Macau Business Daily, December 10, 2012 by Business Daily

Labour policy hinders new industries: agency

Year I Number 179 Monday December 10, 2012 Editor-in-chief Tiago Azevedo Deputy editor-in-chief Vitor Quintã MOP $ 6.00 www.macaubusinessdaily.com

The current human resources policy is going nowhere when it comes to support emerging industries, Alex Lu, the branch manager of job agency macauHR, said in an interview with Business Daily. Macau should open the labour market gradually to overcome a big shortage of talent, especially to fill technical and management positions, he warned. Pages 6 & 7

Retail moving up in shopping world

acau retail businesses are increasingly facing the challenge of having to pay ever-higher rents to make sure they get to keep a slice of the passing trade fuelled by the million of tourists that walk the city street every month. But some smaller shops, many of which selling books, fashion items, spectacles or furniture have decided to curb the trend and move to the higher floors of commercial or industrial buildings. Other earlier attempts to launch upstairs shopping malls in Macau, many of which in the ginza-style, have so far failed, an estate agency warned. But the entrepreneurs are more optimistic, especially over businesses looking to create the impression among customers that their shop and its merchandise are unique. Social media are a powerful tool to attract potential buyers into visiting the higher floors, where rents are much cheaper, but some shop owners say Macau people are still not as curious as tourists. More on page 5

Outsiders dodge levy in October home rush

I SSN 2226-8294

The number of homes purchased by non-residents rose three-fold in October, as buyers rushed to settle their deals before the latest round of property curbs came into force at the end of that month. The rush was most obvious among high-priced flats but sales rose across the board, including shops, offices and industrial units.

HANG SENG INDEX 22360

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Baby steps for gaming tax reliance

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The government has once again made a conservative estimate for gaming tax revenue: 100 billion patacas (US$12.5 billion), less than the figure already recorded this year. But authorities are hopeful the public budget will be less reliant on casino taxation next year. Total revenue is set to increase faster than spending, with more money going to hire more civil servants.

HSI - Movers Name

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2016 goal slips for Delta bridge

%Day

CHINA OVERSEAS

2.38

ALUMINUM CORP-H

2.10

CHINA COAL ENE-H

2.07

ESPRIT HLDGS

2.00

COSCO PAC LTD

1.43

SANDS CHINA LTD

-1.39

HONG KG CHINA GS

-1.64

WANT WANT CHINA

-1.80

BELLE INTERNATIO

-2.06

CHINA RES POWER

-3.95

Source: Bloomberg

Brought to you by

Over a month after a fatal accident, there is no timeline on when the suspension of one of the contractors at the Hong Kong end of the Hong KongZhuhai-Macau Bridge will be raised. Union Gaming Research Macau says it’s ‘concerned’ that the bridge might not be operational in 2016 as officially stated.

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Foreign investors rush to avoid higher levy on flats Housing sales surged in October, matching a jump in sales of shops and offices Tony Lai

tony.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com

Sales of the most expensive homes almost doubled in October

uyers rushed to snap up homes, shops or offices in October before new measures to cool the overheated property market came into force at the end of that month.

Official data show a spike in the number of non-resident homebuyers. The number of homes bought by non-residents was 304 in October, three times as many as in

September and nearly six times as many as one year before. It was also the highest figure since April last year, when the government announced the introduction of the special stamp duty on the resale of homes. Non-residents bought just under 1,000 homes in April last year. The special stamp duty is a levy of 20 percent on the resale of homes within one year of their purchase or 10 percent on the resale of homes within two years of their being purchased. The curbs on the property market

that came into force on October 30 include an extra levy of 10 percent on purchases of homes by corporations and non-residents. The government also tightened mortgage lending restrictions. It reduced the maximum proportion of the value of a home costing 6 million patacas or more that a homebuyer can borrow to 60 percent from 70 percent. Data that the Statistics and Census Service released last week show more than 1,900 homes were bought in October, half as many again as in September, and that altogether the buyers paid nearly 10 billion patacas (US$1.25 billion) for them. The most expensive homes were the most in demand. The number of homes costing more than 4 million patacas in October was 911, 85 percent more than in September. Sales of commercial and office space also bloomed right before the new cooling measures came into force. The government expanded the special stamp duty to cover purchases of commercial and office premises, and parking spaces, but not industrial premises. The number of commercial and office premises sold in October was 510, nearly twice as many as in September and the most in any month since May last year. Residents bought 90 percent of all shops and offices sold, paying more than 3.5 billion patacas altogether. Residents bought nearly 860 industrial premises in October, two-thirds more than in September. Industrial units are not covered by the latest curbs.

304

Homes bought by nonresidents in October

Casino chip supplier GPI announces special dividend

aming Partners International Corp. – the main supplier of casino chips and plaques in the Macau market – is to return US$1.48 million (11.84 million patacas) to shareholders via a special dividend of eighteen-and-a-quarter U.S. cents per share. The payment will be made on December 18 – just 13 days ahead of the potential ‘fiscal cliff’ whereby tax cuts originating during the presidency of George W. Bush are due to expire. Unless President Barack Obama can forge a new taxation and public spending agreement with the opposition Republican Party, tax on dividends paid to United States-domiciled shareholders is likely to increase. The company plans to boost an existing share buy back programme by 88,561 shares – thus concentrating investor value for existing shareholders. The board has now authorised a total of 400,000 shares – or about 4.9 percent of the company’s outstanding common stock – to be repurchased.

“The board determined that it is in the stockholders’ best interests to pay a special cash dividend for 2012,” said Greg Gronau, the firm’s president and chief executive in a statement. “After using funds for both the dividend and the share repurchase programme, we will continue to have adequate resources for future initiatives,” he added. GPI-associated companies have been supplying betting chips and plaques to the Macau market for more than 40 years. STDM – the former gaming monopoly founded by Stanley Ho Hung Sun – took its first consignment of products in 1967. GPI also makes chip verification equipment and table game layouts for Macau and many other gaming markets across the world. Last month GPI said it earned US$1.3 million – or 15 cents per share – in the third quarter, up from US$477,000 or six cents a share in the equivalent quarter a year earlier. Revenue grew from US$13.8 million to US$16.9 million. M.G.

December 10, 2012 business daily | 3

MACAU

Next year’s budget less reliant on gaming tax

editorial

The government plans to spend more money on employing civil servants and upgrading the offices they work in Stephanie Lai

sw.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com

Policy Address: Televised time-waster Vítor Quintã

vitorquinta@macaubusinessdaily.com

Legislators have warned against the administration’s over-reliance on gaming tax

axes on gaming could bring in 100 billion patacas (US$12.5 billion) next year, accounting for about 78 percent of government revenue, according to the budget for 2013. This would mean the government is less reliant on tax revenue from gaming. In the first 10 months of this year, direct taxes on gross gaming revenue accounted for 84.3 percent of government revenue. The chairman of the Legislative Assembly’s second standing committee, Chan Chak Mo, gave reporters details of next year’s 134.8 billion pataca budget on Friday after the committee met behind closed doors to discuss it. “In 2012, gaming revenue has already reached 92 billion patacas,” Mr Chan said. “In the coming year, the [direct] gaming tax revenue from casinos will go up by 8.6 percent compared to 2012.” The budget bill had its first reading on November 19. Members of the assembly

have criticised the government’s dependence on revenue from gaming. But Secretary for the Economy and Finance Francis Tam Pak Yuen said last month that the economy’s reliance on gaming “would remain for some years to come”. The government plans to spend 82.5 billion patacas next year, 6.7 percent more than this year. Mr Chan said the biggest increases will be in spending by the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau, Transport Bureau, Tertiary Education Services Office, Consumer Council and Macau Prison.

