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CTM escapes fine over third blackout
Competition law needed here: WTO
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Polytechnic Institute wants UM campus Page 3
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acau should “consider the need for a comprehensive competition law,” World Trade Organization (WTO) members said during the body’s fourth Trade Policy Review of the territory. Such a law could help break up existing monopolies in several sectors and thus reduce price hikes, several commentators told Business Daily. However, they warned such a law would face many obstacles in terms of drafting and enforcement. The issue of competition in Macau was raised on Wednesday at the end of a three-day WTO meeting in Geneva. Macau’s regulatory framework for competition “has remained unchanged” since the previous WTO review in 2007.
SJM bosses to sell 20 million shares Page 6
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23135
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Bosses, staff split on ‘flexible’ holiday pay
23036
23003
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May 16
HSI - Movers
The current compensation system for staff working on holidays forces smaller firms to choose between raising prices or closing during breaks, business owners told Business Daily. But trade unions rejected Secretary of Economy and Finance Francis Tam Pak Yuen’s call to review the mechanism, instead calling for an end to the overlapping holidays. A labour law revision will be ready next year, including a more flexible arrangement, while not “minimising the present benefits or protection they [workers] enjoy,” Mr Tam said this week.
Name
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The developer of the corruption-hit housing project La Scala has appealed to the Court of Second Instance over the government’s decision to revoke a 2011 grant of additional land. Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd’s Macau subsidiary Moon Ocean Ltd and two prospective buyers of apartments at La Scala jointly lodged the appeal. Macau last year declared invalid the original 2006 land concession for five plots near the airport. Page 2
TENCENT HOLDINGS
6.49
HENGAN INTL
3.49
LENOVO GROUP LTD
3.28
CATHAY PAC AIR
2.55
TINGYI HLDG CO
2.24
CHINA RES ENTERP
-1.37
CNOOC LTD
-1.39
CHINA SHENHUA-H
-1.49
PETROCHINA CO-H
-2.10
ESPRIT HLDGS
-3.01
Source: Bloomberg
Melco, Sands contest Cotai trademarks
Chinese Estates appeals to keep La Scala land
%Day
Rival casino operators Las Vegas Sands Corp and Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd are waging a court battle here over ‘Cotai Strip’-linked trademarks. So far the Macau courts have sided with Melco Crown, denting LVS’s recent attempt to re-brand its Cotai resorts as ‘Cotai Strip Macao’. In an April 25 judgement released yesterday, the Court of Second Instance said LVS couldn’t register the ‘Cotai Strip CotaiTravel’ trademark. Page 4
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Macau
Let us keep La Scala plots, developer asks the courts Chinese Estates and the government lock horns again over confiscated land Tony Lai
tony.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com
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Work on La Scala, a now notorious housing project, stopped last June (Photo: Manuel Cardoso)
he developer of La Scala has asked the Court of Second Instance to overturn the confiscation of extra land for the upmarket housing project that the government granted the company in 2011. Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd told the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late on Wednesday that a subsidiary, Moon Ocean, and two buyers of homes in La Scala had jointly petitioned the court. The government announced in the Official Gazette last month that Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On had voided the grant in 2011 of eight plots of extra land near the airport, in accordance with the revocation of the grant in 2006 of the main tract of land for the project. The government revoked the 2006 grant after the Court of Final Appeal ruled that the grant was tainted by corruption involving Ao Man Long
when he was secretary for transport and public works. Chinese Estates said on Wednesday that it had asked the court to refrain from ruling on its petition to keep the extra land granted in 2011 until the courts had ruled on whether it could keep the main tract of land granted in 2006. The company asked the courts in September to let it keep the main tract of land. Secretary for Transport and Public Works Lau Si Io said last month that the government expected legal action by Chinese Estates. Mr Lau said that from the government’s point of view, “the most important step has been completed” in that it had confiscated all the land. The Court of Final Appeal concluded in May last year that Mr Ao had taken HK$20 million (US$2.6 million) in bribes from Chinese Estates boss Joseph Lau Luen Hung and BMA Investment Group Ltd chairman Steven Lo Kit Sing in return for ensuring that Chinese Estates got the land granted in 2006. Prosecutors have charged Mr Joseph Lau and Mr Lo with corruption and money laundering. Their trial is now set to begin on June 17, having been delayed three times due to illness of the presiding judge and of Mr Lau. The court was set to send a medical team to assess the health of the Chinese Estates boss in Hong Kong. But the Health Bureau here said last weekend they could not do so as Mr Lau was outside its legal jurisdiction.
CTM escapes fine over third blackout December service interruption was due to the software supplier, govt probe finds Tony Lai
tony.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com
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o penalty will be imposed on Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau SARL (CTM) on the December 26 service failure, as the government believes the operator is not to blame. Lawrence Tou Veng Keong, director of the Telecommunications Regulation Bureau, said yesterday, “After an investigation, [we found out] the problem cannot be blamed on the company. It was actually a problem in the setting-up of the software [by the] supplier.” “So we did not carry out any penalty but we drafted some suggestions for the company,” he told media on the sidelines of a World Information Society Day celebration. CTM’s 3G voice service disruption for 30 minutes on December 26 was the company’s third blackout last year. The operator had already been fined for 800,000 patacas (US$100,000) and 180,000 patacas for two failures in February and May last year, attributed to human error. CTM rival Hutchison Telephone
(Macau) Co Ltd, branded here as ‘3 Macau’, was also charged with a 370,000-pataca fine for two incidents last year. Mr Tou said all the fines, totalling 1.35 million patacas, had been settled. He added it was not realistic to expect suppliers’ services to be perfect. But he stressed that telecommunications companies must have contingency plans for such incidents. The top regulator also said Citic Telecom International Holdings Ltd’s plans to improve CTM’s deficiencies will be a factor in the government’s decision over its takeover of the local telecoms company. “We notice it takes a long time [for CTM] to make adjustments in the service charges and there is still room for improvement in the service quality,” Mr Tou said. The Macau government’s greenlight is the last approval the Hong Kong-listed firm needs for its US$1.16-billion plan to raise its CTM stake from 20 percent to 99 percent.
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May 17, 2013
Macau
Bosses, workers split over flexible holiday overtime Small enterprises say the law mandating triple-time for working on mandatory public holidays is too onerous Stephanie Lai
Polytechnic Institute eyes old UM campus MPI the first institution to express openly its desire
sw.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com
Tony Lai
tony.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com
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Owners of small restaurants say it is their businesses that are harmed most by the law on holiday overtime
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he law on overtime pay for employees that work on mandatory public holidays forces smaller firms to choose between raising prices or closing for holidays, business owners say. But trade unions reject Secretary for Economy and Finance Francis Tam Pak Yuen’s call for changes to the law, calling instead for a way to ensure employees are paid properly for working on public holidays that fall on Saturdays or Sundays. Mr Tam said on Tuesday that a bill to amend the labour law would be ready next year. The bill would allow employers more flexibility in paying employees that work on public holidays, without “minimising the present benefits or protection” afforded to workers, he said. The head of the Traders Association of Macau Good Cuisine, Chan Wing Lam, told Business Daily that said the law as it stood was too rigid, and costly for small restaurants. The association represents about 100 small restaurants, most of them family-run. The law says that if employees work on mandatory holidays, their employers must pay them either double-time and give them an extra day off, or pay them triple-time.
Macau has 10 mandatory holidays per year, including holidays at New Year and Lunar New Year. “For restaurants that choose to give an extra day off,” Mr Chan said, “it has to be given to the worker within 30 days. It is challenging for us to adjust the roster with a very small staff.” He added: “An increase of 20 percent to 30 percent in the service charge is necessary to cover the holiday overtime costs but, of course, customers get hugely upset by that arrangement.”
Bitter pill Many restaurants simply closed on public holidays as they could not afford to pay overtime at the rates required by law, Mr Chan said. The director of the Macau Pharmacies Association, Ng Wai Hong, said pharmacies, where many mainland Chinese tourists shop on national holidays, were in a predicament worse than that of small restaurants. “Unlike restaurants, we cannot just lift our retail prices to cover the overtime costs,” said Ms Ng. “Many of the small pharmacies just choose to close their stores to avoid paying triple-time.” The owner of the Plaza Restaurant,
Lei U Weng, said: “Bigger restaurant groups, in order to maintain their customer relationships, will not raise any charges, despite having to pay triple-time.” Mr Lei and Mr Chan think employers should be given greater freedom to decide how much overtime to pay their employees for working on public holidays. A spokesperson for the Standing Committee for the Coordination of Social Affairs said the committee had received no proposals on holiday overtime. The labour representative on the committee, Ella Lei Cheng I of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions, supports of the law as it stands. “Most of our union members, especially the retailing and restaurant workers, welcome the present law,” Ms Lei said. She said the law already gave employers enough flexibility while protecting the right of workers to take holidays. “I do not see how the present arrangement is inflexible,” she said. “When it comes to amending the labour law, for us it is more important to discuss mandatory holidays that coincide with weekends, for which workers never get compensated,” Ms Lei said.
he Macau Polytechnic Institute has reportedly asked to take over the University of Macau’s campus on Taipa when the university moves to its new campus on Hengqin Island. The Chinese-language Shimin Daily quoted the dean of the institute, Li Xiangyu, as telling reporters on Wednesday that the institute had applied to the government to use the Taipa campus “for a period of time” but had received no response. The newspaper quoted Mr Li as saying other institutions had made similar requests. Business Daily asked the institute when it had asked to take over the Taipa campus and what its next move would be. The institute replied that it had nothing to add to Mr Li’s reported remarks. Business Daily asked the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau whether it had received other applications to use the Taipa campus and when it would decide what to do with the campus, but we had received no reply by the time we went to press. The University of Macau is due to move to Hengqin Island in September. The government has said it will take back most of the Taipa campus. The Tertiary Education Services Office has said the government will ensure “reasonable and efficient” use of the campus. But it has not said who might take over the campus. Mr Li said the Macau Polytechnic Institute’s campus was cramped, having under 10 square metres per student, less than the 40 to 50 square metres standard in mainland China. The institute’s main campus, in the NAPE district, covers over 19,000 square metres and accommodates 3,300 students. Mr Li said the outcome of the institute’s application to use the Taipa campus would affect its plan to add a new building to its present campus. He said that if the institute failed to get the Taipa campus it would stay where it was now. Another candidate to take over the Taipa campus may the City University of Macau, owned by politician Chan Meng Kam. Sources in the University of Macau told Business Daily last week that the government had said it was possible that the City University would get the Taipa campus. Mr Chan, a member of the Legislative Assembly and the Executive Council, said his university had been in talks with the government about a new campus, but had not asked for a new campus in any particular place.
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May 17, 2013
Macau
Casino companies fight over Cotai trademarks
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HOSPITALITY
A court rejects an attempt to register ‘Cotai Strip CotaiTravel’ as a trademark
Echoing holds The advent of direct flights across the Taiwan Strait made a more conspicuous dent in the amount of cargo Macau airport handles than in the number of passengers it handles. Direct flights made it unnecessary for freight or travellers going between mainland China and Taiwan to use Macau or Hong Kong as a staging post. The amount of air freight entering Macau in the first quarter of this year was one-quarter of the amount entering in the first quarter 2008, and the amount leaving was one-third. The amount of air freight in transit here was one-tenth of what it was.
