessities [of the situation] and ... consolidate our political system.”

But Mr Chan said that a political system that allowed the corruption scandal involving former secretary Ao Man Long was in need of change.

“Without a good regime, a good person can become a bad person” he said.

The bills must now get the chief executive’s assent before being sent to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee for final approval.

Deposit protection up in September

B

ank deposits in Macau will be better protected starting September, thanks to the introduction of a formal deposit protection scheme that was yesterday approved unanimously at the Legislative Assembly.

While the bill was being discussed at the assembly’s third standing committee, legislators had feared that the inclusion of a maximum limit of 500,000 patacas (US$62,600) would create a legal conflict with other laws.

But during yesterday’s final voting no legislator raised any issues with the bill, which was quickly passed.

A temporary protection scheme has been in force since the 2009 global financial crisis but now a formal mechanism will ensure that, if a bank flounders, its clients would be compensated up to 500,000 patacas.

The money will come from the 300-million-pataca Deposit Protection Fund, which will receive a start-up allocation of 150 million patacas from the government.

Banks will begin contributing in 2014. The Monetary Authority of Macau expects the first yearly contribution from banks to reach about 44 million patacas.

V.Q.

4 |

business daily June 6, 2012

macau Brought to you by

SMEs want long-term vision for Hengqin

HOSPITALITY Complex trends The growth in the number of hotels and rooms has increased notably since 2004.

This is to be expected, given the evolution of the gaming sector and its related activities, which brought increasing numbers of visitors to the city. A few numbers illustrate this evolution well, and have often been quoted.

The number of hotels of all kinds rose by 25 to 95 between 2004 and 2011. Recent additions will show in the statistics shortly. The number of rooms increased by 2.4 times, to more than 22,000. The number of guests rose by 2.2 times. Most of the new hotels were at the top end of the market, having five stars. These are remarkable figures and are good indicators of the enormous changes this region is going through. But other relevant indicators have displayed less obvious trends and suggest a lot can still be done to realise fully the potential created by the hotel sector’s growth.

Rooms: Occupation rate (%) 100

91

82

73

64

Ja Jun-04 Non-04 v Ap -04 Se r-05 p Fe -05 b Ju -06 M l-0 ay 6 Oc -07 M t-0 a 7 Au r-08 Jag-08 Jun-09 Non-09 v Ap -09 Se r-10 p Fe -10 b Ju -11 De l-1 1 c-1 1

55

Occupation rates have risen over the years, but remain volatile and subject to monthly oscillation, possibly as supply is running ahead of demand. The biggest drop took place in 2009. Until then, the growth in the indicator had been very slow. It seems to have accelerated after that big drop, as some of the new integrated facilities may have increased the attractiveness of visiting the city.

It is still true, though, that the rising trend plotted in the chart is a poor statistical fit with the actual data.

Guests: Nights of stay (nights) 1.6

1.5

1.4

1.3

1.2

Ja n Ju -04 n Ja -04 n Ju -05 n Ja -05 n Ju -06 n Ja -06 n Ju -07 n Ja -07 n Ju -08 n Ja -08 n Ju -09 n Ja -09 n Ju -10 n Ja -10 n Ju -11 n Ja -11 n12

1.1

Similarly, the length-of-stay indicator also requires interpretation that is less than straightforward. We have a big jump in late 2008. The figures seem to represent two separate realities before and after. Before, the values are stable and oscillate between 1.15 and 1.25 nights. After, they go up two notches and reach a higher plateau. They also become more volatile.

J.I.D.

The Hengqin authorities have eased the rules for running a business, but Macau SMEs long for a long-term plan Tony Lai

tony.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com

M

acau’s small and medium enterprises are welcome to take advantage of a newlycreated business authority and revised registration rules on Hengqin Island, but they have told Business Daily that a complete development plan is far more important.

The new Hengqin Business Bureau was set up last month under the jurisdiction of Guangdong province, to enhance convenience to enterprises on the island.

One of its latest measures, announced on May 24, is the simplification of business registration there.

New regulations exempt businesses owned and run by an individual from business registration. They can start businesses on the island immediately after they have completed a taxation application.

For other kinds of business, business registration is simplified, as they are no longer required to submit proof of their capital, and enterprises can set up branches with a single business licence.

The process of business registration takes from a day to a week at most, making it faster than the original process, which could take a whole month.

Kenneth Lei, administrator of the Macau Small and Medium Enterprises Association, said SMEs generally welcome these new rules, which could provide easier access to Hengqin for the city’s businesses.

The general manager of a retailer,

Tse Yin Man, said her company was interested in investing in Hengqin and that the revised regulations may compel it to “quicken the decision”.

Under the Mainland and Macau Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, Macau enterprises can operate in 28 kinds of business in mainland China in wholesaling, retailing and restaurants.

No concrete plan Hoi Sio Tong, who runs a retailing business, is interested but he will not operate on Hengqin in the near future, as he is not quite sure about the overall plan for the island.

Wong Din Kun, the owner of a trading company, has similar misgivings. He said: “I don’t know what the projects are and the information is scattered.”

He added that the priority for small enterprises was “what business

Even the [Macau] government cannot tell us exactly what benefits we can have by investing in Hengqin Kenneth Lei, Macau SME Association administrator

opportunities they can have”. The regulations come second.

According to the official news agency, Xinhua, there are already over 1,200 commercial entities registered on Hengqin, including 48 outside enterprises.

Mr Lei slams the authorities for lacking a long-term and detailed plan for the island’s development and said small enterprises could not “envision their future in the new area”.

He added: “Even the [Macau] government cannot tell us exactly what benefits we can have by investing in Hengqin.”

“We will quickly finalise these details so that investors can make a more accurate calculation on how much they want to invest there,” Secretary for the Economy and Finance Francis Tam Pak Yuen said on the sidelines of a seminar last month.

Guangdong Governor Zhu Xiaodan told reporters after the annual Guangdong-Macau Cooperation Joint Conference last month that the authorities would build an industrial park on Hengqin for small and medium enterprises, but that the Guangdong and Macau governments had yet to release a plan.

“We don’t really care about the simplification of administrative procedures, as long as we can operate the business well,” said Mr Lei. The China Urban Development Report 2011, released last week, called for a mechanism to coordinate the goals and wishes of the Macau, Hong Kong and Guangzhou authorities for the development of Hengqin Island.

Medical funds scam busted

T

he Commission Against Corruption has said it has busted a public medical funding fraud scheme by a clinic set up by an association.

But the commission did not reveal the amount of money involved or the name of the association.

According to a statement released yesterday, a year ago an officer surnamed Leung and a doctor surnamed Ng began lying to the Health Bureau about the number of patients qualified for government

funding. The investigation found over 300 medical records to have been falsely reported.

The clinic was under the control of an association which signed a medical service cooperation pact with the bureau to receive funding.

Patients younger than 10 or older than 64, and primary and secondary school students can get free medical services sponsored by the administration.

The two suspects admitted they had used information on relatives,

old patients and those that did not need prescriptions in the list they submitted to the Health Bureau.

The case was sent to the Public Prosecutors Office for investigation of corruption or negligence was behind the fraud.

In a statement released yesterday, the Health Bureau said it has suspended medical funding to the clinic and pledged to revise the supervision mechanism to prevent similar cases.

T.L.

June 6, 2012 business daily | 5

MACAU

Investment in mainland at 10-year low Macau’s investment in the mainland dropped by a third in the first four months to the lowest level since 2001

T

he city’s foreign direct investment in mainland China dropped by more than one-third in the first four months of 2012.

If the investment pace remains unchanged, the city will finish the year with a total of US$390 million, the lowest figure since 2001.

The number of projects also decreased, according to statistics released last month by the mainland’s Ministry of Commerce.

Between January and April the mainland authorities approved 82 investment projects by Macau companies and institutions, down by 8.9 percent from the same period of last year.

But the investment actually made in the first four months dropped much more, by 34.7 percent, to just US$130 million (1 billion patacas).

In April alone, the investment fell by half to US$30 million.

Macau’s investment accounted for just 0.3 percent of foreign investment inflows into the mainland, the lowest percentage since the Ministry of Commerce began collecting data in 1990.

The mainland authorities have approved 12,921 Macau-funded investment projects worth US$10.5 billion since 1990.

The city’s foreign direct investment in mainland China stood at US$30 million in April

However, this accounts for just 0.9 percent of the total inflow.

Official data show that foreign investment in the mainland is

slowing, dropping by 2.4 percent year-on-year in the first four months to US$37.9 billion.

The number of newly approved

foreign-funded enterprises was 7,016, down by 13.9 percent.

Hong Kong was the biggest investor with US$24.2 billion, followed at a distance by Japan (US$2.7 billion) and Singapore (US$2.6 billion). Taiwan came fourth, ahead of the United States, which invested only US$1 billion.

Beijing is aiming for US$120 billion in FDI inflows for each of the next four years, and has drawn up new rules to encourage foreign investment in strategic emerging industries, particularly those that bring new know-how to China.

The mainland’s economic growth has slowed for five straight quarters. The annual growth rate in the first quarter eased to 8.1 percent from 8.9 percent three months before.

Beijing has been fine-tuning economic policy settings since the autumn of last year as the outlook for the global economy darkens, export growth slows and capital inflows – a core component of money supply – stall.

The People’s Bank of China has cut its reserve requirement for banks in an effort to keep credit and money supply growth steady.

V.Q.

6 |

business daily June 6, 2012

macau

Portugal props up BNU parent bank

Brought to you by

T

Game of survival The importance of gaming for the economy does not need to be underlined. The growth in the number and size of casinos, well reflected in the meteoric rise in the number of gaming tables and slot machines, is a perfect illustration.

There is no need to repeat those figures here.

Other kinds of betting, such as lotteries and betting on sports, have always been secondary to betting on baccarat and other casino games.

We can see that since 2004 these other kinds of betting have been dwarfed by the growth of gaming.

Gaming revenues and taxes (106 mop) 300000

250000

200000

he parent company of Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU) has received part of a 6.65-billion euro (66 billion pataca) capital injection from the Portuguese government.

The support seeks to strengthen the country’s banking sector amid the debt crisis.

The Portuguese government asked for a 78 billion euro bailout last year and will start recapitalising three of its largest banks: Banco Comercial Português SA (BCP), BPI, and state-owned Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD).