Wise and cautious “We have listened to the departments’ explanations of their rises in expenses, which are mainly for employing more staff to fit their human resources needs, and for renovation of office space,” Mr Chan said. “Basically the committee found their explanations reasonable and accepted them.”

More bus services to and from the Seac Pai Van public housing estate and the University of Macau’s new campus on Hengqin Island will account for 400 million patacas of the Transport Bureau’s projected expenditure of 2 billion patacas. The bureau also intends to buy less polluting vehicles, and may increase the amount it pays public bus operators to run their services. Apart from expanding its staff and offices, the Tertiary Education Services Office requires a budget of 259 million patacas to make scholarships and bursaries more widely available. “Nevertheless, we would like the government to be wise and cautious in its spending,” Mr Chan said. He said the government would have another surplus this year, of around 38 percent of its revenue, but that it had not decided how the surplus should be invested. His committee has completed reviewing the 2013 budget. The assembly will probably pass it later this month.

Melco to buy Philippines firm as Belle Grande vehicle M

elco Crown Entertainment Ltd, a casino venture between billionaire James Packer and Macau businessman Lawrence Ho Yau Lung, will buy a Philippines-listed company as a vehicle for its operations there. The City of Dreams operator will pay 1.26 billion pesos (245.6 million patacas) for a 93.1 percent stake in Manchester International Holdings Unlimited Corp., according to a Hong Kong Stock Exchange filing on Friday.

Melco Crown said it will sell Manchester’s operating units back to the existing shareholders, and will use the target company to manage and operate its Philippine operations, including the management of Belle Grande Manila Bay casino project. The American depositary receipts of Melco Crown climbed 2.5 percent to US$15.17 (121.1 patacas) on Friday after rising as much as 4.1 percent following the announcement. Each ADR represents

three underlying common shares. On the same day, JPMorgan Chase upgraded Melco’s shares from a neutral to an overweight rating, raising the stock’s target price from US$14 to US$20 The company plans to invest US$600 million prior to opening in the Philippine project and it is still pursuing a Manila listing for a subsidiary in order to raise as much as half of that amount, Business Daily has been told. V.Q./Bloomberg News

hree weeks after Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On gave his Policy Address for 2013, the annual rounds of question-andanswer sessions at the Legislative Assembly have ended with a whimper. I am certain there were sighs of relief from those who were forced to spend 10 hours at the assembly trying to stay awake, including journalists and the many government officials that did not speak. As for the rest of the population, I would be surprised if anyone bothered to tune in to the televised broadcast of the sessions. At least Hong Kong’s television soap operas have cliff-hangers. What would be the point? To hear Chui Sai Cheong, Mr Chui’s brother, complain that the physical condition of youths is “not as good as we would wish for”? Or maybe to hear Chui Sai Peng, Mr Chui’s cousin, complain that the calligraphy skills of the city’s youth has deteriorated? At least in this case we found out that Mr Chui himself has calligraphy skills that are nothing to write home about. With members of the Legislative Assembly having far too much time to ramble on and on, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Cheong U was left with just 15 minutes to reply to the oh-so-relevant questions in his final session. It seemed legislators were more interested in asking questions that would help their bids to be re-elected next year than in getting real answers. It is not like officials were actually willing to provide those answers. Asked about the burden of public healthcare, Mr Cheong described in great detail the adventures of an African minister who had a stroke and spent six months here. Meanwhile, Secretary for Transport and Public Works Lau Si Io decided that reading a 25-page speech would be the best way to start a question-and-answer session. The policy address model is badly broken and in dire need of a facelift, starting with the chief executive’s insistence on emptying the questionand-answer sessions by announcing every meaningful measure during his own presentation. Mr Chui should stick to long-term vision and planning, while allowing his secretaries to discuss the plans for each area. Legislators should have less time to pose questions and the assembly president should be more active in ensuring those questions are linked to the policy address. In too many sessions, actual policy proposals were totally ignored and time was instead spent discussing “flavour-of-the-month” issues. Until some changes are made, the government’s annual policy address at the Legislative Assembly will continue to be a waste of time.

It seemed legislators were more interested in asking questions that would help their bids to be re-elected next year than in getting real answers

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business daily December 10, 2012

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HOSPITALITY Less than hoped At first glance, the statistics for exhibitions show more were held in the first three quarters of this year than in the equivalent period last year. The number rose by about one-fifth. The number of visitors to exhibitions grew by 29 percent. The revenue generated climbed by 94 percent and the number of exhibition organisers grew from 12 to 22. But before jumping to the conclusion that the exhibitions industry is, at last, fulfilling its promise as a worthwhile contributor to the economy and its diversification, an analysis of each event and the results achieved by each organiser leads to a different conclusion.

The proliferation of organisers meant each arranged fewer than two exhibitions, on average. Clearly, a number of organisers arranged only one exhibition each. The rise in average revenue of 61.5 percent was not just the result of increased income from letting exhibition space, which grew by an average of 8.8 percent. It was also the result of subsidies jumping by 285 percent. The increase in revenue per organiser was only 5.7 percent, even though each organiser received, on average, 2.5 times more in subsidies than last year. The revenue generated by the exhibitions industry each month was 7.7 million patacas (US$965,000), about half of which came from subsidies. On average, revenue was slightly more than 350,000 patacas for each organiser. These figures raise questions about the industry’s sustainability and its potential to help diversify the economy. J.I.D.

1.9

Average number of exhibitions per organiser in first nine months

‘Superbridge’ completion date could slip beyond 2016 Union Gaming says size and complexity of scheme raises concerns timetable could be extended Michael Grimes

michael.grimes@macaubusinessdaily.com

nion Gaming Research Macau says it’s “concerned” that the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HKZMB) might not be operational in 2016 as officially stated. In a note to investors, the research house says: “Since the official start of the project in 2009, related officials have indicated that the HKZMB should be completed by 2016. “While no subsequent changes have been made regarding the timeline, and construction progress has clearly been made, it is not uncommon for the timeline of infrastructure projects of this size to be delayed, especially with such a high level of complexity. Other major regional infrastructure projects (e.g. The Zhuhai Intercity Railway Gongbei section) have missed deadlines before.” The note mentions that a suspension notice – served by Hong Kong’s Labour Department on one of the contractors after a temporary work platform collapsed at the Hong Kong end of the project in October

– has yet to be lifted. The accident – at an artificial island site due to be the venue for Hong Kong’s Immigration Department checkpoint – killed one worker and injured 14 others according to media reports at the time. “TheHongKongLabourDepartment is yet to release an investigation report and there is currently no timeline on when the suspension will be cancelled,” says Union’s note. “While we do not believe the accident-related delay…will necessarily affect the 2016 deadline, it does raise concern to us on whether the bridge will be operational on the proposed date,” adds the research house. The accident happened on October 25 on the artificial island near Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok.

Shorter journey Work on the 50-kilometre bridge – which will span the Pearl River Delta and potentially slash the

journey times between the three cities – began in 2009. The final cost of the bridge is not yet clear given the complexity of the scheme and the varied terrain it must span. But some reports estimate the bill will be more than 70 billion yuan (US$11.2 billion). That cost will be shared by the administrations of Macau, Hong Kong and Zhuhai prefecture in the People’s Republic of China. The bridge has been conceived primarily as a freight, bus and coach route rather than as a conduit for private vehicles. Macau in particular lacks the space to accommodate a lot of cross-border private cars. But according to the HKZMB official website, when completed the bridge will slash the journey time between Zhuhai and Kwai Chung Container Port in Hong Kong – currently a three-and-a-half hour, 200-kilometre road trip along a coastal road via the Guangdong cities of Dongguan and Shenzhen – to a 65 kilometre journey taking just 65 minutes.