The main cause of the fall in the amount of freight the airport handles was the decrease in the amount going to or from Taiwan. The big drop in late 2008 and early 2009 was due to the international financial crisis. The rebound towards the end of 2009 proved short-lived. The amount of cargo coming from Taiwan fell by over 80 percent in the period under review and the amount going to Taiwan fell by just under 80 percent. The amount of cargo in transit to or from Taiwan never recovered from the contraction in 2008. In the first quarter of this year it was under one-twentieth of what it was in the first quarter 2008. The amount of cargo coming from the mainland did not change much, but the amount going to the mainland fell as steeply as the amount coming from or going to Taiwan. That logistics might serve to diversify the economy seems an evermore-distant possibility.
Vítor Quintã
vitorquinta@macaubusinessdaily.com
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ival casino operators Las Vegas Sands Corp and Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd are grappling in court over trademarks that use the words “Cotai Strip”. So far the courts have sided with Melco Crown Entertainment, reducing the chances of Las Vegas Sands succeeding in its efforts to brand its resorts in Cotai collectively as “Cotai Strip Macao”. In a judgement handed down on April 25 but made public only yesterday, the Court of Second Instance prevented Las Vegas Sands from registering “Cotai Strip CotaiTravel” as a trademark. The court said the expression is “ambiguous, generic and indefinite” and that it failed to distinguish Las Vegas Sands from other companies “that could produce or sell the same goods”. Las Vegas Sands tried to register this trademark here in July 2008 for use on keyrings, corks, frames, furniture, mirrors and other souvenirs. The Economic Services Bureau approved in December 2011 the ap p l i ca ti o n b y L a s Veg a s Sands to register “Cotai Strip CotaiTravel” as a trademark,
but Melco Crown Entertainment objected, taking its case to the Court of First Instance. The Court of First Instance upheld the objection, saying “Cotai Strip” simply denoted a geographical area and that “travel” simply indicated a kind of product or service. The Economic Services Bureau and Las Vegas Sands appealed against this ruling, but the Court of Second Instance turned down the appeal. The Court of Second Instance said that what “Cotai Strip CotaiTravel” was meant to denote was vague. “A hotel, a casino, a congress centre, a shopping centre, a performance room? We don’t know,” the court said.
Mud and Sands The Court of Second Instance made a similar ruling in March, preventing Las Vegas Sands from registering “Cotai Strip CotaiShuttle” as a trademark. The court said in its judgement on that case that such a trademark could confuse consumers, given that several casinos operated in Cotai. It said the success of Cotai “can
never result from the efforts of a single entity but instead from the global contribution of several entities, private and public”. These court rulings may help thwart the efforts of Las Vegas Sands to brand its resorts in Cotai collectively as “Cotai Strip Macao” – an expression the company has been using publicly. Las Vegas Sands’ local unit Sands China Ltd declined to make any comments. Business Daily also invited Melco Crown Entertainment to comment, but received no reply by the time we went to press. Las Vegas Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson has repeatedly said his vision of a new Las Vegas Strip is what made the Cotai Strip what it is today. “It all began with a vision that started with a reclaimed area of sand and mud,” Mr Adelson said last year at the opening of the Sands Cotai Central casino resort. “People said it couldn’t be done.” Las Vegas Sands will face more competition in Cotai from 2015 – SJM Holdings Ltd, MGM Resorts International Inc and Wynn Resorts Ltd all being due to open their first resorts there.
J.I.D.
98.2 %
Proportion of the fall in incoming air cargo due to the drop in air freight from Taiwan, 2008Q1-2013Q1
Melco Crown Entertainment and Las Vegas Sands have adjacent casino resorts in Cotai (Photo: Manuel Cardoso)
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Macau
Competition law needed: WTO Move could help better protect consumers, stabilise prices, say some commentators Vítor Quintã
vitorquinta@macaubusinessdaily.com
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acau should “consider the need for a comprehensive competition law,” World Trade Organization (WTO) members said during the body’s fourth Trade Policy Review of the territory. Such a law could help break up existing monopolies in several sectors and thus reduce price hikes, several commentators told Business Daily. However, they warned such a law would face many obstacles in terms of drafting and enforcement. The issue of competition in Macau was raised on Wednesday at the end of a three-day WTO meeting in Geneva. Macau’s regulatory framework for competition “has remained unchanged” since the previous WTO review in 2007. “There is still no overarching competition legislation in force,” some WTO member-states said, adding provisions are “scattered about in different legislation and sector-specific regulations and rules”. In response the Macau government said there is “adequate protection” against unfair commercial practices given that the city’s economy is small and most businesses are small and medium enterprises (SMEs). But Johnny Chan Veng Un, vicepresident of Public Utilities Concern Association of Macau, and Paul Chan Wai Chi, Legislative Assembly
member, believe a competition law would be a step forward. “There is definitely a certain degree of monopoly,” or at least companies acting as a cartel, in several sectors in Macau such as fuel supply and fresh food wholesaling, Johnny Chan said. A competition law “would mean a big step in improving consumer protection,” he added. Paul Chan agreed, stating: “The introduction of such law in Macau would have a positive impact, namely by stabilising product prices and easing inflation”. Despite admitting that “in the long-run competition rules provide an important element to the market,” Rostam Neuwirth, a WTO law expert, is less optimistic. “It requires a well-planned, coherent approach. The main problem is in the realm of enforcement. We have seen this problem often in the EU [European Union],” the University of Macau professor said. “Sometimes it’s better to make existing laws more coherent than to add new laws,” he told Business Daily. The Consumer Council first called in 2000 for a competition law in a report on the liquefied petroleum gas and fuel market “but not much progress has been
WTO SUGGESTIONS
Macau yet to ratify copyright protection treaties More information needed on food safety law Govt plans to review procurement legislation Diversification ‘critical’ in years to come heard” since, Paul Chan said. Johnny Chan’s association has been “in constant dialogue” with the Consumer Council. The council said to draft this law would be “very complicated in the technical aspect,” requiring the coordination of “many government departments in different areas,” he said. “But I think now is the appropriate time to do so as Macau has become more internationalised; … we have to catch up with what happens around the world,” the association member said. Hong Kong approved its first competition law last year but it will probably only come into effect next year. A Competition Commission was appointed last month. Paul Chan fears the fate of such a policy proposal in Macau would depend on “what the business
sector thinks” about it or on “how determined the government is” in pushing it forward. The WTO suggestion probably comes from member-states interested in opening up Macau’s market for outside firms, said Mr Neuwirth. “But would such rules benefit or harm local SMEs?” he asked. Even if no new law gets implemented, Johnny Chan says he will keep an eye on the terms of the second landline telecommunications licence proposed for Macau. The only bidder, Companhia de Telecomunicações de MTEL, Ltda, and the current operator, Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau SARL (CTM) “are at different starting points… We should monitor how the government ensures there is a fair market,” he said. With Tony Lai
Population grows, birth rate drops Population growth driven by imported labour in first quarter Stephanie Lai
sw.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com
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acau’s population rose by 4,300 people in the first quarter of this year to 586,300 people, according to a Statistics and Census Service estimate released yesterday. However the number of newborn babies had a “significant” quarterly drop of 500 to 1,609 babies. Thanks to the Dragon Lunar Year, traditionally viewed as an auspicious
period to have children, there was a birth boom last year, with the number of new born babies rising by 25 percent to 7,315. With birth rate falling, imported workers remained the major growth engine for the population. Non-resident labour rose by 4,164 to 114,716 people by the end of March. Over 60 percent of the imported
employees are from mainland China, followed by the Philippines (14.8 percent) and Vietnam (9.2 percent). The Macau Population Projections published by the statistics bureau last year forecast that residents would account for most of the population increase in the next few decades. The projection said the nonresident workers would not exceed 100,900 people by 2036 but this
number was already topped last year. The population is estimated to rise to a minimum of 680,400 and a maximum 830,800 people by 2036. There were 488 deaths in the last quarter, 44 more than in the previous period. The top-three causes of death were cancer, circulatory system diseases and respiratory illnesses – same as last year, data show.
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Financial Monitor Corporate baby boom About 10 new companies were set up each day last year, on average. Companies are being created in every industry. Of all the industries other than gaming and hospitality, which are special cases, commerce gained the highest number of new companies in the past three years, finance and business services the second-highest number, real estate the thirdhighest and construction the fourth-highest. Almost as many companies were created in commerce as in finance and business services and real estate combined.
The industry that gained new companies at the fastest rate by far is real estate. Over the past four years most industries gained new companies at rates slightly below the average. The growth in the number of companies in real estate was 88 percent, more than double the average. In the past two years more than 900 companies were created in the real estate industry. On average, 1.25 real estate companies were set up each day. Almost as many companies were created in the construction industry as in the real estate industry. The figures for the creation of companies raise a question: since the labour market is tight, only 6,700 people being unemployed, where will all these new companies get their workers if they are to grow?
SJM bosses could make 72 pct on share exercise price Selling 20 million after casino firm’s stock reaches record high on Cotai concession news Michael Grimes
michael.grimes@macaubusinessdaily.com
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wo senior executives of SJM Holdings Ltd stand to make as much as 72 percent more on some share options than the exercise price, after the casino developer’s stock price rose to an all time high on Wednesday. The jump came after news of the Macau government’s gazetting of SJM’s land concession for a new casino resort on Cotai. The share sale by Ambrose So Shu Fai, the firm’s chief executive, and Louis Ng Chi Sing, chief operating officer, could raise HK$440 million (US$57 million). The two are offering 20 million shares at HK$21.50 to HK$22 each. That’s a discount of 2.2 percent to 4.4 percent to Wednesday’s closing share price, terms for the deal show. But it would represent at least a 72 percent increase on the exercise price of share options awarded to both men in March 2011. SJM Holdings’ interim 2012 report filed in August shows that as of June 30, 2012, Mr So owned 2.94 percent of the company’s stock. It included 35 million shares in the form of options, awarded in March
2011 at an exercise price per share of HK$12.496, vesting six months on from the award date, and exercisable at any time up to September 16, 2020. Mr Ng owned – as of June 30, 2012 – 2.32 percent of the company, including 32 million option shares held on the same terms as Mr So. Deutsche Bank AG is joint book runner for the share sale, according to the term sheet. Separately on April 12, Hong Kong-listed SJM Holdings said in a regulatory filing that the annual general meeting of shareholders on May 31 will be asked to renew the firm’s share repurchase mandate. It authorises the firm’s directors to repurchase shares up to the value of 10 percent of the issued share capital. The filing stated: “Trading conditions on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange have sometimes been volatile in recent years and if there are occasions in the future when depressed market conditions arise, repurchases of shares may support the share price of the company and lead to an enhancement of the net asset value of the company and/or its earnings per share.”
J.I.D. The content of this column is the work of Business Daily’s journalists.
12.6 %
Average annual growth in number of companies created, 2010-2012
Ambrose So, left, and Louis Ng – selling shares in SJM
The 2012 interim report confirms that as of June 30, 2012, SJM’s founder Stanley Ho Hung Sun held no shares in the company, but retains 100 privileged shares in SJM’s parent Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, SA, representing 0.12 percent of the latter’s issued share capital. His fourth consort and fellow SJM executive director Angela Leong On Kei, was listed as having an 8.26 percent share of SJM Holdings, 6.86 percent of STDM and 10 percent of Sociedade de Jogos de Macau SA, the Macau company that holds the actual Macau gaming concession. SJM Holdings raised US$494 million in July 2008 with an initial public offering of 25 percent of the firm’s stock in Hong Kong. SJM licenses 20 of the 35 casinos in Macau but currently only receives the full economic benefit of such licensing from three venues: Casino Grand Lisboa, Casino Lisboa and Casino Oceanus. Casino Jai Alai is currently closed for refurbishment, while with the other sites, SJM has to share the revenue with third party managements. With Bloomberg News
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Macau Wynn Resorts rejigs US$500 mln debt Wynn Resorts Ltd is to buy back debt and reschedule some of its borrowings so they mature in 2023. Two wholly owned subsidiaries – Wynn Las Vegas, LLC and Wynn Las Vegas Capital Corp – are to issue US$500 million (four billion patacas) worth of senior notes bearing 4.25 percent interest on the aggregate principal amount. The notes will mature in 2023. The initial purchasers of the notes will only offer them to qualified institutional investors. With the proceeds, Wynn Las Vegas LLC will buy up currently outstanding mortgage notes bearing seven percent interest and due in 2017.