According to statement by Portugal’s finance ministry, 3.5 billion euros will go to BCP. The remainder will be used to shore up BPI and CGD. The capital injections will help the three banks meet higher capital

adequacy requirements CGD owns all of BNU, which was established here in 1902 and is one of the two authorised issuers of Macau banknotes, the other being Bank of China (Macau).

Despite seeing its profit drop by 13 percent last year, the bank is still growing. It recorded revenue growth of 13 percent and an 8

percent increase in the number of its customers.

The other two Portuguese banks also have a presence in Macau: BCP and BPI have offshore branches here.

The Macau branch of BCP, Portugal’s largest private bank, posted a profit of 67 million patacas (US$8.4 million) last year.

X.C.

150000

100000

50000

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Gambling

Betting

0

Public consultation over traffic centre relocation

Taxes

This could be described as a game of survival, in essence, whereby sports betting and lotteries manage to resist obliteration. Up to 2004 these activities were growing at a fast pace. Their combined revenue rose by 62 percent in just two years. But since then, in relative terms, they have become almost invisible. The tax revenue from gaming is over 80 times more than sports betting and lottery revenue. Taxes from gaming have grown twelve-fold and, it as it is well known, are now the main item in the government budget.

The government will listen to public opinion over the relocation of the traffic centre to the Taipa wetland

Revenue 30000

Cherry Lee

ceci-lqq@macaubusinessdaily.com

25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

Ja n Ju -05 n Ja -05 n Ju -06 n Ja -06 n Ju -07 n Ja -07 n Ju -08 n Ja -08 n Ju -09 n Ja -09 n Ju -10 n Ja -10 n Ju -11 n Ja -11 n12

0

An interesting characteristic of the behaviour of gaming revenue is, in a sense, how well behaved it is when we look at the monthly data. Although the economic conditions have changed a lot, with fluctuations in the economic growth rate, inflation and other indicators, the path of gaming revenue is relatively stable. It fits well a simple function illustrated by the trend line in the chart. This irresistible force seems unaware of the outside world in its upward movement. This suggests that we understand less its ultimate drivers than a more superficial aggregated analysis might suggest.

J.I.D.

A

n online petition seeking to have the Macau government withdraw its plans to move a traffic centre to near a wetland where egrets flock and breed has drawn a good response.

The petition, raised by six environmental groups yesterday, World Environment Day, has garnered 2,100 signatures.

The government wants to relocate its Traffic Information and Safety Centre to next to the wetland near the Taipa Houses Museum.

Environment groups have many fears.

“The government has already promised to draw a public consultation to decide whether to relocate the centre to the wetland after an environmental assessment,” Macau Environmental Student

Union president Joe Chan Chon Meng told reporters.

But he remains worried. “I do not think there are enough environmental specialists in the assessment team,” he said.

“However, our biggest concern is that the future of the wetland is still unclear.”

He said the head of the urban planning department of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau, Lao Iong, had admitted there was no specific plan for the protection and development of the wetland so far.

“We believe the government should have a clear position on the wetland’s future in the coming days and protect the city’s scarce natural resources,” Mr Chan said.

“We witnessed the negative impact on the environment due to the development of Cotai in the past five years, and we sincerely hope the wetland near the Taipa

Houses Museum, one of just seven important wetlands remaining in Macau, can be saved,” he added.

The environment groups asked the government to relocate the centre to Coloane, where public facilities like the Giant Panda Pavilion are.

“The centre can also be made indoors, so they can find a place in downtown Macau,” Mr Chan told reporters.

Other news media have said a 19,245 square metre plot including the wetland was granted to a private developer, Chee Lee Investment Co Ltd, in 1990.

The company paid a land premium of 46.3 million patacas (US$5.8 million) for the 25-year concession but there is no information on the deadline for the development of the plot.

“I believe the government should take the land back for ecological protection since nothing has been constructed by the developer up to now,” Mr Chan said.

Weather Beijing 31/19o C Changchun 27/15o C

Harbin 28/14o C

Xian 31/20o C Shanghai 27/21o C Chengdu 29/20o C Kunming 27/17o C Haikou 31/25o C Sanya 32/27o C

Guangzhou 33/25o C

MACAU (04 June-09 June) Day

Temperature

Humidity

06/04

25/30o C

70/90 %

06/05

26/31o C

70/90 %

06/06

26/31o C

70/90 %

06/07

27/32o C

70/90 %

06/08

27/32o C

70/90 %

06/09

27/32o C

70/90 %

Shenzhen 31/25o C

ASIA (today)

Hong Kong 30/27o C

Manila

TOKYO

Jakarta

30/26o C

31/26o C

22/18o C

32/24o C

Macau 31/25o C

Bangkok

SEOUL

K. lumpur

35/27o C

SINGAPORE

29/18o C

35/25o C

taipei

30/26o C

June 6, 2012 business daily | 7

MACAU

Price of eggs rockets

The surging wholesale price of eggs in will affect the retail price of bakery products

The wholesale price of eggs has risen sharply in recent days, owing to mainland influences

T

he average wholesale price of eggs has risen by 20 percent in the past 10 days, according to wholesalers quoted by the Chineselanguage Macau Daily News.

Residents might face higher retail prices in the coming days, not only for eggs, but also for food that has eggs as an ingredient, such as bakery products, the newspaper said.

Macau imports over 90 percent of its eggs from Hubei province.

The sharp rise in the wholesale price is the result of higher prices in mainland China.

The Chinese-language People’s Daily reported that the average wholesale price in the mainland had risen by about 24 percent in May from April.

The price reached a record high of 10.94 yuan (13.70 patacas) per kilogram in September 2011 but had been coming down since then.

By the end of April the average wholesale price of eggs was 8.21 yuan, according to Bloomberg data.

Price fluctuation is partly seasonal, according to experts quoted by the People’s Daily.

Egg production is usually lower in the summer. The Dragon Boat Festival, soon to come around again,

also raises demand for eggs.

The market was also cyclical, an agribusiness analyst in Beijing said, with last year’s high prices attracting more producers and leading to oversupply and lower prices.

Low prices subsequently pushed some producers to cut production and caused prices to rise again.

By relying on the mainland for most of its food, Macau imports food inflation.

Even though inflation in the mainland has shown signs of slowing, it is persistently high here.

Inflation in the mainland rose to a three-year high of 6.7 percent in July 2011 but fell back to 3.4 percent in April this year.

In the same period Macau’s inflation increased from 5.96 percent to

Reolian mulls legal appeal against fine

The authorities are still reviewing three other cases – of fatal traffic accidents involving the company’s buses – which could lead to further penalties for the operator.

Reolian said in a press statement that its operations were hindered by “a huge lack of staff, long delay in the execution of concession contracts and also because the labour market was not prepared for the opening of 400 new positions for drivers”.

“We want the public to know that we are ensuring safety,” Mr Rigaud said.

B

us operator Reolian Public Transport Co Ltd is considering filing a judicial appeal against a 50,000 pataca (US$6,300) fine imposed by the Transport Bureau (DSAT) for insufficient bus frequency.

“We are still in the middle of negotiations with DSAT – discussions based on the concession contract. We have our weapons and the support of lawyers,” Reolian general manager Cedric Rigaud told the Portuguese-language newspaper Hoje Macau. “If we do not reach an agreement, we might go to court,” he was quoted as saying.

The fine was announced two weeks ago and, at the time, the Transport Bureau said that on some routes operated by Reolian, users had waited “for more than 30 minutes” for a bus.

20% Rise in the average wholesale price of eggs in the past 10 days

‘If we do not reach an agreement, we might go to court’ Cedric Rigaud, Reolian general manager

6.76 percent.

The index of prices of food and nonalcoholic beverages was 9.6 percent higher in the first quarter than a year before and 2.6 percent higher than three months before.

The retail price of eggs has been stable between 1.17 patacas and 1.19 patacas each in the past year, government data show.

Since about 18 large eggs weigh one

kilogram, the price is around 20 patacas per kilogram.

The Guangdong Nam Yue Group operates the largest wholesale market in Macau, for the distribution of fresh meat, fish, eggs, vegetables and fruit.

The market will be moved to the Zhuhai-Macau Cross-Border Industrial Park to make a room for a new border crossing.

X.C.

8 |

business daily June 6, 2012

GREATER CHINA

New business growth cited as key driver of the services PMI

China services activity at full speed Services PMI jumps to 19-month high‎ Nick Edwards

C

hina’s services industry expanded at its fastest pace for 19 months in May, with new business and optimism about the future robust, according to a private-sector survey of purchasing managers published yesterday.

The outcome is a stark contrast to May surveys of China’s manufacturing sector, which betrayed signs of a broadening economic slowdown and pointed towards further policy efforts from Beijing to support growth.

The HSBC China Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 54.7 in May, extending from April’s six-month peak of 54.1. The survey’s compiler, Markit, cited new business growth as the key driver of the index.

Services make up about 43 percent of economic activity.

“This should reduce the fears of a sharp growth slowdown.

Going forward, the expected fast delivery of a mix of supportive measures should filter through to further boost services output and employment,” Qu Hongbin, chief China economist at HSBC, the survey sponsor, said in a statement accompanying the index.

The increase in the HSBC Services PMI comes in marked contrast to China’s official nonmanufacturing PMI, which showed a second straight monthly decline when it was published at the weekend, easing to 55.2 from April’s reading of 56.1.

The difference is a result of using differing methodologies and samples. Still, both are above the 50-mark, which divides expansion from contraction.

Their relatively robust readings, particularly compared to the findings of PMI surveys on manufacturing, also reflect the long-term optimism of businesses benefiting from a gradual rebalancing of activity towards services and consumption.

The vast factory sector paints a different picture of the economy.

The official and HSBC PMI surveys last week signalled deeper-thanforecast deterioration in demand at home and abroad, underlining recent official concerns that growth is slowing down.

The official purchasing managers’ index – covering China’s biggest, mainly state-backed manufacturers – fell more than expected to 50.4 in May. It was the weakest reading this year and down from April’s 13-month high, with output at its lowest since November 2011.

The HSBC China manufacturing PMI, tracking smaller privatesector firms, retreated to 48.4 from 49.3 in April – its seventh straight month below 50. The employment sub-index fell to 48.1, its lowest level since March 2009.

Confident outlook The HSBC services barometer meanwhile reflected a strong

level of confidence both in nearterm prospects and also on a oneyear horizon.