The artificial island for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (Photo: Manuel Cardoso)

Cable TV’s exclusive rights to end: govt

he exclusive concession for Macau Cable TV Ltd will come to end after its 15-year service contract expires in 2014, the administration revealed. “We are now discussing the renewal issues but we will not include exclusive rights in the renewal contract,” Telecommunications Regulation Bureau director Lawrence Tou Veng Keong said on Friday, quoted by public broadcaster TDM. He said the government aimed to open up the market and he hopes

the discussion can “have progress” in the first half of next year. Cable TV chief executive Angela Lam Ion Fun said the operator was aware of this arrangement and confident the concession would be renewed. Cable TV is willing to see the opening-up of the market “under fair, reasonable principles,” she added quoted by the Chinese-language newspaper Macao Daily News. Cable TV’s lawyer Luís Almeida Pinto hinted to Business Daily earlier this year that the operator believed

the public antenna companies would receive official licences after 2014. Mr Tou also said they were waiting for the decision from an arbitration court over a dispute with the operator. Cable TV claims the administration did not enforce the concession by failing to prevent the activities of public antenna companies and is asking for 500 million patacas (US$62.5 million) in compensation.

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December 10, 2012 business daily | 5

MACAU Macau candidates for NPC reach 16 A total of 16 residents submitted applications to become one of Macau’s 12 deputies to the 12th National People Congress, according to media. But it is expected there would only be 15 eligible candidates as the last-minute bid submitted by activist Wong Wai Man, who chairs an ironworkers association, failed to obtain any of the 10 necessary nominations. No official data has been released but it is known 10 current deputies will run for re-election along with five newcomers. The election will be held on December 17.

Shopping upstairs no longer the exception High costs are driving shops upstairs, saving on rent but making online promotion essential Stephanie Lai

sw.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com

were disinclined to go hunting for special products. “Macau consumers are not even as curious as tourists. And, considering rental costs, I think it is more possible to see online retail spring up after a few years, rather than a real trend for bricks-andmortar shops to establish themselves upstairs,” the spokesman said.

Brick in the mall Upstairs shopkeepers pay up to 40 percent less for rent than groundfloor retailers. But they inevitably forgo passing trade. Fonder Wear co-owner Daphne Sam Tik Shuen said businesses above ground level had to make use of online promotions to stay in business and keep in contact with loyal customers. “Seventy percent of our business is from regular clients and new ones contacting us via Facebook. Only 30 percent is from the passers-by that look us up from the street,” she said. Mr Tam said Facebook promotions had helped his business survive. “After we moved from the São Domingos district to Nam Fong Industrial Building [in Areia Preta], we lost the advantage of passers-by and tourists in terms of customer sources,” said Mr Tam. “So Facebook has really helped a lot in promoting. Without it, our business would have died.” Though heavily reliant on social media, one advantage of having a shop upstairs is that it reinforces the impression among customers that the shop and its merchandise are different. “It is not like you are an ordinary shop competing with similar ones in the mall,” said Ms Ng. “Now, with the new space upstairs, it is cosier and more intimate, clients tell us. And they have found the environment more relaxing.”

Some shops selling books, fashion items are being driven away from ground floor spaces

hops on higher floors of commercial or industrial buildings may not be as common as ground-floor shops but their number is growing. A few upstairs shops selling books, fashions and spectacles can be found in the São Domingos district. Furniture shops have opened in industrial buildings in Avenida do Almirante Lacerda. With shop rents on an upward spiral, areas with the highest rents and numbers of pedestrians, around Senado Square and the NAPE district for instance, might get more upstairs shops, said Ricacorp (Macau) Properties Ltd managing director Jane Liu Zee Ka. Shop rents have increased by up to 40 percent in the busiest tourist districts over the past two years. In the area around San Kio and other districts with fewer pedestrians, rents have increased by about 20 percent. The government extended the special stamp duty to cover

purchases of shops in October. “I would say it is more possible to see restaurants and beauty parlours and clinics turning out to be the dominant upstairs shops, just as in Hong Kong,” said Ms Liu. “Actually, [beauty] clinics have started moving upstairs in the NAPE district.” “Going upstairs may not be the dominant trend in retailing, as you can see from examples like the Ginza Plaza shopping mall, or the ones near Avenida da Horta e Costa, which are not doing well.” However, owners of upstairs shops selling fashions and leather goods are more optimistic about retailing moving higher up in commercial buildings. “The trend to move upstairs will mature after a few years,” said Joanne Ng In Leng, the owner of upstairs boutique Fonder Wear by Demand, near San Ma Lou. “Now, people are in search of unique products and social media like Facebook posts can help them

dig up new upstairs shops that have got products they are interested in,” Ms Ng told Business Daily. Ano Tam Chio Meng runs a silver workshop called Smith’s Creation. “If customers have a particular demand for these products, they will not care if it is an upstairs shop or not, they will just head for the shop,” Mr Tam told Business Daily. A spokesman for Pinto Livros, a bookshop in off-street premises, said there were many challenges for small businesses because consumers

KEY POINTS Shop rents soaring on busiest districts Upstairs malls not doing well: estate agency Social media helping with promotion A ‘different’ image helps secure market niche

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business daily December 10, 2012

macau

Open up market now, says job agency boss

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GDP trend Economic growth has been slowing this year as shown by the data on gross domestic product published recently. It also confirmed the downward trend that began early this year. The annual rate of growth in GDP slowed significantly from 18.5 percent in the first quarter to 7.8 percent in the second to 5.1 percent in the latest. These latter values are well below the growth rate achieved in the previous two years, when the corresponding quarterly rates were most of the time greater than 20 percent, and even reached a peak of 33 percent in the second quarter of 2010. Using a fourquarter moving average of the annual rates of GDP growth smoothes out some of the volatility in the figures. This gives us a clearer picture of how growth accelerates and decelerates over time. The growth rates are then computed for each quarter over the previous one. This allows us also to see how the GDP flow is changing over time, on a more continuous base.

Overall, the crisis in 2009 was just a small blip, from which the economy recovered fast. In just one year, starting from mid2009, the quarterly growth rate rose from minus 2.6 percent to almost 7.3 percent in the second quarter of 2010. After that, the trend towards slower growth is unmistakable, interrupted only slightly and briefly at the end of 2010 and in the middle of last year. In the past five quarters, growth has decelerated continuously, the deceleration being most pronounced in the second and third quarters of this year. Even so, barring a negative rate of growth in the year to the last quarter, which the stabilisation of the mainland economy makes less likely, we can probably expect GDP growth of between 8 percent and 10 percent this year.

If Macau wants to keep developing its economy it will have to change its human resources policy to support growth, says Alex Lu, the branch manager of macauHR. Mr Lu told Business Daily that the city must overcome a big shortage of talent, especially talent to fill technical and management positions. If the government wants to diversify the economy, it should open the labour market cautiously and gradually. He predicts that unless there is change, there will not be enough workers to support more industries. Luciana Leitão

leitao.luciana@macaubusiness.com

Photo by Manuel Cardoso

Should the government amend its human resources policy? Government policy may need to change in accordance with the economic growth of Macau because it is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. Every year we can see new casinos, new hotel projects and new shopping malls opening. Local resources are not enough to support the increasing demands of the city’s new development. That is why Macau needs more workers from outside. It needs to be controlled carefully and maybe the government can refer to other cities in Asia, such as Hong Kong or Singapore. Labour imports have to be managed carefully to ensure the protection of local people but also to make sure that the people in important positions in Macau have enough experience.