Success Universe to buy partner’s Ponte 16 interest Maruhan’s interest might be worth up to HK$194.90 million Michael Grimes
michael.grimes@macaubusinessdaily.com
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hareholders in Success Universe Group Ltd – a 49 percent investor in the Macau casino resort Ponte 16 – voted unanimously to buy out a partner on its side of the venture. The other half of the venture is controlled by Sociedade de Jogos de Macau SA via its 51 percent holding. The result of the Success Universe poll was given in a Hong Kong filing yesterday after the firm held a special general meeting in the city on Wednesday.
Maruhan Corp – a Japanese company with a focus on operating pachinko game parlours – said in February it wanted an amicable end to its partnership with Success Universe relating to the resort at Macau’s Inner Harbour and to exercise an option to sell. Maruhan’s interest is worth between HK$324.87 million (US$42 million) and HK$194.90 million depending on an independent valuation still to be calculated, Success Universe
Corporate GLI attending G2E Asia 2013 Gaming Laboratories International Inc., a leader in the testing and certification of gaming machines and gaming management systems, will attend Global Gaming Expo Asia in Macau next week. GLI was founded by James Maida (pictured) in 1989. The company says it has since certified more than 1.7 million products and provided consultation and testing services in more than 455 jurisdictions. GLI has been doing equipment testing in Macau since 2004 and opened its own testing facility here in 2007. Two years later GLI was recognised as a testing lab by the Casino Regulatory Authority of Singapore. In 2011 GLI Asia expanded its testing services to include lotteries. That year the GLI Asia unit was a consultant on lottery projects in Beijing, mainland China; South Korea; and Taiwan. The firm launched the first set of international technical standards for online gaming in 2012. They were developed with Technical Systems Testing, a company that GLI acquired in 2010.
WMS fiscal Q3 results just top consensus WMS Industries Inc., a global maker of casino equipment serving Asian regional markets, reported revenue of US$177.9 million (1.4 billion patacas) and net income of US$7.5 million, or 14 U.S. cents per diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31. The figure is inclusive of nine U.S. cents per diluted share for incremental costs related to the pending acquisition of WMS by lottery equipment specialist Scientific Games Corporation. “WMS reported fiscal third quarter 2013 top-line results that were slightly above consensus, but below our estimates,” said a note from Union Gaming Research in Las Vegas. “On an EPS [earnings per share] basis, results were below both our and consensus expectations due largely to costs associated with the pending acquisition by Scientific Games and increased marketing costs due to the launch of two new cabinets,” added the research house. It mentioned a possible acquisition price of US$26 per share payable by Scientific Games.
told Business Daily in February. The option purchase price is subject to a 30 percent discount to the prevailing market value as independently calculated. After the disposal Maruhan will still have an indirect interest in Ponte 16 via a residual shareholding in Success Universe, although the size of that won’t be clear until a valuation is agreed on the World Fortune stake. Ponte 16 opened in 2008. As at 31 December 2012, the casino had
Ponte 16 casino resort
109 gaming tables, 82 of which were mass gaming tables, nine were high-limit mass-market tables and 18 were VIP tables according to a filing in April.
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May 17, 2013 April 19, 2013
Greater China Sinopec unit prices IPO near bottom
Beijing warns EU to drop telec Ericsson to Nokia oppose threat of China tariffs
The engineering unit of China’s Sinopec Group, Asia’s largest refiner, raised US$1.8 billion in Hong Kong’s biggest initial public offering in almost six months, IFR reported yesterday, citing a source familiar with the deal. Sinopec Engineering (Group) Co Ltd, as the unit is called, sold 1.33 billion new shares at HK$10.5 each, said IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication. The company launched the deal on May 6, with an indicative range of HK$9.80 to HK$13.10 per share. On Wednesday it narrowed the range to HK$10.50-11 per share.
Mainland province starts US$2.4b fund Highland Capital Management, a company formed by the government of China’s Yunnan province, will raise as much as 15 billion yuan (US$2.4 billion) to invest in real estate and natural resources in Southeast Asia. The fund, launched jointly with the Financial Supervisory Board of Yunnan, is raising capital from financial institutions and state-owned enterprises, Highland said in a statement yesterday. Daniel Zhou, a former director of the investmentbanking division at UBS Investment Bank AG, will lead the fund, it said.
EU fears subsidies may be helping Chinese firms
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hina yesterday warned the European Union against escalating bilateral trade disputes, urging Brussels to drop plans to probe Chinese telecom products and impose hefty taxes on its solar panels. The European Commission said on Wednesday it was prepared to probe possible Chinese subsidies to network makers such as Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp and the possible sale of equipment in the EU below cost. The inquiries would cover EU imports of more than 1 billion euros (US$1.3 billion) a year and determine whether these shipments unfairly harmed European manufacturers. The decision followed reports that
Brussels was planning to impose antidumping taxes of up to 68 percent on China-made solar panel products – a row that has been brewing since last year. Shen Danyang, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said European mobile telecommunications firms enjoy a “much bigger” market share in China than Chinese companies have in the EU, and any trade actions Brussels takes will harm both sides. “We hope the EU will not take actions that do no good to either side,” he told reporters at a regular news conference. China will take “assertive” measures to “defend our lawful interests and rights” according to WTO rules and Chinese laws, he
said, if the EU follows through with the probe. “Any consequences caused must be borne by the party who provoked the friction,” he warned. Mr Shen urged Brussels to oppose the tax and added that the EU would “seriously damage” bilateral trade relations if it went ahead with the punitive solar taxes. “The abuse of trade remedy measures in a reckless and arbitrary manner will… do nothing for the solving of trade frictions and will also impede the progress of economic recovery and severely dampen confidence in recovery,” he said. “China… does not want to go into a trade war with the European Union.”
China Resources profit tumbles China Resources Enterprise Ltd’s firstquarter profit fell 61 percent as the nation’s second- largest hypermarket operator was hurt by higher costs and a government push to curtail public expenditures. Net income dropped to HK$512 million (US$66 million) from HK$1.3 billion a year earlier, the company, which also runs beer, beverage and food businesses, said in a statement yesterday. Sales rose 8.4 percent to HK$36.2 billion. The beer division, which makes China’s bestselling Snow brand beer with SABMiller Plc, posted a loss of HK$23 million in the first three months of 2013.
Battery-maker abandons factory plans Protests in Shanghai forced a batterymaker to abandon plans for a factory on the outskirts of the city, in a victory for citizens wary of assurances that such projects won’t pollute the environment. Shanghai Guoxuan New Energy Co. will give up its investment and return the land for the factory to the government, the company said in a statement on the Songjiang district website yesterday. It was responding to environmental concerns over the production of lithiumiron phosphate batteries, according to a separate statement on the district’s environment bureau website.
Regulator trade review undermines swap bulls Authorities look into possible fraud relating to the export data Ye Xie and Fion Li
D
erivatives traders are scaling back bets the yuan will appreciate as record capital inflows prompt China to investigate possible fraud relating to export data and require banks to boost holdings of foreign exchange. In a sign that traders see less value in the yuan, cross- currency swaps show they are willing to pay the most in a month to exchange a stream of payments denominated in China’s legal tender for those based in dollars. The yuan has fallen 0.3 percent to 6.1488 per dollar from a 19-year high on May 9. China’s currency regulator is investigating trade deals after a 93 percent jump in exports to Hong Kong in March and US$197 billion of inflows to the mainland in the first
quarter sparked concern companies may have exaggerated shipments to transfer cash from abroad. Lenders in the world’s secondbiggest economy need to buy about US$57 billion to comply with new loan- to-deposit ratios for overseas currencies, Bank of America Corp said. “While unlikely to reverse fundamental appreciation pressures, these measures are clearly meant to slow the pace of appreciation,” said David Loevinger, a former senior coordinator for China affairs at the U.S. Treasury who joined investment manager TCW Group Inc. in Los Angeles last year. “In the short term, we are going to see more volatility.” The People’s Bank of China weakened its daily reference rate for the currency by 0.3 percent since
announcing a record fixing a week ago. The central bank allows the spot rate to diverge a maximum 1 percent from the fixing, which was lowered 0.04 percent yesterday to 6.2096 per dollar. Non-deliverable forwards due in a year traded at 6.2300 in Hong Kong, 1.3 percent weaker than the exchange rate. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on May 5 it would send notices to companies whose goods and capital flows don’t match, as well as those importing large sums of cash. The regulator also required Chinese lenders to limit foreign-currency loans to 75 percent of deposits by the end of June. Banks were sent into “knee-jerk” purchases of dollars for preparation
99
May April17, 19,2013 2013
Greater China
com probe Ericsson AB and Nokia Siemens Networks urged the European Union to back off from its threat of imposing tariffs on Chinese-made mobiletelecommunications equipment, throwing support behind some of their biggest rivals in the region. “Ericsson does not support this move by the Commission,” said Ulf Pehrsson, head of government and industry relations at the Stockholmbased company, the world’s largest maker of wireless networks. “We don’t believe in this type of unilateral measure. Our policy is for open, free and unrestricted trade and global supply chains.” The threat of European tariffs against China’s manufacturers highlights the EU’s growing concern about Chinese dominance of markets in Europe and its readiness to make imports more expensive in a bid to aid domestic competitors. The EU is the biggest export market for China, which is the bloc’s second-largest trading partner, after the U.S. Yet, that push isn’t garnering overt support from Europe’s biggest equipment makers because they are as concerned about generating sales from the booming Chinese market as
China… does not want to go into a trade war with the European Union Shen Danyang, Chinese Ministry of Commerce
much as fending off price competition in their home countries, where phone carriers such as Telecom Italia SpA and Royal KPN NV are struggling to cut debt and to finance network expansion. “This is the first time the EU has initiated this type of an investigation without a complaint from the vendors,” Dai Shu, a Shenzhen-based spokesman for ZTE said in a phone interview yesterday. “It’s kind of weird. There are no specific vendors who initiated these allegations.”
Fair play China accounted for 5.9 percent of Ericsson’s sales last year and Alcatel-Lucent SA made 7.6 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. Nokia Siemens made 9.6 percent from the greater China region, the company said in its annual report. The term greater China typically refers to the region that comprises mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. “China is a major market for all the infrastructure vendors, so there will be great interest in minimising potential impact on their opportunities in China,” said Susan Welsh de Grimaldo, director of mobile broadband at Strategy Analytics in Newton, Massachusetts. “We absolutely oppose any efforts to restrict free trade and erect trade barriers of any kind and have urged the Commission to refrain from taking such steps,” said Barry French, a spokesman at Nokia Siemens, the venture between Nokia Oyj and Siemens AG. “We have made that position clear to the Commission both verbally and in writing.” In an e-mailed statement, Shenzhen-based Huawei said the company is disappointed with the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations against Chinese vendors. “If the Europeans were to act against the Chinese vendors, they can expect retaliation against European companies in China,” said Simon Leopold, an analyst at Raymond James & Associates in New York.