The pace of new order growth was the fastest since October 2010, with new product developments and improving demand cited alongside successful promotional

Going forward, the expected fast delivery of a mix of supportive measures should filter through to further boost services output and employment Qu Hongbin,

chief China economist at HSBC

activities as helping boost the headline index.

“The degree of confidence was strong, with the index measuring business expectations only slightly lower than April’s one year-high. Companies linked

positive sentiment to expectations of new business wins and better economic conditions,” Markit said in a statement.

On the downside, employment growth in the services sector in May was only modest and the increase in staff numbers was weaker than the long-run trend average for the survey.

Average input costs also increased, extending the current period of inflation in the services industry to 31 months. Higher labourrelated costs were the main source of inflation.

And despite the increase in new orders, the backlogs of work in the services sector fell in May. The latest decrease in volumes of work-in-hand but not yet completed was the fourth decline in as many months, Markit said.

China has increased efforts to support the economy in the face of a deepening European debt crisis and slowing demand at home, fast-tracking infrastructure investment, providing consumption subsidies in some household sectors and pushing ahead with financial reforms to help safeguard growth.

It has eased banks’ required reserves in three steps since the autumn of 2011, cutting 150 basis points in total to 20 percent and freeing up an estimated 1.2 trillion yuan for fresh lending.

It has also cut taxes and slashed red tape.

Economists polled by Reuters in

June 6, 2012 business daily | 9

GREATER CHINA Hang Seng snaps 4-day losing streak Rebound on Chinese stocks seen as ‘technical’ – analyst

H

KEY POINTS HSBC services PMI accelerates to 54.7 as official gauge retreats Index driven higher by new order growth, business optimism

ong Kong stocks rebounded amid speculation policy makers in the U.S., Europe and China will take action to boost the economy after a rout in world markets that erased this year’s gains on the city’s benchmark index.

Esprit Holdings Ltd, a clothier that counts Europe as its biggest market, climbed 2 percent on speculation the European Central Bank may cut interest rates. Sands China Ltd, the Asian unit of Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas company, rose 3.6 percent after plunging to a fourmonth low on Monday. It climbed to HK$25.95, the biggest gain in the Hang Seng Index.

The Hang Seng Index advanced 0.4 percent to 18,259.03 at the close, snapping a four-day losing streak.

About three stocks rose for every two that fell in the 49-member gauge.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland stocks, known as the H-share index, gained 0.2 percent to 9,397.99.

“For today [yesterday] I think it’s a technical rebound,” said Linus Yip, a Hong-based strategist at First Shanghai Securities. “I expect there will be more global policies coming out to stimulate the economy, but I don’t think they lead will to a turnaround in the short term.’”

Hong Kong’s benchmark index on Monday plunged 2 percent, erasing its gains this year, while the H-share gauge entered a so-called bear market, falling more than 20 percent from its high on February 29. Shares tumbled as U.S. hiring, an index of China’s service industry and Europe’s manufacturing output disappointed investors.

Shanghai gains China’s benchmark stock index also rose, led by drugmakers and

power producers, as investors bought shares of companies whose earnings may be more resilient in an economic slowdown.

North China Pharmaceutical Co. and Datang International Power Generation Co. led gauges of health-care companies and utilities to the biggest gains among industry groups. Consumer staples producers also advanced as liquor maker Kweichow Moutai Co. jumped 1.8 percent. Citic Securities Co., the biggest listed brokerage, fell to the lowest level in two weeks after the

HK$25.95 Sands China value after climbing 3.6 percent in the Hang Seng Index

21st Century Herald said regulators may suspend a plan to allow foreign companies to list in Shanghai.

The Shanghai Composite Index gained 3.4 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,311.92 at the close, after changing directions at least six times. About 476 stocks fell, 405 rose and 98 were unchanged. The CSI 300 Index slipped 0.2 point to 2,558.84.

“Companies such as drugmakers are more stable in a weak economy because demand is constant,” said Mao Sheng, an analyst for Huaxi Securities Co. in Chengdu. “Stocks are likely to consolidate in the near term. Economic data to be released this week is going to be weak.

Until the government is clearer on its easing policies, shares won’t maintain an uptrend.”

The Shanghai Composite tumbled 2.7 percent on Monday, with its 64.89-point drop matching the date on which Chinese authorities crushed student-led protests on June 4, 1989. Beijing blocked searches for “Shanghai Composite” on the country’s most-used microblogging service.

Bloomberg

Esprit rose 2.4 percent yesterday amid speculation the European Central Bank may cut interest rates

China’s financing may drop: Fitch

Employment growth below average, input costs rising Services expansion reflects wider China economic rebalancing Marks contrast to factory sector and slowdown in growth

May said they expected a further 100 bps to be cut through the rest of this year to bring the rate down to 19 percent.

Few analysts expect a massive injection of stimulus on anything like the scale of the 4 trillion yuan programme unveiled in 2009 and many experts argue against it, even though China’s growth in 2012 is likely to be its slowest in 13 years – albeit at a rate of 8.2 percent.

Reuters

Big Four banks seen lending less in May

C

hina’s four biggest banks extended less than 250 billion yuan (US$39 billion) of new loans in May, said Liu Yuhui, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Demand for bank loans weakens on fears of a ‘hard landing’

Speaking in a telephone interview, Mr Liu cited data from the banks, without saying how he knew. The China Securities Journal reported yesterday that the lenders, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, China Construction Bank Corp., Bank of China Ltd, and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, made 253 billion yuan of new loans. It didn’t cite a source.

New financing in China’s economy may decline this year for the first time since 2008 as demand for bank loans weakens and overseas lenders hold back on fears of a “hard landing,” Fitch Ratings said.

Adjusted total societal financing may reach 16.5 trillion yuan (US$2.6 trillion) to 17 trillion yuan in 2012, down from 17.5 trillion yuan the year before, the ratings company said in an e-mailed statement yesterdya. Offshore credit has been “particularly sluggish,” Fitch said, adding that “absent stimulus, credit growth could be even lower.”

The world’s second-biggest economy is decelerating as Europe’s debt crisis crimps demand and government restrictions on the property market ripple out to other industries. JPMorgan Chase & Co. on June 1 cut its full-year economic growth forecast for China for the second time in four weeks to 7.7 percent, down from 9.2 percent in 2011.

“Demand is definitely not robust,” said Mr Liu, director of a financial research office at the government-backed think tank in Beijing. “Banks are struggling to find projects that they can lend to that have controllable risks.”

The big-four banks’ market share varies from month to month and may have been 37 percent to 38 percent in May, according to Mr Liu. That suggests the total for the month was less than 676 billion yuan, the smallest amount this year and less than the median estimate of 700 billion yuan in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.

Reuters/Bloomberg

10 |

business daily June 6, 2012

ASIA

Qantas flags profit to tumble On weak travel demand and soaring fuel costs

A

ustralia’s Qantas Airways warned of its first annual net loss since it was privatised in 1995, blaming deep losses at its international operations, weak travel demand and soaring fuel costs, sending its shares down by a fifth to a record low.

The forecast comes two weeks after Qantas unveiled a plan to separate its bleeding international business from its profitable domestic unit, and follows a bruising 12 months wrangling with unions that led to the grounding of its fleet for nearly two days last year.

Chief executive Alan Joyce, whose turnaround plan and handling of the unions has won shareholder plaudits, said the past few weeks had been particularly harsh, forcing the airline to warn investors.

“A very disappointing forecast. It just highlights the size of losses and problems with the international business and justifies Joyce’s move to split the group,” said David Liu, Head of research at ATI Asset Management, which owns Qantas shares.

“Having said that, I take a lot of positives from the initiatives to cut costs, capex. It shows the management understands the macro economic environment and is doing everything it can to mitigate it.”

Mr Joyce said Qantas would post a net loss for 2011/12. He forecast underlying profit before tax would slide as much as 90 percent to A$50 million (US$48.6 million) to A$100 million, while the airline will incur A$380 million in restructuring costs – half the statutory level.

The latest underlying profit forecast

compared with A$522 million a year ago and was well below analysts’ expectations of A$285 million.

The Qantas plan to separate its international and domestic divisions has sparked speculation a foreign carrier could buy a stake in the airline, with a recent Deutsche Bank research note suggesting Emirates could invest in the domestic arm.

Mr Joyce has told media that reports of Emirates taking an equity stake are wrong.

Separately, Abu Dhabi’s flagship carrier Etihad Airways said it had bought 4 percent of Qantas’ domestic rival Virgin Australia Holdings and aimed to build its stake to 10 percent. Etihad has a strategic alliance with Virgin Australia and the Gulf carrier’s chief executive James Hogan ruled out any move to buy a stake in Qantas.

Global woes The airline’s profit warning underlines the global aviation sector’s struggles as high oil prices and sagging demand due to the European economic crisis take their toll.

The International Air Transport Association has downgraded its forecast for airline profits in 2012 to US$3 billion from US$3.5 billion, and has said sharp rise in oil prices could lead to losses as high as $5.3 billion for the sector.

Qantas said its international business was set to more than double its loss in earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to over A$450 million in the year to June 2012, compared with a A$216 million loss a year ago.

US$3 billion IATA’s forecast for airline profits in 2012, down from US$3.5b

Earnings for its domestic unit and low cost offshoot JetStar were seen at over A$600 million.

“We are attacking costs and allocating aircraft and capital efficiently. Over A$300 million in annual benefits have been identified from the changes we are making,” said Mr Joyce, who aims to return the international business to profit by 2014.

Qantas chief executive has embarked on a five-year turnaround plan and announced 1,000 job cuts. The world’s second-oldest airline is shrinking its engineering and maintenance centres and cutting A$900 million in capital expenditure to protect it from economic turmoil and safeguard its investment grade rating.

Qantas, which has retired most of its old aircraft, said it had a cash balance of more than A$3 billion,

India’s services growth quickens to a 3-month high Purchasing managers’ index climbed to 54.7 in May

I

ndia’s services industry expanded in May at the fastest pace in three months, a private survey showed, contrasting with recent reports indicating Asia’s third-largest economy is struggling.

The purchasing managers’ index climbed to 54.7 from 52.8 in April, HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. A number above 50 indicates growth.