There were just a few mentions of the government’s human resources strategy in the Policy Address for 2013. Could this be the right time to introduce changes? It is the right time for them to consider changing the policy. I would suggest focusing on the most demanding vacancies in Macau, such as technical and management positions. For example, you can see some big construction projects being planned for Cotai in the coming years. But local people suited to being engineers and project managers are very difficult to find. Maybe the government can focus

J.I.D.

+66.8 % Q3 GDP growth compared to 3 years

Local resources are not enough to support the increasing demands of the city’s new development

on some positions in planning its future policy on imported labour. The reason why the government needs to import people from outside is because it is too difficult to find workers here. The government gives different quotas for work permits to different companies and different organisations. They can focus on some kind of industry or sector such as construction or medicine, and also top management positions, because it is very difficult to find these workers in the local market.

Human resources shortages are a recurrent issue because of the size of the population. Why is the government taking so long to open up to more imported labour? Governments of every city need to protect local labour. They need to find a balance. It’s just like parents who need to protect their children but overprotecting is not a good thing. Children may have bad attitude – or [in the case of resident workers] bad service – so they need to strike a balance in educating them. The Macau government may need to provide more education or training to workers here but it also may need to import suitable competitors from outside.

The Hong Kong government has a more flexible policy. Should Macau be following some of their steps? Hong Kong has also focused on importing technical and management people from other cities, including from mainland China. The difference is that Hong Kong is a financial centre and it has many industries but Macau mainly has gaming and the hotel industry. Macau needs to have a very specific policy to control human resources. The government is doing everything to protect labour. The problem is they also need to make sure of development and that the organisations and businesses in

Macau can hire people with the right qualifications more easily and experienced people to fit positions.

If nothing changes, what impact could it have on Macau’s development? There is some impact on the economic growth of the city because of the vacancy of some important positions. For example, for a construction project in Cotai the consulting company and the contractor found it difficult to get a project manager to oversee the cost of the project. So engineering consulting firms need to slow down the project and do other things until they can hire suitable people to fit into these positions. In Macau, hotels, casinos or small and medium-size enterprises may face some similar problems. Also, if there is not a good balance between imported labour and protecting Macau people, service in some restaurants will not be satisfying and it can impact the tourist image of Macau. If we cannot provide a good image of the city, in the long run it can affect the economy.

The jobless rate decreased to 1.9 percent in the three-month period to October 31. What do the data tell us? This means everyone can find a job if they want it. It means local labour is undersupplied for the current level of demand in the market. We can see that salary rates are increasing every year. Every year, around Chinese New Year,

If we cannot provide a good image of the city, in the long run, it can affect the economy

December 10, 2012 business daily | 7

MACAU

The Macau government may need to provide more education or training to workers here but it also may need to import suitable competitors from outside

we can see news about which casinos have to increase wages for their staff. For Macau people it is too easy to find a job here. If I’m not happy working in this company, then I can find another job easily in another company. It results in a lack of motivation to add value. Another thing is that is lacking is enough competition in the labour market. Considering this very low unemployment rate, residents are able to find a job easily without enough competition for any specific position.

Does it add instability to the workplace, this high turnover rate? The turnover rate is high. If workers change to another company, then they may have a salary increment. So people easily change jobs more frequently when compared to other cities, such as Singapore and Hong Kong. It’s a problem for the employer. Sometimes I discuss this issue with our clients. Some of our clients also come from Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, if staff are not performing well, they can just directly tell them: “You can do this better.” But in Macau, if you

are harsh towards the staff they will quit. It is difficult to find new people and if you do the same thing, they might quit again. It is more difficult to be an employer in Macau. It could potentially have a bad impact on the quality of work.

Do employers complain to you because they cannot keep employees for a longer time? They don’t complain because they understand the market, especially for fresh graduates. They want a high salary but they don’t want too much workload, no working overtime, no shifts, and they expect a very good job, but they are not going to deliver more. They don’t want to learn more, they just want to find a job that is more comfortable, with more personal time. The talent shortage problem here is basically more for the technical and management positions. Because of the talent shortage for experienced people in Macau, those young people have more opportunities to be promoted to senior and management positions very quickly. We can see in hotel groups that the age of senior managers may be below 30 years old. That is not easy to see in Hong Kong and Singapore because these territories have enough competition. If, in Hong Kong, you just want to work in one company to be more stable and to work comfortably, then you have to study more to get promotion. It’s a more competitive working environment.

The government talks much about diversifying the economy. Is it possible to do so with the current human resources policy? The human resources strategy and shortage is still not enough for Macau to support more industries in the long term. Education in Macau may also need to train up the students, to support economic growth.

Macau at your breakfast table. With Business Daily. Find us in the following newsstands Pacapio at San Ma Lo Opposite HKSB (Nam Van) Beside Luso Bank Building Wen Hang Bank at San Ma Lo In front of Portuguese Bookshop In front CTM at San Ma Lo In front Daiso shop at San Ma Lo Next to S. Lourenço Market Next to Human Resources Dpt Next BNU at Av. Sidonio Pais San Miu, Av. Horta e Costa Next to Metro Park Hotel

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business daily December 10, 2012

GREATER CHINA Wanxiang wins auction for A123 China’s largest maker of auto parts won a politically sensitive auction for A123 Systems Inc., a bankrupt maker of batteries for electric cars that was funded partly with U.S. government money, A123’s investment banker said on Saturday. Wanxiang Group Corp’s bid of about US$260 million topped a joint bid from Johnson Controls Inc. of Milwaukee and Japan’s NEC Corp for the maker of lithium-ion batteries. The sale did not include parts of A123’s business that works with the U.S. Defence Department, a source close to the deal said.

Industrial output accelerates as inflation rebounds Consumer prices bounce off 33-month low

hina’s industrial output and retail sales exceeded forecasts last month while inflation rebounded from a 33-month low in signs the economic recovery is accelerating. Factory production climbed 10.1 percent in November from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday in Beijing. Retail sales growth accelerated to 14.9 percent, while the consumer price index rose 2 percent from a year earlier.

[Inflation probably] bottomed in October and will likely rise further in December and 2013, as growth picks up and adds inflationary pressure Zhang Zhiwei, Nomura Holdings Inc.

Yesterday’s reports may reassure China’s new leadership under Communist Party chief Xi Jinping that growth in the world’s second-largest economy, which has slowed for seven quarters, will exceed the government’s target this year. The data may also reduce the odds of additional fiscal or monetary easing to support expansion. “The Chinese economy is now in a sweet spot and can stay in the sweet spot” through the first half of 2013, Lu Ting, head of Greater China economics at Bank of America Corp. in Hong Kong, said in a note yesterday. “The current macro backdrop should bolster asset prices from equities to commodities.” The nation’s benchmark stock gauge, the Shanghai Composite Index, rose 4.1 percent last week, the most in a year, on expectations the recovery will gather pace and as the ruling Politburo signalled an increased focus on urban development.

first 11 months of the year rose 20.7 percent, the same pace as in the January-October period. Economists had forecast a 20.9 percent gain. Output of rolled steel rose 16.5 percent in November from a year earlier, up from an 11.7 percent pace in October, while electricity production increased the most since February, government data showed. Industries with accelerating growth included telecommunications and computers, ferrous metal smelting and pressing and general-purpose equipment, according to the statistics bureau.