FDI misses estimates amid growth concern
F
oreign direct investment in China lagged behind analysts’ estimates in April, highlighting concern at the growth outlook for the world’s second-biggest economy after an unexpected slowdown last quarter. Investment rose 0.4 percent from a year earlier to US$8.4 billion, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement yesterday in Beijing. That was less than the 5.7 percent gain in March and the 6.2 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of eight analysts. Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. this week cut 2013 growth estimates for China to 7.6 percent after April industrial production and investment trailed forecasts. Besides concerns about the short-term outlook for the economy, gains in labour costs may make the nation less attractive as a manufacturing base. “The old model can no longer work,” Shen Jianguang, chief Asia economist at Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd in Hong Kong, said before the release of the data. “China can no longer be the most competitive in the labour-intensive sectors” amid rising wage costs, increasing concern for the environment and stricter employment laws, Mr Shen said. Premier Li Keqiang this week said the government will simplify bureaucracy to encourage private
investment, building on a March pledge to pare the state’s role in the economy. Economic growth of 7.7 percent in the first quarter trailed the fourthquarter expansion of 7.9 percent. The government in March set a 2013 goal of 7.5 percent, the same target as in 2012. A survey of 325 members of the American Chamber of Commerce in China in November and December found that rising labour costs were the biggest business risk in the country. Mr Li, who became premier in March, said this week that the nation has limited room for economic stimulus. At the same time, he said there’s “potential” for China to boost private and foreign investment. Bloomberg News
US$8.4 bln
Foreign direct investment in April
AFP/Bloomberg News
Taiwan to ease rules on capital gains tax T Economists questioning validity of export data
to fulfil the new requirements, Liu Dongliang, a senior analyst at China Merchants Bank Co. in Shenzhen, said. “There’s not yet been any details on whether banks’ offshore yuan holdings are counted as their positions, so there’s still some uncertainty in the market.” The validity of export data and a surge of capital flows into the economy has been questioned by economists at financial institutions including Bank of America and Nomura Holdings Inc. China is investigating possible fraud relating to the export data,
Zheng Yuesheng, a spokesman for the government’s customs administration, said last month. Falsifying trade declarations “does exist, but is definitely not mainstream,” he said. Yuan positions at Chinese financial institutions stemming from foreign-exchange transactions, a gauge of capital inflows, surged 294.4 billion yuan (US$48 billion) in April, official data show. The firstquarter increase of 1.22 trillion yuan was more than four times the gain a year earlier. Bloomberg News
aiwan’s ruling party lawmakers have proposed easing rules on a new capital gains tax in a bid to boost activity in the island’s stock market, one of the lawmakers said yesterday. Under the proposal, no capital gains tax will be collected when the main stock index hits 8,500 points, said Sun Da-chien, a legislator from the Nationalist Party (KMT). No tax will be collected from individual investors whose annual transactions are below T$1 billion (US$33 million), he also said, adding that transactions above T$1 billion will be charged with a 0.1 percent tax. The proposal was put forward late on Wednesday. The news sent the stock market to a multi-month intraday high. The main index was up 0.8 percent at 8,381.95 points, with brokerages among the top performers. Yuanta Financial, parent of Taiwan’s No.1 brokerage firm, rose as much as 7 percent, the most allowed in a session, before paring some of its gains. “Rules of the new tax were
previously very strict. Now, the KMT has eased the rules a little bit,” said Rex Chen, chief investment officer of BNP Paribas’s fund house joint venture in Taiwan. “There is probably not too much upside for the stock market because of the rally it has staged in the past few weeks, but brokerage stocks should outperform in near term,” Mr Chen said. Earlier this month, the Taiwan government said it was likely to ease rules on the new tax earlier than scheduled due to a plunge in market turnover on concerns the tax would raise the cost of transactions. The proposed easing is expected to be passed in parliament before the end of June, if there are no objections from opposition parties. Taiwan passed the tax into law last year, and was set to implement it in 2014. The proposed tax has led to a sharp drop in turnover. Daily turnover dropped to T$83 billion (US$2.8 billion) on average in 2012, sharply lower than T$140 billion in 2011. Reuters
10
May 17, 2013
Asia Moody’s maintains N.Zealand’s ratings Ratings agency Moody’s Investors Services kept New Zealand’s triple A sovereign rating with a stable outlook yesterday after the nation’s 2013/14 budget remained in line with expectations of a return to balance. “The 2013 budget demonstrates that the New Zealand government continues to move in the direction of budget balance after the period of large deficits precipitated by the global financial crisis and the Christchurch earthquakes,” said Moody’s Steven Hess, senior vice president. New Zealand’s government charted a more optimistic economic outlook yesterday as it raised its forecast for budget surpluses on the back of moderate growth, and said it would start spending more on new policies. The Treasury forecast a slightly bigger surplus in 2014/15, the long-standing date for a return to the black, of NZ$75 million (US$62 million) from NZ$66 million forecast in last December’s mid-year update. The deficit for the current year to June 30 was cut to NZ$6.3 billion from a previous NZ$7.3 billion forecast, but the forecast deficit for the 2013/14 fiscal year was held steady at NZ$2 billion. The Treasury revised up its growth for the year to March to 2.5 percent from 2.3 percent in the December update, but saw growth at 2.4 percent in March 2014 from 2.9 percent.
Japan’s economy shows recovery signs Growth beats forecasts as first stimulus effects felt Tetsushi Kajimoto and Kaori Kaneko
GDP jumps most in year as consumers open wallets
J Virgin Australia falls after profit forecast Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd, Australia’s second-largest carrier, dropped the most in 22 months in Sydney trading after forecasting that annual profit would slip for the third time in five years. The stock fell as much as 8.7 percent to 42 Australian cents, headed for the biggest drop since July 2011, before trading at 43 cents at the closing. Profit before tax and one-time items in the 12 months ending June will be less than last year’s A$83 million (US$82 million), the Brisbane-based company said in a statement on Wednesday. Virgin is taking on Qantas Airways Ltd’s 65 percent share of Australia’s domestic market, rolling out business class services while risking lower ticket prices by adding flights in tandem with the larger carrier. It’s also taking control of Tiger Airways Ltd’s Australian budget airline and rural service Skywest Airlines Ltd using cash provided by Singapore Airlines Ltd to build half of its 20 percent stake in Virgin. There had been a “slower than anticipated improvement in trading and economic conditions” and no further profit forecast was possible, Virgin said in its regulatory statement.
Meridian Energy to launch IPO New Zealand will offer as much as 49 percent of state-owned power company Meridian Energy Ltd in an initial public offering in the second half of this year, Finance Minister Bill English said in yesterday’s budget. The government will hire advisers to help sell down Meridian, the nation’s biggest generator in terms of output, by June, Mr English said in budget papers released in Wellington yesterday. It’s the second sale in a planned divestment programme after the government raised NZ$1.7 billion (US$1.4 billion) by selling almost half of Mighty River Power Ltd, which completed earlier this month and was the nation’s biggest IPO. New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has pledged to raise between NZ$5 billion and NZ$7 billion selling shares in state-owned companies. “The share offer programme remains important for the government’s books and for the economy,” Mr English said in a speech to parliament. “As well as raising money to invest in new public assets, it benefits the companies themselves through greater market discipline.”
apan’s economy grew faster than expected in January-March, expanding at its quickest pace in a year on the back of solid private consumption and a rise in exports spurred by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s aggressive monetary and fiscal stimulus. Yesterday’s Cabinet office data showed, however, that corporate investment has yet to follow to ensure a sustained economic upturn. Gross domestic product rose 0.9 percent from the previous quarter, against the median forecast of 0.7 percent expansion in a Reuters poll of analysts. The growth translated into an annualised 3.5 percent, compared with 2.5 percent for the United States in the same quarter. The data – which covers the first full quarter since Mr Abe’s return to power in late December – is viewed as the first comprehensive report card on his plan to revive the world’s third-largest economy. Solid readings will help Mr Abe keep high support until the upper house poll in July. The first quarter gain mainly reflects the psychological effects of improved expectations behind rising domestic demand. Analysts expect
Najib cabinet rewards base as Chinese sidelined M
alaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak stocked his Cabinet with party stalwarts ahead of a leadership test after a poor showing by his coalition’s ethnic Chinese partners led to its narrowest election win since independence. Mr Najib tapped leaders of his ruling United Malays Nasional
the pick up in domestic demand and export income that Mr Abe is hoping to jolt the economy out of its two-decades of stagnation will materialise ahead. “Personal consumption was really strong and exports did better than expected. Stock gains and expectations for higher salaries are driving consumption now,” said Hiroaki Muto, senior economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co. Ltd in Tokyo.
Spending more Private consumption, which accounts for roughly 60 percent of the economy, rose 0.9 percent as expected and was up for a second consecutive quarter, reflecting the better consumer mood helped in part by a buoyant stock market. Exports, helped by the yen’s retreat to 4-1/2-year lows against the dollar, beat expectations, making a 0.4 percent net contribution to GDP, despite higher import costs caused by a weaker currency. Capital spending disappointed, however, falling 0.7 percent in the quarter, defying expectations of a
Organisation for key positions before party polls later this year that will determine whether he stays on as prime minister. He also gave posts to the heads of Malaysia’s biggest bank, a corruption watchdog and a Hindu rights group. Two of the new line-up are Chinese, compared with more than a dozen previously. “The Cabinet reflects a prime minister concerned about retaining the premiership and the presidency of UMNO,” said Edmund Terence Gomez, a professor at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. “I don’t see any move in the direction to talk about reconciliation and transformation and inclusivity in this cabinet.” Mr Najib’s coalition retained power in the May 5 election even after losing a majority of the popular vote for the first time since 1969, which the prime minister attributed
0.7 percent increase, in a sign that despite improved business sentiment Japanese companies remain cautious and hesitant to boost investment. Consumer spending could suffer from rising costs of energy and imported goods unless the summer round of bonuses boosts incomes enough to make up for a squeeze in disposable incomes. Mr Abe has yet to deliver progrowth reforms promised as part of his three-pronged strategy. But extra stimulus spending and the Bank of Japan’s plan to double its government debt holdings have lifted consumer and business mood, sending the yen sharply lower and boosting share prices by 70 percent since November when Mr Abe first presented his economic plans. Even though it is far from clear whether “Abenomics” will bring back sustained solid growth that has eluded Japan for the past two decades, analysts expect the economy to maintain momentum in the current quarter, helped by public investment, a weak yen and recovery in the U.S. “The economy will enjoy strong growth for another year or so. It’s no longer just about brightening sentiment and rises in equities prices. There’s now proof that Abenomics is working and that the economy is on a solid footing,” said Yoshiki Shinke, senior economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute in Tokyo. Reuters
KEY POINTS Gross domestic product grew 0.9 pct in Q1 Private consumption, exports up, capex disappoints Economists see economy to sustain growth
to a loss of support from Chinese voters. Besides an ethnic divide, his administration faces a weakening economy, with Malaysia’s growth slowing to less than 5 percent for the first in seven quarters. “The recovery in terms of exports is quite weak” and will be determined by a growth rebound in developed markets, Ho Woei Chen, a Singapore-based economist at United Overseas Bank Ltd, said yesterday. “But consumption, investments will remain strong in Malaysia.” Gross domestic product rose 4.1 percent in the three months through March from a year earlier, after a revised 6.5 percent gain in the previous quarter, the central bank said on Wednesday. The monetary authority kept its full-year growth forecast at as much as 6 percent. Bloomberg News
11
May 17, 2013
Asia Tata Power may sell shares in unit Tata Power Co., the utility business of India’s largest business group, is considering an initial public offering of its clean-energy unit next financial year. The utility plans to increase wind and solar power capacity at Tata Power Renewable Energy Ltd almost fivefold in the year to March 31 as the cost of renewable energy converges with fossil fuel-based grid power in India, Rahul Shah, chief of business development and renewables, said in an interview. Inducting an investor is also an option, he said. “We’re housing all of our new renewable assets in a separate company to allow us” to raise funds, Mr Shah said. Tata Power, part of the Cyrus Mistry-led group that also owns Corus Group Plc and Jaguar Land Rover, expects the unit to attract interest once its total generation capacity reaches about 300 megawatts, “probably in the next financial year,” he said. Renewables globally are set to benefit from a tripling of investment by 2030 as the cost of wind and solar plummet, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which estimates 70 percent of power generation capacity being built will be clean utilities. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the top arranger for renewable-energy stock offerings last year, forecasts more than US$395 billion will be invested in renewable energy annually by 2020. Tata Power has mostly focused on wind, which carries no fuel risk, said Abhishek Patel, a Mumbai-based analyst for ITI Securities Ltd. “There will be huge interest, provided its priced in the right manner,” said Mr Patel. “Tata Power has a sizable portfolio, good-quality assets and the brand name.” Bloomberg News
Packer picks Singapore architects for casino
Artist’s impression of Crown Sydney Hotel Resort
C
rown Ltd, the gaming company controlled by billionaire James Packer, chose one of the architects of Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay project to build a casino tower planned for the shores of Sydney’s harbour. Wilkinson Eyre Architects, which also designed the 440-metre Guangzhou International Finance Centre and the side-tilting Millennium Bridge in Gateshead, England, was chosen to work on the tower, the Melbourne-based company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. Crown and Echo Entertainment Group Ltd. have both applied to New South Wales state with casino development plans, only one of which can go ahead.