Indian gross domestic product rose 5.3 percent last quarter, the weakest pace in nine years, stoking concern the nation’s economic outlook has deteriorated as policy gridlock deters investment and Europe’s debt crisis crimps exports.

The growth slowdown and an oilprice drop suggest more room for another interest-rate cut even as inflation risks remain, Reserve Bank of India deputy governor Subir Gokarn said on Monday.

“While persistence in inflation is worrying, the downside risks to growth will draw greater prominence in the RBI’s rate decisions,” Shubhada Rao, chief economist at Yes Bank Ltd in Mumbai, said before the report.

The rupee strengthened 0.4 percent to 55.435 per dollar as of 10:31 am in Mumbai yesterday.

The currency has slumped about 19 percent in the past 12 months.

The BSE India Sensitive Index of stocks advanced 0.7 percent. The

yield on the 8.79 percent note due November 2021 was little changed at 8.35 percent.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government faces challenges from a trade deficit that swelled to a record US$184.9 billion in the

India’s services industry expansion contrasts with recent reports indicating Asia’s third-largest economy is struggling

an undrawn standby facility of A$300 million, and the flexibility to further cut capital investment if the need arises.

Group underlying fuel costs were seen reaching A$4.4 billion in the year, up about $700 million on last year.

Qantas shares ended down 18.7 percent at US$1.155.

Reuters

fiscal year through March 2012, a budget shortfall and a moderation in investment. Inflation accelerated to 7.23 percent in April, the fastest pace among the biggest emerging economies.

The Reserve Bank lowered its benchmark repurchase rate to 8 percent from 8.5 percent on April 17, the first cut since 2009, after increasing it by a record 3.75 percentage points from midMarch 2010 to October last year to try and contain jumps in the cost of living.

On June 1, Mr Gokarn indicated there may be more scope to lower rates. He reiterated that stance yesterday while saying officials still have to weigh inflation risks.

June 6, 2012 business daily | 11

asia

InBrief

Australia lowers key rate to 3.5pct Australia’s central bank cut interest rates for a second month running yesterday in a bid to shore up confidence at home. Citing a weaker outlook abroad and only modest domestic growth, the Reserve Bank of Australia cut its cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.5 percent.

The Australian dollar showed little lasting reaction because the decision was largely expected. “It’s a welcome decision. It is a win for households and it’s a dividend of returning our budget to surplus,” Treasurer Wayne Swan told reporters.

Philippine C.Bank to maintain policy

We are attacking costs and allocating

aircraft and capital efficiently. Over A$300 million in annual benefits have been identified from the changes we are making Alan Joyce, Qantas chief executive

The Philippine central bank’s current monetary policy stance is appropriate, but authorities must remain vigilant after a slight uptick in May core inflation, deputy governor Diwa Guinigundo said. Philippine inflation eased slightly to 2.9 percent in May, after an annual gain of 3.0 percent in April, but core inflation quickened to 3.7 percent from a year earlier, data showed yesterday. “With higher growth rate and inflation trending down, the current monetary policy stance remains appropriate,” Mr Guinigundo told reporters.

Politics drags down Thai consumer confidence Consumer prices quickened in May, while exports fell

C

onsumer confidence in Thailand fell in May for the first time in six months because of worry about politics as anti-government “yellow shirt” protesters take to the streets again, the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce said yesterday.

Concern over problems in the euro zone, which could hurt the global economy and depress demand for Thai goods, also contributed to the dip in confidence.

After relative calm on the political front since elections last July, yellow-shirted People’s Alliance for Democracy activists blockaded parliament last week and forced the government to postpone debate on a national reconciliation bill.

The protesters say the bill is aimed at allowing deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra back home from self exile.

“Politics is the main factor making people worried and the economy and oil prices are almost minor when compared to it,” said Thanavath Phonvichai, director of the university’s Centre for Economy and Business Forecasting.

“Politics will dictate the direction of Thailand’s economy for the rest of this year.”

Confidence was helped by government subsidies, including those for rail transport, and lower oil prices also helped boost sentiment, the survey showed.

Jakarta mulls more currency measures Bank Indonesia may unveil further measures to ease volatility in the rupiah and may announce next week new rules on bank ownership, a central bank official said. “In the region, we still suffer from the turbulence from the European countries,” Edi Setiadi, an executive director of the Shariah banking department at Bank Indonesia, told reporters in Singapore yesterday. “We are busy with how to act on the currency turbulence” and Governor Darmin Nasution may announce measures “to make the market calm,” Mr Setiadi said.

Thailand’s consumer confidence fell to 67.1 from 67.5 in April

The centre’s confidence index dropped slightly to 67.1 in May from 67.5 in April following five months that saw a steady rise in sentiment after the end of the country’s worst floods in half a century, which hit the country late last year.

Exports unexpectedly fell in April from a year earlier as industry continued to feel the impact of the flooding but the Commerce Ministry expects a significant improvement in the second half of the year.

A fall in the baht currency would help exporters, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra told Reuters in an interview last Friday.

The baht fell 5 percent against the dollar in 2011 and is broadly flat this year. It stood at about 31.60 to the dollar yesterday.

Consumer confidence has been helped by a 40 percent increase in the minimum wage that took effect on April 1 but industry has said it would hurt competitiveness and the central bank has warned about the risk to inflation.

Ms Yingluck acknowledged the concern in Friday’s interview but stood by the policy, saying it would help people on lower incomes cope with a rise in inflation.

Reuters

KDB willing to raise IPO size South Korea may sell as much as 30 percent of KDB Financial Group Inc. in an initial share offering this year. “We’d sell a 10 percent to 30 percent stake through an IPO,” chairman and chief executive Kang Man Soo told reporters yesterday.

“Even after the IPO, it would be better for KDB to have the government as an anchor investor.” The lack of equity offerings caused by the global financial market rout and economic slump may help the government attract investors, Mr Kang said.