Trade data

The Chinese economy is now in a sweet spot and can stay in the sweet spot [through the first half of 2013]

China’s customs administration will today release November trade data. Export growth probably cooled to 9 percent from a year earlier, according to the median estimate of 31 analysts in a Bloomberg News survey. Imports rose 2 percent, easing from a 2.4 percent pace the previous month. The rise in retail sales compared with the 14.6 percent median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Fixed-asset investment excluding rural households in the

Lu Ting, Bank of America Corp

“Growth is on track to rebound sharply” above 8 percent this quarter, said Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Hong Kong. Inflation probably “bottomed in October and will likely rise further in December and 2013, as growth picks up and adds inflationary pressure,” Mr Zhang said.

Inflation forecast Consumer inflation compared with the 2.1 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 35 economists and a 1.7 percent gain in October. Producer prices fell 2.2 percent, the ninth straight drop, while the pace of the decline moderated for a second month. Deflation eased

Canada backs Nexen sale to Cnooc The takeover has been controversial among Canadian legislators David Ljunggren and Charlie Zhu

anada approved China’s biggest foreign takeover, the US$15.1 billion bid by Cnooc Ltd for energy company Nexen Inc., but drew a line in the sand against future acquisitions by foreign stateowned enterprises. In a fierce defence of a tough, new foreign investment framework, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canada would not deliver control of the country’s oil sands – the world’s third-largest reserves of crude – to a foreign government. The ruling, anxiously awaited by investors and politicians alike, followed months of heated debate

about how much of Canada’s energy sector could and should be absorbed by companies run by other nations. It also gave the go-ahead for the less co n tr o v er s i a l US $ 5 . 3 billion takeover of Progress Energy Resources Corp, a mid-size natural gas producer by another state-owned energy company, Petroliam Nasional Bhd. (Petronas) of Malaysia. The Cnooc bid had triggered unusually open dissent among Canadian legislators in the ruling right-of-centre Conservatives, many of whom were particularly nervous about the idea of allowing China to gain control of Northern

Alberta’s oil sands. Canada agreed to this deal, but will not do so next time. “To be blunt, Canadians have not spent years reducing the ownership of sectors of the economy by our own governments, only to see them bought and controlled by foreign governments instead,” Mr Harper told reporters after Ottawa gave the deal the green light. “Foreign state control of oil sands development has reached the point at which further such foreign state control would not be of net benefit to Canada,” he added. Top executives at Cnooc welcomed

Canada’s go-ahead for the deal. “We believe the transaction provides opportunities for Nexen employees, partners and for Cnooc,” chief executive Li Fanrong said in a statement. The approval came after CNOOC made commitments on transparency as well as concessions on employment and capital investments, which it had outlined in July when it announced its bid for Nexen. Cnooc said on Saturday it will provide an annual compliance report to the Canadian government. Other commitments include making Calgary the headquarters

December 10, 2012 business daily | 9

GREATER CHINA BNP Paribas raises stake in Bank of Nanjing BNP Paribas SA has raised its stake in China’s Bank of Nanjing Co Ltd by 2 percent to 14.7 percent, the Chinese lender said. The French bank bought 59.3 million shares, equivalent to around 2 percent of outstanding shares, between October 10 and December 6, Bank of Nanjing said in a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange on Saturday. It did not disclose the transaction amount. BNP is one of around 40 foreign banks that have set up locally incorporated units in China, which allows them to carry out yuan-related businesses.

Chinese investors eye AIG plane unit Group in talks to buy 90 percent of air lease arm

November factory output jumped to 8-month high

in costs for mining, raw materials and manufacturing, the statistics bureau said. “Chinese authorities will continue to guard against the inflation risk in 2013,” Liu Li-Gang, chief Greater China economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd in Hong Kong, said in a note yesterday. Investment spending and high food prices will help inflation “re-emerge” in the second half of 2013, and the central bank will have to pay more attention to managing price expectations, Mr Liu wrote. The Politburo, in its first public assessment of the country’s development since a new generation of leaders took office last month, said the economy is stabilising and favourable

factors are increasing, according to a report from the official Xinhua News Agency last week. The pace of food-price gains accelerated for the first time in three months, increasing 3 percent in November from a year earlier after a 1.8 percent rise in October, the report showed. The decline in pork prices moderated to 11.5 percent in November from a year earlier, after a 15.8 percent fall in October. They jumped 26.5 percent in November last year. Non-food inflation cooled to 1.6 percent in November from a year earlier, while consumer-goods prices jumped 1.9 percent, the most since August. Bloomberg News

group of Chinese companies, including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC), is in talks to buy nearly all of American International Group Inc.’s aircraft leasing unit for about US$5.5 billion, AIG said on Friday. The deal is expected to be announced as soon as early next week, a source familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. AIG, which has been selling assets to pay back a US$182 billion U.S. government bailout from 2008, had long been hoping to float its ILFC aircraft leasing unit through an initial public offering, but poor market conditions forced it to delay those plans. An IPO was expected to value the company at US$6 billion to US$8 billion, according to previous reports on the plans. AIG chief executive Robert Benmosche said last month that he was waiting for markets to improve to take ILFC public. AIG said it is in talks to sell a 90 percent stake in the unit to a consortium including trust company New China Trust Co Ltd, China Aviation Industrial Fund, and an investment arm of ICBC, China’s largest bank. New China Trust is 20 percent-owned by British bank Barclays Plc.

AIG’s aircraft leasing unit valued at US$5.5 bln

“The talks are reasonably far along,” a second source said. An ILFC spokesman declined comment. A spokesman for ICBC declined to comment. Shares in AIG rose 2.6 percent to US$34.13 on the New York Stock Exchange, after touching their highest level in more than five weeks earlier in the day. “We view this news positively, since we think a sale of ILFC is the last large transaction AIG needs to do as it continues its turnaround,” S&P Capital IQ analyst Cathy Seifert said in a research note. The capital may come at a good time for AIG. Late Friday, it said it expects after-tax losses of at least US$1.3 billion from Superstorm Sandy. It said it would contribute US$1 billion to its U.S. property insurance units to help cover the losses. Reuters

Glencore gets Beijing nod for Viterra takeover

Chinese approval was last regulatory hurdle

Nexen shareholders approved the US$15.1 bln deal in September

of its North and Central American operations, retaining Nexen’s management team and employees, seeking a secondary listing in Toronto and investing in Canadian oil sands over the long term. The bid by Cnooc, China’s thirdlargest oil company, had raised huge questions for Mr Harper’s Conservatives, which sought to

appear open to investment and to diversify Canadian energy exports toward Asia and away from the United States. The tougher new approach restricts state-owned enterprises to minority stakes in Canadian enterprises except in what Mr Harper described as “exceptional circumstances”. Reuters

lencore International Plc won approval from China’s Ministry of Commerce on Friday for its C$6 billion (US$6 billion) purchase of Canadian grain handler Viterra Inc., clearing the last regulatory hurdle for the longdelayed deal. The takeover, one of the largest in the global agriculture industry in years, was originally expected to close by late July. The deal will give Swiss-based Glencore, the world’s largest diversified commodities trader, a huge presence in grains – an area dominated by Archer Daniels Midland Co, Cargill Inc. and Bunge Ltd - complementing its strength in metals, minerals and oil. After selling off some Viterra assets in side deals that still require Canadian regulator approval, Glencore and privately held Richardson International Ltd would be the leading grain handlers in Canada, the world’s biggest producer of canola and sixthlargest wheat grower. Richardson, which has agreed

to buy some of Viterra’s assets, and Glencore would each own about one-third of Western Canada’s grainhandling capacity. The companies would be roughly the same size. Viterra also owns almost all of the grain storage and handling system in South Australia, which produces about 15 percent of the crops grown in Australia. The company said on Friday it expects the deal to be finalised on December 17. It was originally expected to close by late July. Friday’s approval was the last outstanding regulatory nod for the acquisition. Viterra is one of several major companies in play this year in the global grain-handling sector, with interest driven in part by soaring grain prices and bullish outlooks for a rising world population and food demand. Shareholders of Viterra overwhelmingly accepted Glencore’s offer of C$16.25 per share in May. Glencore offered to buy Viterra in March. Reuters

10 |

business daily December 10, 2012

ASIA Wipro to buy skincare company Wipro Ltd, India’s No.3 software services provider, will acquire L.D. Waxson Group, a Singapore-based consumer goods company, in an all-cash deal worth about US$144 million, the Indian company said in a statement. The deal, expected to be completed within 60 days, is valued at 2.1 times the revenue reported by L.D. Waxson during the fiscal year 2011-12, according to the statement issued on Saturday. L.D. Waxson, which sells skincare and healthcare products in countries including China, Singapore and Malaysia, will be a part of Wipro’s stable of consumer care products.