Mr Packer has promised to spend A$1 billion (US$984 million) on the complex targeting high-rolling Asian gamblers at the Barangaroo development site just west of Sydney’s main business district. Echo is seeking to upgrade its Star casino on an adjacent stretch of harbour shore and has applied for the extension of an exclusive casino licence due to expire in 2019 to support the work. “This was my personal preference” of three shortlisted designs, Mr Packer told an event hosted by the Australian Financial Review newspaper in Sydney yesterday. “It wasn’t even, from my perspective, close. I think the curvature of this building is sympathetic to Sydney Harbour and
NO
MIN
unique to Sydney Harbour.” Mr Packer owns 50 percent of Crown and is the company’s chairman. The stock declined 1.1 percent to A$13.35 at the close in Sydney trading, while the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index fell 0.5 percent. Crown last week won approval from the state’s gaming regulator to lift its stake in Echo beyond the current 10 percent level to as much as 23 percent. It’s still waiting for approval from authorities in Queensland state, where Echo has three casinos. Genting Hong Kong Ltd, the cruise ship company controlled by Lim Kok Thay, in October also applied to raise its stake in Echo to 25 percent. Bloomberg News
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12
May 17, 2013
Markets Hang Seng Index NAME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
AIA GROUP LTD
35.1
-0.5665722
16440543
CHINA UNICOM HON
ALUMINUM CORP-H
3.13
0.6430868
14146846
CITIC PACIFIC
BANK OF CHINA-H
3.76
-0.5291005
185308119
BANK OF COMMUN-H
6.16
-0.3236246
18819408
BANK EAST ASIA
31.05
-0.3210273
3509941
BELLE INTERNATIO
12.96
0
BOC HONG KONG HO
NAME
CLP HLDGS LTD
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
PRICE
DAY %
11.44
0.7042254
23450935
POWER ASSETS HOL
78.4
0.7064868
2615684
9.84
0
10410619
SANDS CHINA LTD
40.6
0.3708282
9986187
68.5
-0.4360465
1775265
CNOOC LTD
14.24
-1.385042
72173494
COSCO PAC LTD
10.42
-0.1915709
4874319
19185333
ESPRIT HLDGS
10.94
-3.014184
12257612
HANG LUNG PROPER
NAME
VOLUME
SINO LAND CO
12.32
1.315789
7936106
SUN HUNG KAI PRO
109.8
0.0911577
2260826
SWIRE PACIFIC-A
100.3
0.4004004
731217
TENCENT HOLDINGS
292.2
6.48688
12734719
27.5
-0.9009009
10321987
29.9
-1.320132
3633669
TINGYI HLDG CO
20.55
2.238806
5987104
CATHAY PAC AIR
14.46
2.553191
5889027
HANG SENG BK
130.2
0.462963
1150439
WANT WANT CHINA
12.04
0.3333333
11571939
CHEUNG KONG
HENDERSON LAND D
55.95
-0.1784121
2345507
WHARF HLDG
75
-0.6622517
2484344
HENGAN INTL
87.45
3.491124
2836530
23.3
0.2150538
7255483
115.8
0.1730104
2417108
CHINA COAL ENE-H
5.22
0
64133211
CHINA CONST BA-H
6.45
-0.462963
175986017
CHINA LIFE INS-H
21.35
-1.157407
28354331
CHINA MERCHANT
25.2
0.1988072
2179997
CHINA MOBILE
HONG KG CHINA GS HONG KONG EXCHNG HSBC HLDGS PLC
85.7
-0.8101852
12676375
HUTCHISON WHAMPO
22.85
-0.4357298
20400491
IND & COMM BK-H
CHINA PETROLEU-H
8.53
-0.8139535
49634193
CHINA RES ENTERP
25.15
-1.372549
5119784
CHINA RES LAND
22.8
-0.6535948
9087965
CHINA RES POWER
22.8
0.2197802
9552560
CHINA SHENHUA-H
26.45
-1.489758
18231069
PING AN INSURA-H
CHINA OVERSEAS
130.7
0
2182041
88.8
0.9664582
21334623
86.05
1.294879
7087202
5.56
0.1801802
210414145
LI & FUNG LTD
11.12
1.090909
55007639
MTR CORP
31.85
1.433121
5025797
NEW WORLD DEV
13.42
-0.8862629
10197078
PETROCHINA CO-H
9.81
-2.095808
87160277
59.9
-1.073493
11323587
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
27.75
-1.069519
4237447
CHINA PETROLEU-H
8.53
-0.8139535
MOVERS
21
25
4 23140
INDEX 23082.68 HIGH
23131.63
LOW
22895.13
52W (H) 23944.74 22890
(L) 18056.4 14-May
16-May
Hang Seng China Enterprise Index NAME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
AGRICULTURAL-H
3.75
-1.055409
77537796
AIR CHINA LTD-H
6.65
-1.041667
3100559
ALUMINUM CORP-H
3.13
0.6430868
14146846
CHINA RAIL CN-H
8.09
27
-1.279707
7711978
CHINA RAIL GR-H
BANK OF CHINA-H
3.76
-0.5291005
185308119
CHINA SHENHUA-H
BANK OF COMMUN-H
6.16
-0.3236246
18819408
CHINA TELECOM-H
BYD CO LTD-H
34.4
3.458647
9431199
DONGFENG MOTOR-H
CHINA CITIC BK-H
4.45
0.678733
29623218
GUANGZHOU AUTO-H
CHINA COAL ENE-H
5.22
0
64133211
CHINA COM CONS-H
7.58
-1.430429
CHINA CONST BA-H
6.45
CHINA COSCO HO-H
3.33 21.35
CHINA LONGYUAN-H
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
YANZHOU COAL-H
7.87
0.2547771
22323582
49634193
ZIJIN MINING-H
2.21
-1.339286
40520713
-0.4920049
10783166
ZOOMLION HEAVY-H
8.08
-1.8226
11115393
4.13
-2.364066
13956191
ZTE CORP-H
13.62
1.038576
5753370
26.45
-1.489758
18231069
4.12
-0.4830918
39525982
12.66
0
8179083
7.54
2.02977
8566201
HUANENG POWER-H
9.64
0.4166667
9139572
14987003
IND & COMM BK-H
5.56
0.1801802
210414145
-0.462963
175986017
JIANGXI COPPER-H
15.54
0.3875969
12963000
0.6042296
5488750
PETROCHINA CO-H
9.81
-2.095808
87160277
-1.157407
28354331
PICC PROPERTY &
10.08
-0.591716
5197083
7.99
2.304738
36249523
PING AN INSURA-H
59.9
-1.073493
11323587
CHINA MERCH BK-H
16.66
-0.5966587
13225504
SHANDONG WEIG-H
7.7
1.049869
6575400
CHINA MINSHENG-H
10.02
-0.3976143
29376200
SINOPHARM-H
23.35
0.8639309
5034678
CHINA NATL BDG-H
9.09
-0.4381161
25106484
TSINGTAO BREW-H
52.1
0.6763285
1446521
16.32
0.7407407
5690208
WEICHAI POWER-H
28.95
0.3466205
1534099
ANHUI CONCH-H
CHINA LIFE INS-H
CHINA OILFIELD-H
NAME CHINA PACIFIC-H
NAME
MOVERS
16
22
2 11180
INDEX 11019.48 HIGH
11171.25
LOW
10961.63
52W (H) 12354.22 10960
(L) 8987.76 14-May
16-May
Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 NAME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
CHONGQING WATE-A
6.79
1.19225
8942970
5752013
CITIC SECURITI-A
12.6
2.689487
0.7407407
14075229
CSR CORP LTD -A
4.21
17.24
1.650943
22504499
DAQIN RAILWAY -A
8.99
1.812005
61383956
DATANG INTL PO-A
2.91
0.6920415
35712262
EVERBRIG SEC -A
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
AGRICULTURAL-A
2.72
0.3690037
74500587
AIR CHINA LTD-A
5.38
0.7490637
ALUMINUM CORP-A
4.08
ANHUI CONCH-A BANK OF BEIJIN-A BANK OF CHINA-A
NAME
NAME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
QINGDAO HAIER-A
12.95
1.014041
9953819
99351337
QINGHAI SALT-A
22.82
1.557632
6338498
0.477327
29476183
SAIC MOTOR-A
15.38
1.451187
32489155
6.98
-0.9929078
61467494
SANY HEAVY INDUS
9.24
1.315789
28380012
4.93
0.203252
13474840
SHANDONG GOLD-MI
32.13
0
4503942
13.2
2.325581
40534094
SHANG PHARM -A
12.19
0.4118616
9060751 111647303
4.66
0.6479482
75794735
GD MIDEA HOLDI-A
14.79
3.71669
19243989
SHANG PUDONG-A
10.15
1.601602
BANK OF NINGBO-A
10.43
2.455796
17365977
GD POWER DEVEL-A
2.87
1.056338
28545192
SHANGHAI ELECT-A
3.9
0.5154639
6188242
BAOSHAN IRON & S
4.96
0.6085193
25425806
GEMDALE CORP-A
7.45
5.225989
60284010
SHANXI LU'AN -A
15.88
2.385558
16312412
BEIJING TONGRE-A
24.37
-0.3679477
11745398
GF SECURITIES-A
13.57
2.725208
31057586
SHANXI XISHAN-A
10.37
1.567091
12711265
GREE ELECTRIC
25.6
0.3528028
18804417
SHENZEN OVERSE-A
6.31
1.938611
86154412
SICHUAN KELUN-A
64.66
-0.0618238
1365438
6
1.180438
33849957 4594827
BANK OF COMMUN-A
BYD CO LTD -A
37.23
1.444142
19731332
CHINA AVIC AVI-A
25.39
0.1973165
7915117
GUANGHUI ENERG-A
18.83
1.509434
21431209
CHINA CITIC BK-A
4.39
1.856148
31419755
HAITONG SECURI-A
11.03
3.665414
119540346
4.4
0.456621
30449531
HANGZHOU HIKVI-A
38.85
1.728201
13801882
TASLY PHARMAC-A
80.34
2.749712
39.46
-0.3031834
5121105
TSINGTAO BREW-A
36.6
0.1642036
952702
23.15
6.928406
48581825
WEICHAI POWER-A
22.33
2.619485
7232839
CHINA CNR CORP-A CHINA COAL ENE-A
6.67
0.755287
12547612
HENAN SHUAN-A
CHINA CONST BA-A
4.81
1.05042
22254505
HONG YUAN SEC-A
SUNING COMMERC-A
CHINA COSCO HO-A
3.29
0.304878
9525949
HUATAI SECURIT-A
9.8
3.157895
32182842
WULIANGYE YIBIN
22.9
0.7479103
18041089
CHINA EAST AIR-A
3.01
0.3333333
12796165
HUAXIA BANK CO
10.81
2.854424