12 |

business daily June 6, 2012

MARKETS Hang SENG INDEX PRICE

Day %

VOLUME

PRICE

Day %

VOLUME

AIA GROUP LTD

25.2

2.231237

29554949

CHINA UNICOM HON

10.08

0.3984064

37535843

ALUMINUM CORP-H

3.09

-0.6430868

10331186

CITIC PACIFIC

10.98

-1.081081

3211844

BANK OF CHINA-H

2.98

1.360544

473377584

5

0.6036217

11675161

BANK EAST ASIA

25.75

-0.1937984

2004462

COSCO PAC LTD

BELLE INTERNATIO

12.26

2.337229

7332020

ESPRIT HLDGS

BOC HONG KONG HO

21.2

0.4739336

8088622

HANG LUNG PROPER

CATHAY PAC AIR

12.2

-0.974026

6248610

HANG SENG BK

CHEUNG KONG

86.5

0.2317497

4230016

CHINA COAL ENE-H

6.58

-1.497006

16213465

NAME

BANK OF COMMUN-H

CHINA CONST BA-H

NAME

CLP HLDGS LTD CNOOC LTD

HENDERSON LAND D HENGAN INTL

5.37

0.9398496

136262267

CHINA LIFE INS-H

17.08

0.1172333

38552609

CHINA MERCHANT

21.15

-2.399631

3997190

CHINA MOBILE

76.7 -0.06514658

10339448

CHINA OVERSEAS

15.3

-0.7782101

17164134

CHINA PETROLEU-H

6.8

0.4431315

40385332

LI & FUNG LTD

CHINA RES ENTERP

22.25

-4.710921

6860437

MTR CORP

CHINA RES LAND

14.18

0.1412429

6428934

CHINA RES POWER

14.04

0.7173601

CHINA SHENHUA-H

25.85

-1.711027

NAME

PRICE

Day %

POWER ASSETS HOL

54.45

0.09191176

VOLUME 1207812

SANDS CHINA LTD

25.95

3.592814

13400013

SINO LAND CO

10.32

0.5847953

6434938

86

-0.462963

3211107

63.2

-0.6289308

1907403

13.28

-0.7473842

41901741

8.83

-1.119821

7426918

SWIRE PACIFIC-A

82.05

0.9225092

1143627

12.18

2.352941

7942924

TENCENT HOLDINGS

208.4 -0.09587728

2854997

TINGYI HLDG CO

24.9

2.469136

7787508

100.1

0.6030151

787633

38.7

0.2590674

3087483

71

-1.114206

1608016

SUN HUNG KAI PRO

18.64

2.75634

4670778

WANT WANT CHINA

9.39

2.73523

19793332

WHARF HLDG

39.8

1.530612

8061217

MOVERS

30

HONG KG CHINA GS

18.42

0.8762322

6780471

HONG KONG EXCHNG

103.9

2.364532

4595501

HSBC HLDGS PLC

60.35

0.3325021

8218673

HUTCHISON WHAMPO

61.9

-0.8807046

4851152

IND & COMM BK-H

4.69

0.8602151

244184329

14.12

0.2840909

11113381

HIGH

18717.11

25.2

1.002004

1411402

LOW

18091.96

NEW WORLD DEV

8.15

-0.7308161

8642500

6366994

52W (H) 23338.76

PETROCHINA CO-H

9.65

-0.6179197

42859232

17497867

PING AN INSURA-H

53.95

1.029963

13954282

19

0 18800

INDEX 18259.03

(L) 16170.35 1-Jun

5-Jun

18000

Hang SENG CHINA ENTErPRISE INDEX NAME

NAME

PRICE

DAY %

VOLUME

21.65

-0.4597701

5239344

6.8

0.4431315

40385332

ZIJIN MINING-H

CHINA RAIL CN-H

5.54

-0.3597122

11866214

ZOOMLION HEAVY-H

CHINA RAIL GR-H

2.79

1.454545

12842906

ZTE CORP-H

25.85

-1.711027

17497867

PRICE

DAY %

VOLUME

AGRICULTURAL-H

3.11

0.6472492

80476025

CHINA PACIFIC-H

AIR CHINA LTD-H

4.74

-0.4201681

17341008

CHINA PETROLEU-H

ALUMINUM CORP-H

3.09

-0.6430868

10331186

ANHUI CONCH-H

22.55

0.2222222

5422741

BANK OF CHINA-H

2.98

1.360544

473377584

CHINA SHENHUA-H CHINA TELECOM-H

5

0.6036217

11675161

3.31

0.5009868

46682072

BYD CO LTD-H

15

-0.1331558

2281621

DONGFENG MOTOR-H

12.96

-2.409639

10576738

CHINA CITIC BK-H

3.8

0.2638522

17925513

GUANGZHOU AUTO-H

6.39

-0.15625

3163792

6.58

-1.497006

16213465

HUANENG POWER-H

5.07

1.807229

46786876

BANK OF COMMUN-H

CHINA COAL ENE-H CHINA COM CONS-H

6.9

1.02489

12162380

IND & COMM BK-H

4.69

0.8602151

244184329

CHINA CONST BA-H

5.37

0.9398496

136262267

JIANGXI COPPER-H

15.58

0.3865979

8871702

3.42

-2.564103

7945341

PETROCHINA CO-H

9.65

-0.6179197

42859232

17.08

0.1172333

38552609

PICC PROPERTY &

8.01

1.392405

22118591

CHINA LONGYUAN-H

4.75

0.8492569

5996082

PING AN INSURA-H

53.95

1.029963

13954282

CHINA MERCH BK-H

14.32

-0.4172462

11824192

SHANDONG WEIG-H

7.82

4.405874

5418835

CHINA COSCO HO-H CHINA LIFE INS-H

NAME YANZHOU COAL-H

MOVERS

22

DAY %

VOLUME

11.82

-3.273322

23286639

2.63

1.544402

56595814

10.52

2.534113

27034679

14.2

-0.4207574

3094402

18

0

INDEX 9397.99 HIGH

9730.5

LOW

9326.29

CHINA MINSHENG-H

7.07

1.43472

27976533

SINOPHARM-H

17

0.1177856

5502750

52W (H) 13002.46

CHINA NATL BDG-H

8.87

-0.2249719

24722814

TSINGTAO BREW-H

48.05

-2.038736

1387676

(L) 8058.58

10.32

-1.526718

7569525

WEICHAI POWER-H

31.4

-2.936631

2368609

CHINA OILFIELD-H

PRICE

9800

1-Jun

5-Jun

9300

Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 PRICE

DAY %

VOLUME

PRICE

DAY %

VOLUME

PRICE

DAY %

VOLUME

AGRICULTURAL-A

2.62

0.3831418

37305089

DATANG INTL PO-A

5.24

3.968254

17915207

SHANG PUDONG-A

8.56

-0.3492433

69666907

AIR CHINA LTD-A

6.22

3.666667

24030946

DONGFANG ELECT-A

21.35

0.1877053

5739760

SHANGHAI ELECT-A

5.44

0.5545287

8198585

ALUMINUM CORP-A

6.65

0

7383285

EVERBRIG SEC -A

13.49

-3.005464

11740751

SHANXI LU'AN -A

24.93

-1.071429

11380561

16.52

-0.2415459

19314325

GD MIDEA HOLDING

12.25

-0.9700889

22274429

SHANXI XINGHUA-A

74.09

0.1216216

866426

2.55

2

76515558

SHANXI XISHAN-A

17.08

-0.2336449

17748040

SHENZ DVLP BK-A

NAME

ANHUI CONCH-A

NAME

9.55

-0.1046025

16910186

GD POWER DEVEL-A

BANK OF CHINA-A

3.01

0.3333333

14155190

GEMDALE CORP-A

6.8

-0.5847953

28611265

BANK OF COMMUN-A

4.56

0.2197802

34865187

GF SECURITIES-A

30.79

-2.71722

9264543

4.8

1.265823

18089560

GREE ELECTRIC

22.11

-1.426661

12696967

BYD CO LTD -A

23.2

-1.902748

2419099

GUIZHOU PANJIA-A

31.21

-0.128

5333140

CHINA CITIC BK-A

4.13

0

13419229

HAITONG SECURI-A

10.06

-1.275761

CHINA CNR CORP-A

4.19

-0.2380952

21502711

HANGZHOU HIKVI-A

46.58

-2.122295

CHINA COAL ENE-A

8.74

-0.5688282

8163349

2.97

-0.3355705

CHINA CONST BA-A

4.46

0.4504505

27285296

HENAN SHUAN-A

61.68

17446114

HUATAI SECURIT-A

11.25

BANK OF BEIJIN-A

BAOSHAN IRON & S

CHINA COSCO HO-A

4.86

0

HEBEI IRON-A

NAME

15.26

-0.9090909

24614407

SHENZEN OVERSE-A

6.08

1.164725

29284524

SINOVEL WIND-A

15.3

0.1308901

1031341

SUNING APPLIAN-A

8.63

-0.9184845

49409950

54272448

TSINGTAO BREW-A

38.32

1.456182

2501116

3319856

WEICHAI POWER-A

31.81

-1.820988

4929424

16350787

WULIANGYE YIBIN

32.78

0.2753136

13282970

1.114754

2280666

XIAMEN TUNGSTEN

46.79

-1.51547

5511829

-1.488616

17951049

XINJIANG GUANG-A

14.85

-1.525199

24362537 11858950

CHINA CSSC HOL-A

30.04

0.09996668

5110977

HUAXIA BANK CO

9.57

0.3144654

34956927

YANGQUAN COAL -A

17.96

-0.3329634

CHINA EAST AIR-A

4.18

4.239401

26044430

IND & COMM BK-A

4.2

0.7194245

42277099

YANTAI CHANGYU-A

93.89

1.502703

756288

CHINA EVERBRIG-A

2.83

0.3546099

23590979

INDUSTRIAL BAN-A

13.09

0.229709

32226294

YANTAI WANHUA-A

14.54

-1.623816

9730517

16.81

-0.8259587

8920433

INNER MONG BAO-A

44.82

-0.8845644

52993938

YANZHOU COAL-A

21.68

-1.049749

4803582

22.69

2.345512

12683031

YUNNAN BAIYAO-A

53.44

2.90776

5037261

YUNNAN YUNTIAN-A

N/A

N/A

0

23.15

-0.4729149

13217322

CHINA LIFE INS-A CHINA MERCH BK-A

11.54

1.22807

62811449

INNER MONG YIL-A

CHINA MERCHANT-A

12.67

-1.859024

10811570

INNER MONGOLIA-A

6.22

-0.7974482

60891741

CHINA MERCHANT-A

24.58

-0.08130081

4411787

JIANGSU HENGRU-A

27.05

0.5576208

5367262

CHINA MINSHENG-A

6.24

1.298701

98406019

JIANGSU YANGHE-A

139.2

0.5054152

1492600

ZIJIN MINING-A

4.1

-1.204819

46346377

14959701

JIANGXI COPPER-A

24.77

0

7030745

ZOOMLION HEAVY-A

10.48

-1.225259

58217128

13.41

-0.5192878

4587197

ZTE CORP-A

14.55

-1.622718

15937140

-0.3201708

10383295

CHINA NATIONAL-A

6.41

-0.7739938

CHINA OILFIELD-A

16.88

0

10715549

JINDUICHENG -A

CHINA PACIFIC-A

20.37

0.3448276

13713361

JIZHONG ENERGY-A

18.68

CHINA PETROLEU-A

6.5

0.1540832

18639597

KWEICHOW MOUTA-A

240.8

1.805268

2456131

CHINA RAILWAY-A

2.67

1.136364

22094035

LUZHOU LAOJIAO-A

39.65

0.5069708

5270719

CHINA RAILWAY-A

4.32

-0.2309469

16044594

METALLURGICAL-A

2.59

0.7782101

10632545

CHINA SHENHUA-A

25.38

0.6743356

16811555

NINGBO PORT CO-A

2.57

0

22910694

CHINA SHIPBUIL-A

5.59

-0.5338078

14150451

PANGANG GROUP -A

8.04

0

59829010

9.33