India govt wins second vote on retail reform Upper house voted in favour of opening the sector to foreign competition Nigam Prusty and Satarupa Bhattacharjya

he Indian government won a second parliament vote on Friday on allowing foreign supermarkets into the country, paving the way for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to press ahead with more reforms, including freeing up a cash-strapped insurance sector. While the upper house vote was symbolic, the government’s victory was a boost for its push to implement a controversial economic reform agenda seen as crucial to reviving growth and reducing a bloated fiscal deficit. The government had already won a vote on retail reform in the lower house two days earlier. The policy will allow global retailers such as WalMart Stores Inc. to set up shop in the country’s US$450 billion retail sector, and is aimed at drawing more overseas investment and taming inflation. Although both votes were nonbinding, defeat would have piled Global retailers allowed to set up shop in India’s retail sector

KEY POINTS Government won vote with help of regional parties Vote shows political will on reforms – analyst Retailers able to operate in US$450 bln consumer sector

pressure on Mr Singh to roll back the measure. “Overall, it is a positive development. More than anything else, I think it reaffirms the political will to start reforms,” said Saugata Bhattacharya, an economist with Axis Bank Ltd in Mumbai. Once again, Mr Singh’s fragile coalition government relied on the outside support of two parties

based in the state of Uttar Pradesh, underscoring the extent to which it is at the mercy of powerful regional groups to push through legislation.

Shouting, walkouts In the shrinking window before a general election due in just over a year, Mr Singh’s minority government wants to push reforms such as

allowing more foreign investment in its insurance and pension sectors, and simplifying tax laws. But these are likely to run into a wall of opposition from rival parties that say such market-friendly reforms will come at the expense of domestic businesses. Mr Singh’s Congress party has 10 days left before the end of the current parliament session to try

Sales tax increase depends on economy, Abe says

Nintendo debuts Wii U console at home

apan’s Liberal Democratic Party leader Shinzo Abe said he would decide whether to increase a sales tax next year based on economic conditions in the second quarter. “It’s impossible to raise the tax if deflation deepens,” Mr Abe said during a Fuji television programme yesterday. A decision will be made after data on economic conditions from April to June become available next August, he said. Polls show the LDP, the largest opposition party, is on track to return to power it lost in 2009 after the December 16 election, with an absolute majority in the Diet’s lower house. Mr Abe, in line to become prime minister, has called for “unlimited”

Shinzo Abe, LDP leader

monetary easing to end more than a decade of falling prices. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda won parliamentary approval in August for his bill to raise the country’s sales tax for the first time in 15 years. The bill raises the tax to 8 percent in April 2014 and to 10 percent in 2015, and a clause allows for implementation to be cancelled based on an assessment of economic conditions. The last sales tax increase in 1997 contributed to pushing the economy into a 20-month recession, costing then-premier Ryutaro Hashimoto his job. Bloomberg News

intendo Co.’s Wii U home videogame console debuted in Japan on Saturday after sales of its 3DS handheld player drove an expansion of the country’s video-game market in the first half for the first time in five years. The videogame maker’s first home console since 2006 comes in two versions at 26,250 yen (US$319) and 31,500 yen with a 6.2-inch (16 centimetres) touch-screen controller called the GamePad. U.S. customers bought 400,000 units in the first week of sales that started on November 18, the company said on November 26. The high-definition Wii U’s

December 10, 2012 business daily | 11

ASIA Japan suspends beef imports from Brazil Japan, Asia’s largest beef buyer, suspended imports of the meat from Brazil after a cow in Parana state tested positive for mad-cow disease. “We suspended imports from Brazil as soon as an outbreak of BSE was confirmed,” the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in a statement, referring to bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or the brain-wasting disease known as mad cow. Japan, which imported 1,435 tonnes of Brazilian beef last year, will seek supplies from alternative exporters such as the U.S. and Australia. Other beef importers may follow suit.

to pass legislation. “Our reforms are on track,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said after the vote, adding the government would bring financial sector bills to parliament this week. However, the session could once again see the kind of disruption and walkouts that have repeatedly stalled business over the last couple of years. Lawmakers have used them to air grievances on anything from corruption to demands for the creation of a new state in the south. Moreover, the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), having seen its motion to block retail reform defeated, is likely to obstruct moves to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector. The BJP wants a 26 percent cap set on investment, against the government’s proposed 49 percent. “We will oppose any move by the government against the recommendations of the standing committee on finance which has said it should be 26 percent,” Prakash Javdekar, a BJP leader and spokesman for the party, told Reuters. To carry on with reforms, the Congress party will have to rely on the support of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), both based in the populous northern state of Uttar Pradesh, to defeat the BJP. In Friday’s vote BSP lawmakers voted with the government and SP deputies abstained, handing it a 123109 victory. “The regional parties supported the Congress party on retail reform and my feeling is that they will continue to do so because they don’t want to give BJP any political advantage,” said political analyst Amulya Ganguli. The government also aims to pass a bill that paves the way for the Reserve Bank of India to issue new banking licences, as well as increase its regulatory powers over Indian banks. Reuters

GamePad lets users wirelessly connect to the console so characters can jump between the device and a TV, a feature Kyoto-based Nintendo is betting will help lure players away from smartphones and tablets. Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, is also the fastest growing major video-game market, as demand in the U.S. and Europe slumps. “Nintendo has a better chance to succeed in Japan, as they have more strongly rooted fans at home,” said Satoru Kikuchi, an analyst at Deutsche Bank AG. Still, “success in the U.S. is required to generate profits.” Industrywide sales of video-game machines and software jumped 11 percent to 175.3 billion yen in Japan in the six months ended September 30, according to Enterbrain Inc. Nintendo led the gain after boosting sales of its 3DS handheld by cutting the price and introducing its “New Super Mario Bros. U” and Capcom Co.’s “Monster Hunter 3 (Tri) G.” Reuters

Stocks rise amid recovery signs Data from China, U.S. help markets keep winning streak Anti-China protests in Vietnam over sea disputes