37653329
YANTAI WANHUA-A
18.18
2.595937
13479963
CHINA EVERBRIG-A
3.15
1.286174
90269388
IND & COMM BK-A
4.09
0.7389163
38224841
YANZHOU COAL-A
14.39
2.56593
7041661
CHINA LIFE INS-A
16.57
1.843884
14714694
INDUSTRIAL BAN-A
18.11
1.399776
149950056
YUNNAN BAIYAO-A
87.88
0.9766747
2305666
CHINA MERCH BK-A
13.87
2.060338
151766853
INDUSTRIAL-A
11.67
2.728873
30772630
ZHONGJIN GOLD
11.79
-0.3381234
25386466
CHINA MERCHANT-A
12.68
3.510204
30272137
INNER MONG BAO-A
27.81
0.7973904
16611228
ZIJIN MINING-A
3.03
-0.3289474
46266246
CHINA MERCHANT-A
28.3
7.278241
16613439
INNER MONG YIL-A
29.92
2.081201
17967594
ZOOMLION HEAVY-A
7.3
0.8287293
40330904
4.8
1.052632
29761704
ZTE CORP-A
13.15
2.096273
37327698
CHINA MINSHENG-A
10.45
3.057199
217281403
INNER MONGOLIA-A
CHINA NATIONAL-A
10.11
2.848423
27794731
JIANGSU HENGRU-A
31.57
-1.589776
5527283
CHINA OILFIELD-A
15.91
0.8238276
3494002
JIANGSU YANGHE-A
60.35
1.496805
3838281
CHINA PACIFIC-A
18.87
1.779935
19450787
JIANGXI COPPER-A
20.66
1.27451
8751505
6.67
0.755287
26995578
JINDUICHENG -A
10.31
1.177625
6391158
17.07
-1.670507
28316852
194.85
0.09760608
4546227
CHINA PETROLEU-A CHINA RAILWAY-A
5.26
0.7662835
16665376
KANGMEI PHARMA-A
CHINA RAILWAY-A
2.87
0.7017544
24076129
KWEICHOW MOUTA-A
CHINA SHENHUA-A
20.63
0.8801956
8946378
LUZHOU LAOJIAO-A
25.8
0.03877472
8045191
CHINA SHIPBUIL-A
4.52
2.961276
59982923
METALLURGICAL-A
2.04
0.4926108
25318546
CHINA SOUTHERN-A
3.41
0.887574
26537344
NARI TECHNOLOG-A
21.24
5.935162
23226474
2.44
0.4115226
9638359
CHINA STATE -A
3.77
2.724796
95891385
NINGBO PORT CO-A
CHINA UNITED-A
3.69
2.216066
95511664
PETROCHINA CO-A
8.51
0.7100592
16334544
CHINA VANKE CO-A
11.7
5.121294
85115614
PING AN BANK-A
20.31
5.233161
81311587
CHINA YANGTZE-A
7.47
0.8097166
15202194
PING AN INSURA-A
39.86
3.024037
30963956
10.65
3.902439
59393183
POLY REAL ESTA-A
12.07
4.321521
62449190
NAME
PRICE DAY %
Volume
NAME
PRICE DAY %
Volume
ACER INC
24.15 -0.2066116
9470511
ADVANCED SEMICON
25.7 -0.3875969
20909281
ASIA CEMENT CORP
37.9 -0.1317523
3685095
CHONGQING CHAN-A
MOVERS 268
25
7 2560
INDEX 2552.709 HIGH
2552.71
LOW
2480.07
52W (H) 2791.303 (L) 2102.135
2480
14-May
16-May
FTSE Taiwan 50 Index PRICE DAY %
Volume
FORMOSA PLASTIC
74.6
0.947226
9298103
TAIWAN MOBILE CO
117 -0.4255319
8256162
FOXCONN TECHNOLO
81.3
1.119403
4995989
TPK HOLDING CO L
610
3.389831
8920075
FUBON FINANCIAL
43.15
2.372479
34162323
TSMC
113.5
-1.304348
44240439
UNI-PRESIDENT
ASUSTEK COMPUTER
347
2.058824
2409781
HON HAI PRECISIO
78.7
0.6393862
68582563
AU OPTRONICS COR
13.7
0.3663004
197876715
HOTAI MOTOR CO
304 -0.3278689
348327
CATCHER TECH
NAME
UNITED MICROELEC
59.8
0.3355705
8709296
13.35
2.692308
169994575
161.5
1.572327
10528174
HTC CORP
290
2.836879
18000128
29.5
0.8547009
9985435
CATHAY FINANCIAL
41.3
0.9779951
35652771
HUA NAN FINANCIA
17.5
1.156069
8822421
YUANTA FINANCIAL
16.55
4.746835
94938129
CHANG HWA BANK
17.45
0.867052
10998734
LARGAN PRECISION
957
6.215316
3143324
YULON MOTOR CO
52.1
0.5791506
2141685
CHENG SHIN RUBBE
95.1
-1.040583
9507807
LITE-ON TECHNOLO
48.85
4.380342
13879734
CHIMEI INNOLUX C
19.95
2.835052
143331115
MEDIATEK INC
374
1.768707
7973585
9
5.386417
197471689
MEGA FINANCIAL H
24.3
2.748414
36081864
CHINA STEEL CORP
26.15
0.3838772
14381910
NAN YA PLASTICS
64.9
3.508772
13132885
CHINATRUST FINAN
18.5
1.648352
61055599
PRESIDENT CHAIN
196
2.887139
1967808
CHUNGHWA TELECOM
97.5
0.308642
8349335
QUANTA COMPUTER
64
5.090312
13512911
COMPAL ELECTRON
18.3
0
57399157
SILICONWARE PREC
35.8
0.8450704
14885746
CHINA DEVELOPMEN
DELTA ELECT INC
148.5
1.712329
5488773
SINOPAC FINANCIA
15.15
1
26771515
FAR EASTERN NEW
33.15
0.4545455
4757481
SYNNEX TECH INTL
46.6
-6.986028
23292487
FAR EASTONE TELE
76.8
2.536716
7010164
TAIWAN CEMENT
39.7
0.6337136
8781561
18.65
1.634877
12640777
TAIWAN COOPERATI
17.3
1.169591
15981151
FORMOSA CHEM & F
FIRST FINANCIAL
75.8
2.018843
7080274
TAIWAN FERTILIZE
75.5
1.752022
10656919
FORMOSA PETROCHE
85.1
1.068884
2654556
TAIWAN GLASS IND
30
0.1669449
1738902
WISTRON CORP
MOVERS
41
8
1 5890
INDEX 5873.14 HIGH
5888.92
LOW
5783.64
52W (H) 5854.36 5780
(L) 4719.96 14-May
16-May
13
May 17, 2013
Markets Gaming Stocks - Daily Performance (Hong Kong Stock Exchange) 63.8
39.0
20.4
63.6 38.8
20.3
63.4 20.2
63.2
38.6
20.1
63.0 Max 38.95
average 38.741
Min 38.45
Last 38.75
38.4
Max 63.6
average 63.45
Min 62.95
62.8
Last 62.95
Max 20.35
average 20.218
Min 20.1
Last 20.3
22.0
41.0
25.0
21.9 40.6
24.9
21.8 24.8
21.7
40.2
24.7
21.6 Max 40.95
average 40.495
Min 39.95
Last 40.6
39.8
Max 21.9
average 21.789
Commodities PRICE
DAY %
YTD %
(H) 52W
93.56
-0.784729586
0.074874318
101.4199982
BRENT CRUDE FUTR Jun13
103.17
-0.491898148
-4.419121734
116.6699982
90.91999817
GASOLINE RBOB FUT Jun13
285.21
-0.519707011
-0.352875411
324.119997
235.9499931
GAS OIL FUT (ICE) Jun13
858.5
1.387658695
-5.86622807
992.75
799.25
NATURAL GAS FUTR Jun13
4.077
0.171990172
16.22006842
4.457000256
3.203999996
286.44
-0.545119961
-4.761271446
323.8899946
258.589983
Gold Spot $/Oz
1374.3
-2.4973
-17.4327
1796.08
1322.06
Silver Spot $/Oz
22.1875
-3.1608
-26.3119
35.365
22.0713
81.34999847
COUNTRY MAJOR
ASIA PACIFIC
AUD GBP CHF EUR JPY MOP HKD CNY INR THB SGD TWD PHP IDR AUDJPY EURCHF EURGBP EURCNY EURMOP EURJPY HKDMOP
Platinum Spot $/Oz
1472.8
-1.7282
-2.9616
1742.8
1374.55
Palladium Spot $/Oz
719.4
-0.7998
2.8214
786.5
553.75
1839.5
-0.942380183
-11.26386879
2200.199951
1809
LME COPPER 3MO ($)
7198
-0.648723257
-9.242214097
8422
6762.25
LME ZINC
1823
-1.29940444
-12.35576923
2230
1745
14905
-1.324064879
-12.63188746
18920
14609
15.115
-0.755088641
-4.001270245
17.07500076
14.79500103
649.25
-0.230503265
-6.884187881
824
534
WHEAT FUTURE(CBT) Jul13
694.25
0.072072072
-12.53543307
900
664.75
SOYBEAN FUTURE Jul13
1416.25
0.247743762
1.505106612
1605.75
1217.75
141.2
0.462468872
-5.583416917
202.1999969
132.6999969
NAME
16.92000008
ARISTOCRAT LEISU
69.94999695
CROWN LTD
LME ALUMINUM 3MO ($)
3MO ($)
LME NICKEL 3MO ($) AGRICULTURE ROUGH RICE (CBOT) Jul13 CORN FUTURE
Jul13
COFFEE 'C' FUTURE Jul13 SUGAR #11 (WORLD) Jul13
16.93
COTTON NO.2 FUTR Jul13
85.96
-0.1179941 -0.566801619
-14.23505572 11.82515936
23.05999947 94.19999695
World Stock Markets - Indices NAME
21.5
Last 21.55
(L) 52W
WTI CRUDE FUTURE Jun13
HEATING OIL FUTR Jun13 METALS
Min 21.55
Max 25
average 24.795
Min 24.6
Last 24.8
COUNTRY
PRICE
DAY %
YTD %
(H) 52W
(L) 52W
DOW JONES INDUS. AVG
US
15275.69
0.397233
16.57149
15301.33984
12035.08984
NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX
US
3471.616
0.2601218
14.97268
3475.477
2726.68
FTSE 100 INDEX
GB
6696.98
0.05124336
13.55028
6707.65
DAX INDEX
GE
8327.3
-0.4199741
9.391396
8368.06
CROSSES
PRICE
DAY %
YTD %
(H) 52W
(L) 52W
0.9804 1.5208 0.9692 1.2862 102.47 7.9962 7.7634 6.149 54.875 29.71 1.2532 29.945 41.295 9815 100.454 1.24647 0.84571 7.9025 10.2839 131.79 1.03
-0.5579 0.0197 0.4333 0.0467 0.2635 -0.0275 -0.0219 -0.0472 -0.1708 0.1346 -0.4628 -0.157 -0.1695 -0.6826 0.8342 0.4011 -0.0201 0.3708 -0.0564 0.2276 0
-5.5309 -5.9842 -5.551 -2.4867 -15.9754 -0.1626 -0.1649 1.327 0.2187 2.9283 -2.5375 -3.0456 -0.7023 -0.2241 -11.0767 -3.128 -3.5816 3.9861 2.397 -13.825 -0.0097
1.0625 1.6381 0.9972 1.3711 102.76 8.0111 7.7713 6.3964 57.3275 32 1.2971 30.203 43.975 9904 105.433 1.25692 0.88151 8.4957 10.9254 132.77 1.032
0.9582 1.4832 0.9022 1.2043 77.13 7.9824 7.7498 6.1307 51.3863 28.56 1.2152 28.913 40.54 9293 74.482 1.20054 0.77553 7.7018 9.6245 94.12 1.029
Macau Related Stocks PRICE
DAY %
YTD %
(H) 52W
(L) 52W
4.1
-2.147971
30.15873
4.37
2.29
VOLUME CRNCY 2058477
13.35
-1.111111
25.11715
13.75
8.06
852069
AMAX HOLDINGS LT
0.81
1.25
-42.14286
1.72
0.75
418000
BOC HONG KONG HO
27.5
-0.9009009
14.10788
28
20.85
10321987
CENTURY LEGEND
0.31
-3.125
16.98114
0.42
0.215
244000
CHEUK NANG HLDGS
5.86