0.3225806

12355000

CHINA SOUTHERN-A

4.68

0

34457332

PETROCHINA CO-A

CHINA STATE -A

3.28

0.9230769

45012085

PING AN INSURA-A

40.67

-0.3430532

21314677

13.52

2.037736

ZHONGJIN GOLD

MOVERS

118

153

29 2660

INDEX 2558.842

CHINA UNITED-A

3.99

0

34580186

POLY REAL ESTA-A

17121441

HIGH

2651.69

CHINA VANKE CO-A

9.11

0.7743363

43435926

QINGDAO HAIER-A

11.83

1.632302

11220114

LOW

2551.94

CHINA YANGTZE-A

6.88

1.474926

16038643

QINGHAI SALT-A

30.07

-1.44215

6226556

CITIC SECURITI-A

13.13

-1.574213

62918082

SAIC MOTOR-A

14.94

-0.2670227

15687741

CSR CORP LTD -A

4.77

-0.8316008

20172527

SANY HEAVY INDUS

14.27

0.07012623

22713735

DAQIN RAILWAY -A

7.34

0

30685433

SHANDONG GOLD-MI

35.59

-1.982925

20682123

PRICE DAY %

Volume

52W (H) 3140.10 (L) 2254.56

2550

1-Jun

5-Jun

FTSE TAIWAN 50 INDEX PRICE DAY %

Volume

ACER INC

31.45

6.972789

22569633

FORMOSA PLASTIC

76.4 -0.7792208

8088427

ADVANCED SEMICON

26.55 -0.3752345

15187465

FOXCONN TECHNOLO

97.4

1.989529

ASIA CEMENT CORP

35.45

1.721664

ASUSTEK COMPUTER

291

AU OPTRONICS COR

11.3

CATCHER TECH CATHAY FINANCIAL CHANG HWA BANK CHENG SHIN RUBBE CHIMEI INNOLUX C

NAME

CHINA DEVELOPMEN CHINA STEEL CORP

NAME

Volume

94.4

0.2123142

10965679

TPK HOLDING CO L

413

6.994819

2856911 2605717

78.2

2.222222

37616524

46.45

3.914989

8744995

11.8 -0.4219409

56513426

3351206

FUBON FINANCIAL

28.25

1.801802

12938719

TSMC

3.558719

5793817

HON HAI PRECISIO

82.2

0.2439024

26864561

UNI-PRESIDENT

1.801802

60227540

HOTAI MOTOR CO

191

6.406685

918451

183

2.808989

9783645

HTC CORP

393.5

1.679587

10069691

36.5

2.240896

6804865

28.4

1.428571

8302769

HUA NAN FINANCIA

15.8

1.282051

4437113

YUANTA FINANCIAL

12.75

2.822581

14632637

14.9

2.054795

5946111

LARGAN PRECISION

551

4.15879

3740462

YULON MOTOR CO

50.4

3.597122

7763508

71.5

3.025937

2626358

LITE-ON TECHNOLO

35.8 -0.4172462

1838504

11.45

0.8810573

31460714

MEDIATEK INC

254

3.673469

7144178

7.01

1.594203

33129111

MEGA FINANCIAL H

20.05

3.350515

18958277

28.05

2

15406950

NAN YA PLASTICS

52.2

1.162791

5193064

CHINATRUST FINAN

16

3.225806

26816072

PRESIDENT CHAIN

154

0

846302

90

0.3344482

5734845

QUANTA COMPUTER

77.2

0.9150327

11273848

28.5

-1.554404

9711065

SILICONWARE PREC

29.85

0.8445946

5488998

79

2.864583

8677403

SINOPAC FINANCIA

10.85

6.896552

34130492

FAR EASTERN NEW

29.3

2.090592

3871069

SYNNEX TECH INTL

66.4

0.6060606

2333540

FAR EASTONE TELE

66.8

-1.620029

3137298

TAIWAN CEMENT

33.2

0.1508296

6673900

FIRST FINANCIAL

16.7

1.519757

8185317

TAIWAN COOPERATI

17.25

1.769912

2971883

FORMOSA CHEM & F

75.5

-1.30719

6097991

TAIWAN FERTILIZE

66.7

0.4518072

1635289

FORMOSA PETROCHE

81.9 -0.1219512

965017

27.35

1.109057

1256820

DELTA ELECT INC

PRICE DAY %

TAIWAN MOBILE CO

CHUNGHWA TELECOM COMPAL ELECTRON

NAME

TAIWAN GLASS IND

UNITED MICROELEC WISTRON CORP

MOVERS

41

8

1 5050

INDEX 4819.47 HIGH

4966.87

LOW

4731.56

52W (H) 6224.53 (L) 4643.05

4700

1-Jun

5-Jun

June 6, 2012 business daily | 13

MARKETS GAMING STOCKS - DAILY PERFORMANCE (Hong Kong Stock Exchange) GALAXy ENtErtAINMENt

Max 18.10

Average 17.99

MELCo CrowN ENtErtAINMENt

Min 17.74

18.100000

29.00

12.90

18.020000

28.88

12.76

17.940001

28.76

12.62

17.860001

28.64

12.48

17.780001

28.52

12.34

17.700001

Last 18.02

SANDS CHINA LtD

Max 26.30

Average 25.80

Max 29.00

Average 28.84

Min 28.45

Min 25.40

Last 25.95

Last 12.80

12.20

wyNN MACAu LtD

26.2

11.62

18.52

26.0

11.54

18.44

25.8

11.46

18.36

25.6

11.38

18.28

25.4

11.30 Max 11.62

Average 11.45

83.74

-0.29

-15.74

111.49

77.40

BRENT CRUDE FUTR Jul12

98.05

-0.81

-7.18

125.61

94.35

GASOLINE RBOB FUT Jul12

265.83

-0.46

-2.08

332.18

246.50

GAS OIL FUT (ICE) Jul12

839.75

0.15

-6.64

1045.75

810.00

2.43

0.75

-24.98

5.13

2.10

HEATING OIL FUTR Jul12 Gold Spot $/Oz Silver Spot $/Oz

DAY %

YTD %

(H) 52W

Min 11.30

Last 11.36

18.20 Max 18.56

Average 18.41

261.56

-0.43

-7.99

331.93

256.31

1615.20

-0.55

3.21

1921.18

1478.78

28.17

-1.50

1.21

44.22

26.09

1435.00

-0.43

2.90

1915.75

1339.25

Palladium Spot $/Oz

611.25

-0.16

-6.47

848.37

537.54

LME ALUMINUM 3MO ($)

1972.50

-1.08

-2.35

2695.00

1955.75

LME COPPER 3MO ($)

7361.00

-0.86

-3.14

9905.00

6635.00

LME ZINC

1890.00

1.04

2.44

2539.50

1718.50

16100.00

-0.80

-13.95

25195.00

16020.00

13.77

0.07

-10.41

19.38

13.75

565.00

-0.53

-14.56

795.00

551.00

3MO ($)

LME NICKEL 3MO ($) AGRICULTURE ROUGH RICE (CBOT) Jul12 Jul12

WHEAT FUTURE(CBT) Jul12

627.75

0.00

-8.52

928.00

592.25

SOYBEAN FUTURE Nov12

1267.50

-0.06

5.25

1400.00

1115.75

158.45

0.60

-31.76

290.75

154.65

SUGAR #11 (WORLD) Jul12

18.90

-1.00

-16.22

27.03

18.86

COTTON NO.2 FUTR Dec12

66.60

-0.69

-24.18

107.20

64.61

COFFEE 'C' FUTURE Jul12

PRICE

(L) 52W

Platinum Spot $/Oz

World Stock MarketS - Indices

MAJORS

ASIA PACIFIC

CROSSES

Last 18.36

Min 18.28

NAME

0.9388 1.5235 0.7071 1.2288 75.35 7.9823 7.7529 6.2769 43.855 29.63 1.1992 28.654 41.879 8458 72.057 1.00749 0.79505 7.8544 9.8423 95.6 1.0288

(H) 52W

(L) 52W

3.25

1.88

859060

CROWN LTD

8.27

2.61

2.22

9.29

7.45

2025235

AMAX HOLDINGS LT

0.08

0.00

-10.34

0.13

0.06

856000

BOC HONG KONG HO

21.20

0.47

15.22

24.45

14.24

8088622

CENTURY LEGEND

0.23

0.44

-1.74

0.41

0.20

0

CHEUK NANG HLDGS

2.95

0.00

5.36

4.79

2.30

19000

CHINA OVERSEAS

15.30

-0.78

17.87

17.86

9.99

17164134

CHINESE ESTATES

9.00

0.00

-28.00

13.68

8.30

78500

CHOW TAI FOOK JE

9.12

6.17

-34.48

15.16

8.55

7926900

EMPEROR ENTERTAI

1.14

-0.87

2.70

2.09

0.97

515000

FUTURE BRIGHT

0.80

-1.23

90.48

1.09

0.30

3624000

(L) 52W

DOW JONES INDUS. AVG

US

12101.46

-0.14

-0.95

13338.66

10404.49

NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX

US

2760.01

0.46

5.94

3134.17

2298.89

HANG SENG BK

FTSE 100 INDEX

GB

5260.19

-1.14

-5.60

6084.08

4791.01

DAX INDEX

GE

5939.09

-0.65

0.69

7523.53

4965.80

NIKKEI 225

JN

8382.00

1.04

-0.87

10255.15

8135.79

HANG SENG INDEX

HK

18259.03

0.40

-0.95

23338.76

16170.35

CSI 300 INDEX

CH

2558.84

-0.01

9.08

3140.10

2254.57

TAIWAN TAIEX INDEX

TA

7000.45

1.53

-1.01

9070.25

PRICE

GALAXY ENTERTAIN

DAY % YTD %

VOLUME CRNCY

18.02

3.09

26.54

24.95

8.69

10400486

100.10

0.60

8.63

125.00

84.40

787633

HOPEWELL HLDGS

19.50

-0.10

-1.81

24.90

18.56

329426

HSBC HLDGS PLC

60.35

0.33

2.29

80.25

56.00

8218673

HUTCHISON TELE H

3.30

0.92

10.37

3.71

2.33

1625647

LUK FOOK HLDGS I

15.28

1.60

-43.62

46.15

14.84

4915145

MELCO INTL DEVEL

5.99

2.39

3.81

10.76

4.30

2678617

MGM CHINA HOLDIN

11.36

2.34

18.43

17.18

7.60

3919300

6609.11

MIDLAND HOLDINGS

3.68

0.27

-6.93

5.22

2.89

314181

NEPTUNE GROUP

0.10

3.09

-9.91

0.16

0.08

220000

NEW WORLD DEV

8.15

-0.73

30.19

11.79

6.13

8642500

SANDS CHINA LTD

13400013

KOSPI INDEX

SK

1801.85

1.05

-1.31

2192.83

1644.11

S&P/ASX 200 INDEX

AU

4043.69

1.47

-0.32

4657.40

3765.90

ID

3717.88

1.73

-2.72

4234.73

3217.95

FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI

MA

1560.36

0.33

1.94

1609.33

1310.53

NZX ALL INDEX

NZ

764.29

-0.95

4.73

806.02

700.44

3518.96

(L) 52W

1.1081 1.6618 0.9772 1.4697 84.18 8.0449 7.8113 6.4909 56.515 31.96 1.3199 30.716 44.35 9662 88.637 1.24736 0.90835 9.514 11.7768 117.9 1.0311

27.27

(H) 52W

8.17

(H) 52W

-4.6821 -1.3897 -3.0187 -4.2049 -1.6622 0.1026 0.116 -1.1355 -4.927 -0.2845 0.5974 1.0041 0.7214 -4.0216 3.059 1.3097 2.875 2.772 4.3044 2.6259 0.0097

3.32

YTD %

0.45

YTD %

0.2782 -0.3446 -0.1344 -0.1367 -0.0895 0.0163 0.0258 -0.0503 -0.2687 -0.2528 -0.1552 0.1835 -0.0597 -0.2328 -0.3705 -0.0042 -0.2049 -0.1541 0.127 0.0412 -0.0097

2.80

DAY %

3293.87

DAY %

0.9731 1.5327 0.9673 1.2416 78.21 7.9914 7.7584 6.3673 55.815 31.64 1.2889 29.978 43.526 9449 76.104 1.20106 0.8101 7.9148 9.9248 97.11 1.03