U.S. fiscal cliff weighs on stocks

sian stocks rose for a third week, with the regional benchmark gauge capping the longest winning streak in three months, as China’s government pledged to boost urban development and gains in U.S. services and factory orders boosted exporters. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 4.1 percent this week, the biggest such gain since October 2011. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1.2 percent to 126.14 last week, capping a seven-day rally, the longest rising streak since September. Gains were limited as U.S. lawmakers continued to negotiate a budget compromise to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. “The economic data looks OK and that’s been supporting the share market,” said Shane Oliver, Sydneybased head of strategy at AMP Capital Investors Ltd. “Markets will have to see a resolution of the U.S. fiscal cliff for the rally to continue.” The MXAP measure advanced almost 16 percent from this year’s low on June 4 as central banks from Europe, the U.S., Japan and China took steps to support economic growth. The gauge traded at 14.2 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 13.6 times for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 12.6 times for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1 percent as the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to 3 percent. South Korea’s Kospi Index climbed 1.3 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index fell 0.2 percent in Wellington. Taiwan’s Taiex Index increased 0.8 percent. Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 1.2 percent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.9 percent. Little damage was reported from a 7.3-magnitude earthquake that struck northeast Japan after markets closed on Friday. The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China’s stock exchanges, rose 4.1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.7 percent while a gauge of Chinese companies listed in the former British colony advanced 2.8 percent. The iShares FTSE A50 China Index exchange traded fund, the biggest such vehicle that allows people outside China to invest in the country’s domestic shares, surged 6.5 percent in Hong Kong. “There’s a lot of talk about potential policy support for China’s economy,” said Tim Leung, a fund manager who helps oversee about US$1.5 billion at IG Investment Ltd. “While urbanisation is not new, people will probably be focusing on that trend. There’s a lot of positive benefit from urbanisation, like infrastructure spending.” Bloomberg News

Vietnam held rare but brief protests against China in its two major cities yesterday after Beijing demanded that Hanoi stop unilateral oil exploration in disputed waters and not harass Chinese fishing boats. China’s demands on Thursday raised tensions in a protracted maritime territorial dispute between the two neighbours. About 30 people gathered opposite Hanoi’s opera house, raising banners and shouting in protest against China before marching towards the Chinese embassy as part of a planned demonstration that was announced on several blogs. Police moved in quickly, pushing the protesters onto a bus and taking them away. It was not immediately clear what happened to the Hanoi protesters after that, although protesters in similar cases are often taken for questioning and then released. In downtown Ho Chi Minh City, another small protest was also quelled quickly when security officials seized banners held by protesters and disbanded the crowd, a witness said. The authorities had tolerated a series of protests over China’s territorial claims from June to August last year and in July this year. China is in increasingly angry disputes with neighbours, including the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia over claims to parts of the potentially oil- and gas-rich South China Sea. China lays claim to almost the whole of the sea, which is criss-crossed by crucial shipping lanes, and also has a separate dispute with Japan over islands in the East China Sea.

North Korea may delay rocket launch North Korea said it may delay a planned rocket launch after neighbouring nations protested and Japan and the U.S. made preparations to shoot down any missile that’s deemed to pose a threat. “Our scientists and technicians are now seriously examining the issue of re-adjusting the launching time of the satellite for some reasons,” staterun Korea Central News Agency reported, citing comments on Saturday by a spokesman for the Korean Committee of Space Technology. No elaboration on the reasons was given. Kim Jong Un’s regime said on December 1 it would launch a long- range rocket to orbit a satellite between December 10 and December 22. The plan prompted the U.S. to deploy ships capable of intercepting the rocket, and Japan to ready its military to destroy any possible debris. North Korea made a rare admission of failure four hours after April’s botched test that scuttled a food aid deal with the U.S. “Given the cold weather and North Korea’s technical level, it would be difficult for it to succeed with this launch,” said Koh Yu Hwan, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul. “Opposition from the new Chinese leadership is another major constraint.” South Korea’s Unification Ministry urged the North to scrap the plan, saying it poses a serious threat to security in northeast Asia. “Another failure would deal a heavy blow to Kim’s regime,” Mr Koh said. “He would lose more than gain, so his best tactic is to keep the threat open and maximise its bargaining power.” Reuters