1.034483
-2.17028
6.74
2.8
85419
CHINA OVERSEAS
22.85
-0.4357298
-1.082253
25.6
14.624
20400491
CHINESE ESTATES
13.88
0
14.43253
13.92
7.697
353000
CHOW TAI FOOK JE
9.88
-2.178218
-20.57878
13.4
8.4
6177775
EMPEROR ENTERTAI
2.4
0
26.98413
2.49
1.12
1952500
FUTURE BRIGHT
2.4
0.41841
98.01553
2.732
0.765
2004000
GALAXY ENTERTAIN
38.75
0.6493506
27.6771
39.15
16.94
9692673
5229.76
HANG SENG BK
130.2
0.462963
9.688293
131.5
99.2
1150439
5914.43
HOPEWELL HLDGS
29.95
0.3350084
-9.924812
35.3
19.049
1236441
HSBC HLDGS PLC
88.8
0.9664582
9.225088
88.9
59.8
21334623 7445000
NIKKEI 225
JN
15037.24
-0.3894401
44.6559
15155.72
8238.96
HANG SENG INDEX
HK
23082.68
0.1668096
1.87916
23944.74
18056.4
CSI 300 INDEX
CH
2552.709
1.826301
1.179455
2791.303
2102.135
HUTCHISON TELE H
4.6
3.139013
29.21349
4.66
2.98
LUK FOOK HLDGS I
20.4
-2.392344
-16.39344
30.05
14.7
1586000
MELCO INTL DEVEL
16.82
-1.752336
86.68146
18.18
5.12
12299700 4539929
TAIWAN TAIEX INDEX
TA
8390.05
0.8590398
8.968761
8414.88
6857.35
MGM CHINA HOLDIN
20.3
-0.2457002
52.88125
20.4
9.509
KOSPI INDEX
SK
1986.81
0.7888356
-0.5127558
2042.48
1758.99
MIDLAND HOLDINGS
3.47
-1.139601
-6.216217
5
3.249
3452000
S&P/ASX 200 INDEX
AU
5165.66
-0.5007649
11.11455
5249.6
3985
NEPTUNE GROUP
0.169
-1.169591
11.18421
0.226
0.084
21000000
ID
5078.627
-0.2210858
17.65104
5115.643
3635.283
NEW WORLD DEV
13.42
-0.8862629
11.64725
15.12
7.95
10197078
FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI
MA
1768.48
-0.8160267
4.708845
1826.22
1526.6
SANDS CHINA LTD
40.6
0.3708282
19.58763
43.7
20.65
9986187
SHUN HO RESOURCE
1.5
-1.315789
7.142859
1.67
1.03
0
NZX ALL INDEX
NZ
990.931
-0.08096929
12.34371
998.487
755.149
SHUN TAK HOLDING
4.14
0.729927
-1.193319
4.65
2.56
1436755
PHILIPPINES ALL SHARE IX
PH
4512.47
-1.195731
21.99228
4571.4
3238.77
SJM HOLDINGS LTD
21.55
-4.222222
19.72222
22.7
12.34
40683976
SMARTONE TELECOM
13.94
-0.1432665
-0.9943176
17.38
12.5
2340212
WYNN MACAU LTD
24.8
-0.2012072
18.37708
25.3
14.62
6245569
ASIA ENTERTAINME
4.1
0.9852217
33.98693
5.1999
2.4
232735
BALLY TECHNOLOGI
52.52
-1.352367
17.46813
54.92
41.74
493616
JAKARTA COMPOSITE INDEX
24.6
Currency Exchange Rates
NAME ENERGY
20.0
HSBC Dragon 300 Index Singapor
SI
663.41
-0.12
6.81
NA
NA
STOCK EXCH OF THAI INDEX
TH
1613.35
-1.026937
15.9074
1635.42
1099.15
HO CHI MINH STOCK INDEX
VN
490.34
0.8992325
18.5169
518.46
372.39
Laos Composite Index
LO
1376.45
-0.6603637
13.30951
1455.82
980.83
Shanghai Shenzhen Composite index is listing the biggest companies by market capitalisation. All data supplied by Bloomberg unless otherwise indicated.
BOC HONG KONG HO
3.6
0
17.26385
3.6
2.7
1662
GALAXY ENTERTAIN
5
0.4016064
25.94458
5.05
2.25
17950
INTL GAME TECH
18.02
0.1667593
27.17008
18.18
10.92
3367845
JONES LANG LASAL
96.99
-0.133855
15.54682
101.46
61.39
435660
LAS VEGAS SANDS
58.43
-1.781812
26.58146
59.97
32.6127
4770015
MELCO CROWN-ADR
24.07
-1.755102
42.93349
25.15
9.13
2781067
MGM CHINA HOLDIN
2.65
2.713178
43.24324
2.65
1.36
10000
MGM RESORTS INTE
15.44
-2.648172
32.64604
15.95
8.83
13440170
SHFL ENTERTAINME
16.65
1.52439
14.82759
17.2199
11.75
421319
SJM HOLDINGS LTD
2.9
3.571429
25.54113
2.99
1.65
35500
139.76
-1.674406
24.24216
142.65
84.4902
1328404
WYNN RESORTS LTD
AUD HKD
USD
14
May 17, 2013
Opinion
Your future will be manufactured on a 3D printer Bloomberg Editors
W
ould you like to build your own gun? There are plenty of ways to do so, legal and otherwise. Last week, a group called Defence Distributed offered you a new one: It published instructions for creating a plastic firearm using a 3-D printer. One guy even fired a real bullet with it. Not long afterward, the U.S. State Department demanded that the group take the blueprints down, alleging that they may violate export-control laws. Defence Distributed complied, but not before at least 100,000 people had downloaded the plans. Fears of teenagers now printing a plastic arsenal are overblown, but the episode is emblematic. Threedimensional printing, also called additive manufacturing, can be a powerful force for economic and social progress. But it also holds potential for abuse: Weapons, counterfeits and designer drugs are just a few of the products an unscrupulous user might someday produce. The questions are not just how this technology may disrupt our lives, for better and worse, but how to prepare for this manufacturing revolution in the making.
Printing objects Three-D printing a gun, like printing most other things, is pretty simple. You download a digital file for a design you like. The printer reads the file, then shoots out layer upon layer of specialised plastic – or another raw material – through a heated nozzle in the specified shape. Not long afterward, your gun parts materialise. The technology is roughly 30 years old, but has only recently become cheaply available and widespread. Global sales and services related to 3-D printing reached US$2.2 billion in 2012, according to Wohlers Associates Inc., an increase of 28.6 percent over the previous year. The company expects that figure to increase to about US$6.5 billion in 2019. And no wonder. Consider the Urbee 2, a car being produced by Kor Ecologic using a 3-D printer. When completed, it will weigh some 1,200 pounds (544.3 kilograms). Made with about
Urbee 2, a car being produced using a 3-D printer
40 pieces of thermoplastic, it will be resilient, aerodynamic and mind-bogglingly efficient. Its production will require far less material than a traditional car. It will need almost no labour and take little time to assemble. Its designers can employ unorthodox shapes and materials to maximise efficiency, mould the lightweight plastic with precision to strengthen vulnerable areas, and fit most pieces together without joints or welding (although the engine and chassis will still be made of metal). In effect, they’re compressing much of an automobile assembly line into a printing device. The economic potential is stunning. Across a range of industries, R&D costs are already declining and product-development cycles are accelerating as more inventors experiment with cheap 3-D printed prototypes. The question is whether the technology will transform manufacturing more broadly. At the moment, 3-D printing is a very small part of the economy. The printers are typically slow, and the material they use is expensive and inconsistent. As the industry advances, however, printing on demand could reduce assembly lines, shorten supply chains and largely erase the need for warehouses for many companies. Reducing shipping and eliminating the waste and pollution of traditional subtractive manufacturing could be an
environmental boon. In a few decades, things could get really interesting. Engineers should be able to blend raw materials in new ways, endow products with nanotechnology and artificial intelligence, and create objects that interact with
R&D costs are already declining and productdevelopment cycles are accelerating as more inventors experiment with cheap 3-D printed prototypes
their physical environment. Imagine military armour embedded with sensors that track wear and tear, or a turbine blade that monitors its own temperature. The technology is already liberating entrepreneurs.
As consumer-grade printers improve, a basement enthusiast will be able to make replacement parts for products he owns, invent and sell customised objects online, and potentially create new industries. As Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman write in “Fabricated: the New World of 3D Printing,” the technology will be “the platypus of the manufacturing world, combining the digital precision and repeatability of a factory floor with an artisan’s design freedom”. In other words, the era of mass customisation is quickly approaching.