ARISTOCRAT LEISU

PRICE

PH

AUD GBP CHF EUR JPY MOP HKD CNY INR THB SGD TWD PHP IDR AUDJPY EURCHF EURGBP EURCNY EURMOP EURJPY HKDMOP

MACAU RELATED STOCKS

COUNTRY

PHILIPPINES ALL SHARE IX

Min 12.26

18.60

WTI CRUDE FUTURE Jul12

JAKARTA COMPOSITE INDEX

Average 12.51

11.70

PRICE

NAME

Max 12.82

26.4

NAME

CORN FUTURE

28.40

CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES

NATURAL GAS FUTR Jul12

METALS

Last 29.00

SJM HoLDINGS LtD

Commodities ENERGY

MGM CHINA HoLDINGS

2695.06

25.95

3.59

18.22

33.05

14.90

SHUN HO RESOURCE

1.18

0.00

18.00

1.32

0.82

0

SHUN TAK HOLDING

2.73

-0.36

6.68

4.67

2.24

2594165 6051445

SJM HOLDINGS LTD

12.78

1.27

2.19

20.71

10.08

SMARTONE TELECOM

14.30

0.70

6.40

18.50

9.80

420835

WYNN MACAU LTD

18.36

1.66

-5.85

27.48

14.81

4246038

ASIA ENTERTAINME

4.06

-6.24

-30.95

10.87

3.66

149365

BALLY TECHNOLOGI

44.49

-0.16

12.46

49.32

24.74

643150 68556

HSBC Dragon 300 Index Singapor

SI

506.40

-1.20

2.03

na

na

STOCK EXCH OF THAI INDEX

TH

1105.61

-0.86

7.83

1247.72

843.69

HO CHI MINH STOCK INDEX

VN

421.02

1.05

19.76

492.44

332.28

BOC HONG KONG HO

2.82

0.00

17.64

3.15

1.81

Laos Composite Index

LO

1005.44

-0.97

11.78

1146.63

876.33

GALAXY ENTERTAIN

2.26

-9.24

20.86

3.24

1.08

21500

INTL GAME TECH

13.38

-0.22

-22.21

19.15

13.12

2567536

JONES LANG LASAL

66.56

-3.37

8.65

99.89

46.01

502848

LAS VEGAS SANDS

42.69

-0.65

-0.09

62.09

36.08

18969366

MELCO CROWN-ADR

10.91

-0.37

13.41

16.15

7.05

4289283

MGM CHINA HOLDIN

1.64

0.00

37.62

2.21

1.00

100

MGM RESORTS INTE

10.41

0.39

-0.19

16.05

7.40

12856466

SHUFFLE MASTER

1990361

Shanghai Shenzhen Composite index is listing the biggest companies by market capitalization. All data supplied by Bloomberg unless otherwise indicated.

14.25

-3.78

21.59

18.77

7.35

SJM HOLDINGS LTD

1.71

0.00

6.37

2.60

1.26

2000

WYNN RESORTS LTD

98.17

0.81

-11.15

165.49

95.82

2625293

AUD HKD

USD

Contact Information

ONE YEAR Suscription REGULAR 1,560 Mop 20% discount 1,150 Mop

First Name (Mr/Mrs/Ms)

Last name

Address Postal Code

Country

Phone Fax Email

Payment

Subscription Period: from

(yy)|

(mm)|

to |

(yy) |

(mm) |

I wish to pay by Cheque or Direct Deposit

Make payable to De Ficção-Projectos Multimedia

Banco Comercial de Macau (BCM) Acct# 1099732111

Make payable to De Ficção-Projectos Multimedia Limitada

Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU) Acct# 9008096687

Visa Master Card American Express Credit Card

Account Number

Expiration Date mm

Cardholder’s Name

yy

CVV2/CVC2

14 |

business daily June 6, 2012

Opinion How ‘death panels’ can prolong life Michael Kinsley Michael Newman Bloomberg Editors

A

verage life expectancy is one of two statistics commonly used to compare the healthcare systems of different nations.

(The other is infant mortality.)

One of the puzzles about the U.S. system is that we spend far and away the most money per capita for health care, but we rank 50th in average life expectancy – after Macau, Malta, and Turks and Caicos, among others.

We are all familiar with statistics about how much of health-care spending takes place in the last year of life, and with stories about old people who are tortured with costly treatments they don’t want and which prolong dying but don’t extend life in any meaningful sense.

Certainly, ailing old people should be allowed to die in peace, if that’s what they want, and not be subject to excruciatingly painful surgeries and drugs that will do nothing for them.

These are more the fault of lawyers than doctors. In our experience, doctors can be all too cool and rational in their thinking about the end of life.

It’s fear of lawsuits (or, in a few cases, trolling for customers) that prevents doctors from behaving rationally when prescribing treatment for the old and terminally ill.

But not providing treatment to people who don’t want it won’t save enough money to rescue the U.S. health-care system. Nor will eliminating new and

expensive pills, and other therapies, that do no good at all or are no better than existing therapies.

Indelicate Questions So what do we do about old people who, on balance, would rather get even older – whatever that means in terms of “quality of life” – than give up? This is one of the indelicate, unmentionable questions in the health-care debate.

The slope here is slippery indeed.

You start by obeying the wishes of someone with at best two months to live, who wants to trade them in for one month with no pain and no intrusive treatments. Next you’re assuming that this is what someone who had expressed no preference (and is now demented or sedated) would have wanted. Then you are subtly, or not so subtly, pressuring her, or her children, to get with the programme. Or you are even enacting regulations that deny Medicare reimbursement for treatments that don’t meet some criterion of benefit.

In short, all the Republican talk during the health-care reform debate about “death panels” was melodramatic and unfair, but not ridiculous. One way or another, holding down health-care costs will require policies that deny treatment to people who want it. And want it

because it will extend their lives.

This goes on already, all the time.

Health insurance companies have been known to deny payment for treatments deemed unnecessary.

Age limits for organ transplants are another example. All policies that involve denying care because of “quality of life” considerations are, in effect, “death panels.” But no society can afford to give every citizen every possible therapy. Medicare is going broke trying.

How do other countries manage to give their citizens longer life

All policies that involve denying care because of ‘quality of life’ considerations are, in effect, ‘death panels.’ But no society can afford to give every citizen every possible therapy

expectancies than the U.S., at a lower cost? One way or another, they spend less on the dying and more on the living.

A$200,000 operation can add a year or two to the life of an octogenarian, or it can save decades of life for younger people. In a country like the U.S., with an average life expectancy of 78.5, it takes 10 septuagenarians who get an extra five years from the healthcare system to balance a single 30year-old who gets 50 extra years. Or save the life of a newborn, who then enjoys a normal life span and dies at 78.5, and you have the same impact on national life expectancy as 16 operations on septuagenarians. The average national life expectancy can increase even as the cost goes down.

How do you persuade fellow citizens to accept limits on their right to consume health-care resources? The trick, we think, is to ask them when they’re healthy, not when they’re sick.

If you think a US$200,000 operation is going to give you a few more years to live, it’s going to be hard to convince you that it’s not worth the cost. But before then, when your odds of needing that expensive operation are the same as everybody else’s, you might well choose a system that offers a higher life expectancy, even though it costs less. In fact, why wouldn’t you?

Bloomberg View

editorial council Paulo A. Azevedo, Tiago Azevedo, Duncan Davidson, Emanuel Graça, Cris Jiang Founder & Publisher Paulo A. Azevedo | pazevedo@macaubusinessdaily.com Editor-in-Chief Tiago Azevedo DEputy Editor-in-Chief José I. Duarte Chief REPORTER Vitor Quintã Newsdesk Cláudia Aranda, Kristy Chan, Kelsey Wilhelm, Cherry Lee, Terina Cao, Tony Lai Creative Director José Manuel Cardoso Designer Janne Louhikari Photography Carmo Correia, John Si, Manuel Cardoso Assistant to the publisher Laurentina da Silva | ltinas@macaubusinessdaily.com office manager Elsa Vong | elsav@macaubusinessdaily.com Agencies Bloomberg, Reuters, AFP, Xinhua, Lusa, Project Syndicate Printed in Macau by Welfare Ltd.

Business Daily is a product of De Ficção – Multimedia Projects Address Block C, Floor 9, Flat H, Edf. Ind. Nam Fong Av. Dr. Francisco Vieira Machado, No. 679, Macau Tel. (853) 2833 1258 / 2870 5909 Fax (853) 2833 1487 Email newsdesk@macaubusinessdaily.com Advertising advertising@macaubusinessdaily.com Subscriptions sub@macaubusinessdaily.com

June 6, 2012 business daily | 15

OPINION Business

wires Leading reports from Asia’s best business newspapers

Yomiuri Shimbun Long-term interest rates could spike if the Bank of Japan keeps buying Japanese government bonds too aggressively, Bank of Japan governor Masaaki Shirakawa was quoted as saying on Monday. Aggressive JGB purchases could hold down longterm yields temporarily but subsequently “could trigger an event that would lead to a jump in such yields,” Mr Shirakawa said in a speech at a conference hosted by the Research Institute of Japan.

A jump in yields would seriously affect financial institutions and jeopardise price stability and the sound development of the economy, he said.

Taipei Times The New Taiwan dollar on Monday retreated against the US dollar for the fourth consecutive session, slipping past the NT$30 mark for the first time since January 16 this year. Taiwan’s currency slid as the greenback gathered strength across the board amid falling crude oil prices and rising concern that the global economy was slowing because of the eurozone’s lingering debt problems, traders said. A 2.98 percent plunge in the local bourse added to the selling pressure on the NT dollar, with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$2.695 billion (US$89.7 million) in local shares on Monday.

Business Standard India’s total foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows in equity and debt during the first five months of 2012 were the highest since 2001. FII inflows between January and May stood at US$11.89 billion, up from the US$8.30 billion a year earlier, according to data from the finance ministry.

The data, however, shows inflows have gone down considerably in recent months. Total inflows reached US$12.64 billion at the end of March, but dropped to US$11.71 billion in April. Last month, the total inflow in equity and debt had turned positive with a US$178 million accrual.

Business Inquirer Philippines inflation rate dipped to 2.9 percent in May from 3 percent in April on slower increases in the cost of housing, utilities, fuel, and services, the National Statistics Office said. The inflation rate for May was well within the 5 to 6 percent target ceiling for the full year. It also fell within the 2.5 percent to 3.4 percent ceiling predicted by officials of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas late last month. Price rollbacks in LPG, kerosene, gasoline and diesel in most regions, including Metro Manila, resulted in a slower monthly price increase for consumer items.

Is global financial reform possible?

Paul Volcker F

Former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board

N

owadays there is ample evidence that financial systems, whether in Asia in the 1990’s or a decade later in the United States and Europe, are vulnerable to breakdowns.

The cost in interrupted growth and unemployment has been intolerably large.

But, in the absence of international consensus on some key points, reform will be greatly weakened, if not aborted. The freedom of money, financial markets, and people to move – and thus to escape regulation and taxation – might be an acceptable, even constructive, brake on excessive official intervention, but not if a deregulatory race to the bottom prevents adoption of needed ethical and prudential standards.