Some challenges But if 3-D printing promises expansive opportunities, it will also present new problems – as the plastic gun suggests. The intellectual-property system will face plenty of new challenges. Whole categories of products will be newly subject to counterfeiting. Amateur printers are already appropriating pop-culture artefacts to create clever new objects, copyrights be damned. And businesses threatened by this new technology will be tempted to drive newcomers out of existence – or underground – through lawsuits and lobbying. Or consider product safety. Millions of new physical objects might be unleashed on the world – from strollers and action figures to junk food and prosthetics – the quality and safety of which will be
highly variable. When those products malfunction or injure someone, possibly in another country, who’s liable? The medical uses of 3-D printing are also thrilling and terrifying. Already, printers are being used to make hearing aids, dental implants and prosthetics. Hospitals are printing precise replicas of patients’ organs to plan surgeries. Researchers are using 3-D printers to arrange human cells to create bone and blood-vessel tissue. Before long, we may be printing replacement organs. This holds great promise – but what happens when the power to create body parts on demand becomes routine? We lack even a moral vocabulary for this brave new world. Finally, 3-D printing seems likely to throw a lot of people out of work in the medium term, especially in industries that depend on assemblyline labour. Eventually, as with most technological breakthroughs, it will probably create new jobs in new industries. But that transition period will be hazardous, and displaced workers will need help to navigate it. A recent report from the Atlantic Council predicts that 3-D printing “has the potential to be as disruptive as the personal computer and the Internet”. The comparison is apt. Three-D printing will make the world a very different place – and, with the right policies, a better one too. Bloomberg View
editorial council Paulo A. Azevedo, Tiago Azevedo, José I. Duarte, Emanuel Graça, Mandy Kuok Founder & Publisher Paulo A. Azevedo | pazevedo@macaubusinessdaily.com Editor-in-Chief Tiago Azevedo DEputy Editor-in-Chief Vitor Quintã Associate editor Michael Grimes GROUP SENIOR ANALYST José I. Duarte Newsdesk Luciana Leitão, Stephanie Lai, Tony Lai EDITOR AT LARGE Alex Lee Creative Director José Manuel Cardoso WEB & IT Janne Louhikari Contributors James Chu, João Francisco Pinto, Larry So, Pedro Cortés, Ricardo Siu, Rose N. Lai, Zen Udani Photography Carmo Correia, 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.
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15
May 17, 2013
Opinion
Leading reports from Asia’s best business newspapers
How can we tell if ‘Abenomics’ is working?
Jakarta Post
Matthew C. Klein
Business
wires
The government’s plan to raise the price of subsidised fuel next month may stoke inflation in Indonesia this year, according to the central bank’s chief. Darmin Nasution, governor of Bank Indonesia, said that inflation could accelerate to between 7.5 percent and 7.8 percent this year if the government increases the price of subsidised gasoline by 33 percent. The government said that it will raise the price of subsidised gasoline and diesel to 6,000 rupiah (62 cents) per litre from Rp 4,500 now.
Taipei Times Taiwan’s government yesterday froze Philippine worker applications, recalled Taiwan’s representative to the Philippines and asked the Philippine representative to return to Manila amid a row over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman. The government launched eight retaliatory measures, including a travel alert on the Philippines, in retaliation for the fatal shooting last week. The second wave of sanctions was launched because the Philippine government had failed to handle the incident promptly, while being evasive in responding to Taiwan’s demands, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said.
Bangkok Post Thailand’s democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva is predicting a snap general election at the end of this year, one which he admits his party is likely to lose. He says the government’s populist policies are failing and it will probably be forced to dissolve the House early to maintain power. Mr Abhisit said it was clear the Pheu Thai-led government was planning an early election as it was trying to rush through controversial legislation as quickly as possible. He admitted that an early election would put the Democrats at a disadvantage, conceding the opposition party is in urgent need of reforms to boost its support base.
Korea Herald Despite the planned resumption of construction for 52 highvoltage transmission cable towers, South Korea is highly likely to again face power shortages this summer and winter, according to industry watchers. The construction in Miryang has been suspended since January this year and industry watchers predict that it would be completed in January next year at best as it is expected to take about eight months. For the past five months, officials from the ministry and the Korea Electric Power Corp. repeatedly held meetings with residents in Miryang to persuade them to accept the cable towers in their city, but many still oppose the construction.
J
apan is in the midst of a grand experiment to revivify its economy through a threepronged campaign of monetary easing, fiscal stimulus and structural reforms. The markets have noticed: The Nikkei stock index has gained more than 70 percent while the yen has become more than 22 percent cheaper relative to the dollar and the euro since mid-November. At the same time, the difference in yields between 5-year Japanese government bonds and their inflation-indexed equivalents has widened by more than a percentage point. All of this has led some observers to declare that Japanese expectations about inflation and growth have been transformed, thereby leading to a resurgence of domestic spending, hiring and investment. It’s unclear, however, that this has actually happened. Let’s start with the obvious: Wages, prices, retail sales and industrial production are all flat or falling. On the bright side, the earnings outlook for Japanese firms is much better than it was six months ago, both in absolute terms and relative to firms in other rich countries. Those forecasts, however, are predicated on the belief that the Japanese economy will live up to the hype. The recent action in the financial markets is actually less revealing than one might think. According to Goldman Sachs’s economic research team, the surge in breakeven inflation can be explained almost entirely by a planned increase in consumption taxes that will hit in 2014. (Japanese inflation-linked bonds are also notoriously illiquid, which makes them unreliable indicators for much of anything.) According to data from the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Japanese have been selling shares to foreigners for months. Any price increase is due to foreign demand rather than changes in the portfolio allocations of Japanese savers. That’s all the more remarkable considering that Japanese households are among the most conservative savers in the world. The biggest single asset on the typical household balance sheet is cash. We can’t say that consumer expectations have changed until that cash starts moving into domestic stocks and real assets. So far, we have no evidence of that.
Little evidence The behaviour of Japanese savers also makes me wonder what is going on with the yen. Some analysts argue that the exchange rate is merely adjusting to a new set of inflation
expectations, rather than reflecting a conscious strategy to boost export earnings and protect Japanese firms from their Korean competitors.
… there isn’t yet evidence that Abenomics has had much of an impact outside of American academia and a few macro hedge funds
This makes some sense. In the years before the crisis, nominal interest rates were much higher in Europe and the U.S. than in Japan, although inflation-adjusted rates weren’t that much different because Japan had deflation while Europe and the U.S. had inflation. While nominal interest rates have converged around zero across the rich world since the crisis, the inflation differential has persisted. As a result, real interest rates have been higher in Japan
than elsewhere, which helps explain why the yen soared in value against most other currencies from the middle of 2008 until last fall. It therefore stands to reason that the yen should become cheaper in nominal terms – as long as the Bank of Japan succeeds at eliminating the inflation differential. There is much more to exchange rate movements than inflation differentials, however. Japanese households and firms own more than US$6.7 trillion worth of non-Japanese assets, of which more than 37 percent is invested in bonds. If Japanese savers were genuinely convinced
that their nation’s prospects had improved, I would expect them to move their money out of these foreign assets and into domestic assets. Similarly, I would think that U.S. and European investors convinced of the power of “Abenomics” would want to get in on the action by buying Japanese assets. Many of those investors won’t hedge their currency exposure. All of this ought to cause the yen to appreciate, not decline. Taken together, there isn’t yet evidence that Abenomics has had much of an impact outside of American academia and a few macro hedge funds. Let’s hope that changes soon. Bloomberg View
16
May 17, 2013
Closing Rich-poor divide accelerating: OECD
Taiwan holds drills near Philippines
The gap between rich and poor widened more in the three years to 2010 than in the previous 12 years, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said. It says the richest 10 percent of society in the 33 OECD countries received 9.5 times that of the poorest in terms of income, up from nine times in 2007. “These worrying findings underline the need to protect the most vulnerable in society, especially as governments pursue the necessary task of bringing public spending under control,” said OECD’s secretary general, Angel Gurria.
Taiwan has conducted military exercises near the Philippines amid a row over the death of a Taiwanese fisherman. Taipei implemented a series of measures, including stop processing work applications from Filipinos, recalling its envoy from Manila, issuing a travel alert against the Philippines and halting some trade and academic exchanges. The Philippine president issued an apology on Wednesday, but Taiwan said the apology was “unacceptable”. Taiwan Premier called the apology a “positive move” but rejected the description of the death as “unintended”.
VIP gambling ‘continuing to pick up’ MGM China boss says double digit expansion y-o-y sustainable
M
GM China Holdings Ltd, the Macau casino unit of MGM Resorts International, said it expects the city’s business from high-stakes gamblers to continue to pick up “slightly” as the Chinese economy – the world’s second-largest – improves. Double-digit revenue growth from VIP gamblers is “sustainable” and the VIP segment is “solid”, MGM China chief executive Grant Bowie said yesterday. Mainland China’s rich curbed spending in Macau amid a slowdown at home last year. But in the first quarter, the city’s VIP baccarat revenue rose 9.8 percent year-onyear to 57.82 billion patacas (US$7.2
billion) from a year earlier. “Everyone was speculating some negative impact, but the leadership change wasn’t an impact,” Mr Bowie said, referring to the government transition in mainland China. “There’s also a level of resilience in terms of how the China market is performing relative to the global market,” he added. During the first quarter earnings call on May 6 of MGM Resorts, the 51 percent owner of MGM China, Mr Bowie said junket turnover at MGM Macau for the period was a property record with a near 15 percent yearon-year growth. “Volume increased notably and came mostly from our top-tiered junket operators. We’re
seeing success from our level two VIP gaming floor expansion, which opened last September, and the first quarter in-house VIP business increased volumes by 13 percent year-over-year,” he stated. VIPs account for about two-thirds of casino revenue in Macau. MGM earlier this month posted a 9.7 percent increase in first-quarter profit, while turnover at its VIP-room gambling tables rose 15 percent from a year earlier. Macau generated the equivalent of US$38 billion in casino revenue last year, six times that of the Las Vegas strip. Deutsche Bank AG estimated Macau’s casino revenue will rise 17 percent to US$44.5 billion this year. Bloomberg News
Grant Bowie, MGM China chief executive
Eurozone inflation falls to three-year low Exports increase for third month on Germany
O
fficial figures show inflation in the 17-strong euro zone bloc has fallen to an average of 1.2 percent, a three-year low. The figure for April was dragged down by falling prices in the face of weak demand across the euro zone. A lower oil price was a dampener. It is down from just under US$120 a barrel in March to about US$100 a barrel now. Inflation fell in France, which was reported to have slipped back into recession this year, and in Germany, which grew by an anaemic 0.1 percent in the first
three months of this year. Greece saw overall deflation – on average, prices were actually lower than previously – instead of what is seen in normal economic conditions, in which some prices rise and some fall. Also yesterday, official data showed euro-area exports increased for a third month in March as the currency bloc’s four largest economies all shipped more goods, adding to signs the region is beginning to emerge from a record-long recession. Exports rose a seasonally adjusted 2.8 percent from February, when they
increased 0.2 percent, the European Union’s statistics office in Luxembourg said. Imports decreased 1 percent after a 2.2 percent drop a month earlier. The trade surplus widened more than economists estimated to 18.7 billion euros (US$24.1 billion) from 12.7 billion euros. The euro-area economy contracted 0.2 percent in the first three months of 2013, extending its recession to a sixth quarter and increasing pressure on leaders to spur growth. The ECB forecasts the euro economy will shrink 0.5 percent this year, while the European Commission sees a 0.4
percent contraction. “Net exports contributed positively to the bad growth figure in the first quarter,” Carsten Brzeski, senior economist at ING Group in Brussels, said. “This was the only positive factor in the first quarter.” Earlier this month, the European Central Bank cut interest rates to a record 0.5 percent, a move designed to spark growth. “Looking ahead, euro area export growth should benefit from a recovery in global demand and our monetary policy stance should contribute to support domestic demand,” European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on May 2. Exports from Germany, Europe’s largest economy, increased 3.2 percent in March to 40.6 billion euros, yesterday’s report showed. French shipments rose 3.1 percent, while Italian and Spanish exports grew 0.5 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively. Bloomberg News