Perhaps most important is a coherent, consistent approach to dealing with the imminent failure of “systemically important” institutions. Taxpayers and governments alike are tired of bailing out creditors for fear of the destructive contagious effects of failure – even as bailouts encourage excessive risk taking.

By law in the U.S., new approaches superseding established bankruptcy procedures dictate the demise rather than the rescue of failing firms, whether by sale, merger, or liquidation. But such efforts’ success will depend on complementary approaches elsewhere, most importantly in the United Kingdom and other key financial centres.

Strict uniformity of regulatory practices may not be necessary. For example, the UK and the U.S. may be adopting approaches that differ with respect to protecting commercial banks from more speculative, proprietary trading, but the policy concerns are broadly similar – and may not be so pressing elsewhere, where banking traditions are different and trading is more restrained. But other jurisdictions should not act to undercut the restrictions imposed by home authorities.

Closely related to these reforms is reform of the international monetary system. Indeed, one might legitimately question whether we have a “system” at all, at least compared to the Bretton Woods arrangements and, before that, the seeming simplicity of the gold standard. No one today has been able to exert authority systematically and consistently, and there is no officially sanctified and controlled international currency.

Arguably, the ideal of a welldefined and effective international monetary regime has become more difficult to realise as markets and capital flows have become vastly larger and more capricious.

Indeed, the global economy, it is said, has grown – and

The ideal of a well-defined and effective international monetary regime has become more difficult to realise as markets and capital flows have become vastly larger and more capricious

burst with a very large and deeply disturbing bang.

The practical and inescapable lesson is that when any country is left to its own policy devices, its preferences may lead to prolonged and ultimately unsustainable imbalances. Sooner or later, adjustment will be necessary – if not by considered domestic policy or a well-functioning international monetary system, then by financial crisis.

Not so long ago, we were comforted by theorising that floating exchange rates would mediate international adjustments in a timely and orderly way. But, in the real world, many countries, particularly but not limited to small, open economies, simply find it impractical or undesirable to permit their currency to float.

Policies coordination emerging countries have flourished – without a more organised system.

Monetary disorder But what is too often overlooked is that international monetary disorder lay at the root of the successive financial crises of the 1990’s, and played an even more striking role in the crisis that erupted in 2008. The sustained and, in a sense, complementary imbalances in the U.S. and Asia stand out.

From 2000 to 2007, the U.S. ran a cumulative currentaccount deficit of roughly US$5.5 trillion, with nearly symmetrical offsetting increases in reserves in China and Japan. China found it useful to run a large trade surplus, using a very high rate of internal savings and inward foreign investment to support its industrialisation and rapid growth.

By contrast, the U.S., in the face of slow growth, was content to sustain exceptionally high levels of consumption at the expense of personal savings, inflating a massive housing bubble that

We are left with the certainty, however awkward, that active participation in an open world economy requires some surrender of economic sovereignty. Or, to put the point more positively, it requires a willingness to coordinate policies more effectively. The possibilities include: · Stronger surveillance by the International Monetary Fund and a firmer commitment by countries to abide by “best practices” and agreed norms.

Direct and public recommen-

dations by the IMF, the G-20, or others, following mandatory consultation. · Qualification or disqualification with respect to the use of IMF or other credit facilities (for example, central banks’ swap lines). · Interest or other financial penalties or incentives along the lines under consideration in Europe.

But, if approaches that build on past failure do not seem sufficiently effective, perhaps a new approach toward currency fluctuations would be more promising. That would require some agreement about appropriate “equilibrium” exchange rates, with a fairly wide band that would allow for uncertainty and permit the market to exert its own discipline. But individual countries would orient intervention and economic policies toward defending the equilibrium rate, or, more radically, an international authority might authorise aggressive intervention by trading partners to promote consistency.

An appropriate reserve currency and adequate international liquidity represent another central concern. For years, the pragmatic answer has been the dollar, and to some extent other national currencies, giving rise to complaints of an “inordinate privilege” for the U.S. But it is not in America’s interest to accentuate and extend its payment deficits at the expense of an internationally competitive economy with strong industry and restrained consumption. And the rest of the world wants the flexibility afforded by the currency of the largest, strongest, and most stable economy.

A useful reserve currency must be limited in supply, but have sufficient elasticity to satisfy the large, unpredictable needs that may arise in a turbulent financial world. Above all, confidence in its stability and availability must be maintained, which highlights the practicality of a national currency, or perhaps a variety of national currencies. © Project Syndicate

16 |

business daily June 6, 2012

CLOSING Portugal poised for second bailout

Markets shutting Spain out: minister

Surging unemployment is stretching Portugal’s austerity programme to breaking point, and its international lenders are likely to respond by giving the country more time to hit its budget targets, likely paving the way for a second bailout. Portugal passed the latest of several performance reviews under its 78-billion-euro rescue package on Monday. But inspectors from the European Union and International Monetary Fund said the soaring jobless rate, at 15 percent, required “decisive policy action”.

Spain’s high borrowing costs mean it is effectively shut out of the bond market and the European Union should help Madrid recapitalise its debt-laden banks, Treasury minister Cristobal Montoro said yesterday.

Spain will test the market tomorrow with an issue of up to 2 billion euros (US$2.5 billion) in mediumand long-term bonds at auction. “The risk premium says Spain doesn’t have the market door open,” Mr Montoro said on Onda Cero radio. “The risk premium says that as a state we have a problem in accessing markets, when we need to refinance our debt.”

Macau gaming revenue pickup forecast With Sands Cotai Central’s mass market improving, Morgan Stanley analysts expect gaming revenue growth to speed up again this month Vítor Quintã vitorquinta@macaubusinessdaily.com

Sands Cotai Central’s first full month was weaker than the ‘highly successful’ opening of the Galaxy Macau says Morgan Stanley

tables so far, Morgan Stanley says.

The company expects gaming revenue growth to accelerate to 17 percent this month, and revenue to reach 24.4 billion patacas (US$3.1 billion), owing to “improving mass revenue” at the Sands Cotai Central.

The analysts still believe that gaming revenue will grow by between 18 percent and 20 percent in 2012.

But they warn that the average monthly revenue of 25 billion patacas will have to improve.

Regulatory risks

T

he market’s response to gaming revenue growth in May, the slowest in nearly three years, was “overdone” and Morgan Stanley expects growth to speed up to 17 percent this month, according to a note to investors it released on Monday.

Macau gaming stocks dropped by 23 percent on average at the Hong Kong stock exchange last month, more than the benchmark Hang Seng index’s decline of 12 percent.

Morgan Stanley analysts say there were several factors behind the 7.3 percent growth last month, one

being the difficulty of making a comparison with the highly positive month of May 2011.

Not even the May 1 holidays were able to stop the slowdown.

“Many operators are seeing lower high-end VIP volume during big holidays as whales [high-rollers] are also trying to avoid the crowds,” their report says.

The first full month of the Sands Cotai Central was weaker than the “highly successful” opening of the Galaxy Macau on May 15, 2011, because the new resort is to open in phases, with only 350 gaming

“Regulatory and liquidity risks could hamper the growth rate,” the report says. “At a lower growth rate, competition intensifies and margin comes under pressure.”

Morgan Stanley noted the case of Yang Kun, an executive of statecontrolled Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, who was detained for allegedly gambling in Macau casinos with money belonging to customers.

“If authorities tighten regulation for the Chinese VIP customers, it could hamper Macau gaming revenue,” the report says.

“If Chinese economic growth falls below expectation, it could reduce disposable income and thus gambling revenue,” it adds.

The report also describes Sands China’s decision to give up Cotai Parcels 7 and 8 as a neutral event.

“This could also be done to save site 3 (adjacent to Four Seasons), which could also be taken back by the government if Sands cannot finish construction by 2013, which is not possible, considering no construction work has started there yet,” it says.

In return for dropping its judicial appeal over Parcels 7 and 8, Sands China got an extension on Parcel 3 and the right to sell apartments in its Four Seasons development, sources told Business Daily this week.

Morgan Stanley thinks Parcels 7 and 8 will not be “re-auctioned for the purpose of building casinos” but will instead “remain sidelined from any potential casino-related developments”.

In December 2010, just weeks after telling Sands China he was rejecting its application for Parcels 7 and 8, the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau director Jaime Carion said the parcels would be kept as reserve land.

Putin in key China visit Beijing and Moscow plan US$200 billion in trade by 2020

C

hina and Russia plan to bring trade between the two nations to US$200 billion by 2020, Chinese President Hu Jintao told a briefing with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing yesterday.

The two sides will seek enhanced cooperation in the fields of gas and nuclear power, and should cooperate to tackle the global financial crisis, Mr Hu said.

Mr Putin told his counterpart that China and Russia’s interests “align perfectly in a great many areas, including in cooperating on the world stage, in economic and financial cooperation, high-tech, people and culture and other areas”.

“Through the sustained efforts of both sides, the Russia-China overall strategic cooperative partnership relationship has attained new heights,” he said during his meeting with the Chinese leader.

The two countries also signed 12 diplomatic and business agreements yesterday to support booming trade – which reached US$80 billion last year – and finalised a deal to establish a joint US$4 billion investment fund.

The Russian fund and the Chinese sovereign wealth fund will each contribute US$1 billion to the joint venture, while the rest will come from Chinese investors.

Seventy percent of the fund’s investments will be in Russian projects, and the rest in China in the fields of auto manufacturing, timber processing, agriculture, transport and logistics.

While energy is high on the agenda, a long-awaited gas deal that could see Russia supply 70 billion cubic metres of gas a year directly to China was not signed yesterday.

Russian and China also pledged

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao met yesterday in Beijing

to increase their cooperation in the United Nations, as the giant neighbours try to resist mounting pressure for international action to stop the bloodshed in Syria.

Mr Hu said closer cooperation would allow the two countries, whose stance has angered Western powers, to “set the global political and economic order in a more fair and rational direction”.

“We plan to increase cooperation in the framework of leading

international organisations – the United Nations, G20, BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation,” Mr Putin told reporters after the talks, echoing similar comments by Mr Hu. Both countries have walked in lockstep on Syria to the anger of Arab and Western nations, and they both used their veto power earlier this year to block action against Damascus.

Bloomberg/AFP