12 |

business daily December 10, 2012

MARKETS Hang SENG INDEX NAME

NAME

PRICE

DAY %

VOLUME

AIA GROUP LTD

-0.3322259

38266696

CHINA UNICOM HON

ALUMINUM CORP-H

3.4

2.102102

21971687

CITIC PACIFIC

BANK OF CHINA-H

3.3

403066610

5.74

-0.3472222

40119953

BANK EAST ASIA

29.95

-0.8278146

2051702

BELLE INTERNATIO

16.16

-2.060606

6255104

BANK OF COMMUN-H

BOC HONG KONG HO

POWER ASSETS HOL

0.5025126

20401368

SANDS CHINA LTD

-1.388889

16467913

13.92

0.1438849

7493488

0.08748906

4333320

COSCO PAC LTD

11.36

1.428571

10148776

SWIRE PACIFIC-A

95.85

-0.2601457

699408

ESPRIT HLDGS

12.26

1.996672

20231793

TENCENT HOLDINGS

251

-0.7120253

2935892

HANG LUNG PROPER

29.15

-0.3418803

8141796

TINGYI HLDG CO

118

-0.8403361

1107699

WANT WANT CHINA WHARF HLDG

118.5 -0.08431703

4382889

HENDERSON LAND D

55.6

-0.3584229

1994119

HENGAN INTL

71.15

0.07032349

1276517

HONG KG CHINA GS

21.05

-1.635514

6318296

HONG KONG EXCHNG

127.4

0.2360346

8570231

HSBC HLDGS PLC

31403065

MOVERS

6.07

-0.3284072

308338205

CHINA LIFE INS-H

23.45

0.2136752

25470082

CHINA MERCHANT

23.65

3158011

79.25

-0.4396985

CHINA MOBILE

88.15

-0.7878447

14087242

HUTCHISON WHAMPO

80.1

-0.3731343

3753788

CHINA OVERSEAS

23.65

2.380952

23314520

IND & COMM BK-H

5.31

0.3780718

391115169

CHINA PETROLEU-H

8.51

1.068884

80687897

LI & FUNG LTD

12.96

0.3095975

14927667

CHINA RES ENTERP

27.95

-1.061947

3205312

MTR CORP

30.65

-0.8090615

3366942

CHINA RES LAND

21.15

0.4750594

19685977

NEW WORLD DEV

12.42

0.1612903

13700248

17.5

-3.951701

6899711

PETROCHINA CO-H

10.68

0.3759398

76679551

PING AN INSURA-H

-0.5799503

17746452

PRICE

DAY %

VOLUME

25.95

1.367187

20421380

YANZHOU COAL-H

16738131

2976361

31.95 114.4

CHEUNG KONG

0.7824726

VOLUME

SINO LAND CO

HANG SENG BK

32.2

-1.323529

SUN HUNG KAI PRO

5848063

CHINA SHENHUA-H

DAY %

67.1

2145964

10574707

CHINA RES POWER

PRICE

49851317

-1.030928

CHINA CONST BA-H

NAME

-0.1203369

-0.4379562

43499795

10892893

-0.6671609

2.067183

VOLUME

-0.3262643

CNOOC LTD

13.64 7.9

DAY %

12.22

16.6

CLP HLDGS LTD

CATHAY PAC AIR CHINA COAL ENE-H

PRICE

22.2

-0.2247191

3347944

10.92

-1.798561

16323068

60.3

0.5838198

4859847

2 22360

INDEX 22191.17 HIGH

22355.89

LOW

21819.01

52W (H) 22371.4 21800

(L) 17821.51953 5-December

7-December

Hang SENG CHINA ENTErPRISE INDEX NAME

NAME

PRICE

DAY %

VOLUME

AGRICULTURAL-H

3.46

0.8746356

159984011

AIR CHINA LTD-H

5.55

1.092896

19924000

CHINA PETROLEU-H

8.51

1.068884

80687897

ZIJIN MINING-H

3.4

2.102102

21971687

CHINA RAIL CN-H

9.06

-0.1102536

12873000

28.15

2.737226

27885156

CHINA RAIL GR-H

4.68

24366182

3.3

403066610

CHINA SHENHUA-H

32.2

0.7824726

16738131

ALUMINUM CORP-H ANHUI CONCH-H BANK OF CHINA-H

CHINA PACIFIC-H

5.74

-0.3472222

40119953

CHINA TELECOM-H

4.33

50038575

19.24

-2.926337

17957274

DONGFENG MOTOR-H

11.72

-0.6779661

27894198

4.12

0.9803922

70509545

GUANGZHOU AUTO-H

6.51

1.401869

7140678

CHINA COAL ENE-H

7.9

2.067183

43499795

HUANENG POWER-H

7.19

1.125176

19698413

CHINA COM CONS-H

7.41

1.229508

19522561

IND & COMM BK-H

5.31

0.3780718

391115169

CHINA CONST BA-H

6.07

-0.3284072

308338205

JIANGXI COPPER-H

20.5

1.736973

8615544

BANK OF COMMUN-H BYD CO LTD-H CHINA CITIC BK-H

3.64

0.5524862

23742725

PETROCHINA CO-H

10.68

0.3759398

76679551

23.45

0.2136752

25470082

PICC PROPERTY &

10.12

-0.589391

31904743

CHINA LONGYUAN-H

5.25

0.5747126

9144000

PING AN INSURA-H

-0.5799503

17746452

CHINA MERCH BK-H

15.72

1.158301

35818552

SHANDONG WEIG-H

7.78

1.038961

7598500

CHINA COSCO HO-H CHINA LIFE INS-H

NAME

PRICE

DAY %

VOLUME

12.14

0.3305785

28385100

3.07

0.3267974

31986200

ZOOMLION HEAVY-H

10.42

18306920

ZTE CORP-H

12.54

4.152824

17853551

MOVERS

4 11010

INDEX 10919.24 HIGH

11007.11

LOW

10542.06

CHINA MINSHENG-H

8.21

-0.2430134

70018200

SINOPHARM-H

25.25

1.405622

2484487

52W (H) 11916.1

CHINA NATL BDG-H

11.04

4.347826

121922305

TSINGTAO BREW-H

43.95

0.4571429

1484600

(L) 8987.76

15.9

0.8883249

7804194

WEICHAI POWER-H

32.9

5.617978

5794440

CHINA OILFIELD-H

10540

5-December

7-December

Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 PRICE

DAY %

VOLUME

PRICE

DAY %

VOLUME

PRICE

DAY %

AGRICULTURAL-A

2.62

194680417

CITIC SECURITI-A

10.71

2.097235

124985758

QINGHAI SALT-A

24.22

3.681507

8067035

AIR CHINA LTD-A

5.03

1.41129

15953411

CSR CORP LTD -A

4.94

0.2028398

46956644

SAIC MOTOR-A

14.72

1.447278

28698809

ALUMINUM CORP-A

4.82

1.902748

17929939

DAQIN RAILWAY -A

6.37

0.3149606

50906393

SANY HEAVY INDUS

8.87

3.139535

81623964

ANGANG STEEL-A

3.57

2.586207

17386609

DATANG INTL PO-A

3.83

1.055409

17422122

SHANDONG GOLD-MI

36.39

4.030875

12657946

ANHUI CONCH-A

17.7

1.607348

46686839

EVERBRIG SEC -A

11.48

5.417815

21289368

SHANG PHARM -A

10.59

2.318841

11272434

BANK OF BEIJIN-A

7.99

1.913265

91154749

GD POWER DEVEL-A

2.35

1.293103

104231250

SHANG PUDONG-A

8.26

4.68948

229249195

BANK OF CHINA-A

2.79

0.7220217

57177301

GEMDALE CORP-A

5.89

0.5119454

50572317

SHANGHAI ELECT-A

BANK OF COMMUN-A

4.45

1.598174

96303948

GF SECURITIES-A

12.71

4.781533

46877531

SHANXI LU'AN -A

BANK OF NINGBO-A

9.19

3.374578

23975745

GREE ELECTRIC

22.54

-4.894515

96794568

15.84

1.799486

36180543

NAME

BAOSHAN IRON & S

NAME

4.71

0.856531

33253501

GUANGHUI ENERG-A

NAME

VOLUME

3.8

1.876676

5852078

17.3

4.912068

24964833

SHANXI XINGHUA-A

33.51

1.025023

8739342

SHANXI XISHAN-A

11.57

3.395889

19045844

6.8

6.416275

99911950

HAITONG SECURI-A

8.89

3.252033

73656413

SHENZEN OVERSE-A

6.17

0.9819967

42549248

16.44

2.621723

5660822

HANGZHOU HIKVI-A

28.88

0.6622517

1958678

SUNING APPLIAN-A

6.26

1.294498

42510640

CHINA CITIC BK-A

3.84

1.856764

41574934

HEBEI IRON-A

2.47

3.34728

67343135

TASLY PHARMAC-A

50.78

0.3755683

1910234

CHINA CNR CORP-A

4.44

0.2257336

54931470

HENAN SHUAN-A

54.15

0.4638219

2168236

TSINGTAO BREW-A

30.35

0.4634227

1984795

CHINA COAL ENE-A

7.12

2.298851

16017645

HONG YUAN SEC-A

15.9

2.382486

14668064

WEICHAI POWER-A

24.34

3.618561

17159123

BBMG CORPORATI-A BYD CO LTD -A

CHINA CONST BA-A

4.3

0.2331002

62754594

HUATAI SECURIT-A

8.41

5.520703

27325043

WUHAN IRON & S-A

2.72

-0.3663004

37610915

CHINA COSCO HO-A

4.37

3.066038

35678707

HUAXIA BANK CO

9.11

4.833142

80534336

WULIANGYE YIBIN

25.61

3.432956

49941940

CHINA CSSC HOL-A

20.19

0.95

7459063

IND & COMM BK-A

3.93

0.255102

110844127

YANGQUAN COAL -A

12.23

3.908241

17679987

CHINA EAST AIR-A

3.11

1.633987

22530183

INDUSTRIAL BAN-A

14.08

3.453343

173243266

YANTAI WANHUA-A

4.399702

19263334

CHINA EVERBRIG-A

2.69

2.671756

247136011

INNER MONG BAO-A

32.02

0.9139616

38130430

YANZHOU COAL-A

16.54

2.414861

6398833

18.55

0.5965293

15005030

INNER MONG YIL-A

20.01

2.879177

10892546

YUNNAN BAIYAO-A

63.5

0.3476612

2337189

10.8

3.349282

111933473

INNER MONGOLIA-A

4.9

2.296451

56299766

ZHONGJIN GOLD

15.13

2.855201

23309517

20050584

JIANGSU HENGRU-A

28.44

2.486486

3172653

ZIJIN MINING-A

3.65

1.388889

65708379

JIANGSU YANGHE-A

91.2

1.164725

4034978

ZOOMLION HEAVY-A

8.56

2.51497

96942248

JIANGXI COPPER-A

21.27

1.237506

11739376

ZTE CORP-A

8.38

2.444988

17657199

JINDUICHENG -A

10.86

2.646503

6093203

JIZHONG ENERGY-A

11.11

5.308057

38048990

15.37

3.921569

15895982

198.79

2.358272

9950141

CHINA LIFE INS-A CHINA MERCH BK-A CHINA MERCHANT-A

9.03

2.380952

CHINA MERCHANT-A

24.58

-1.482966

15474011

CHINA MINSHENG-A

6.85

3.945372

205327363

CHINA NATIONAL-A

7.56

-0.3952569

41341202

15.87

2.985075

6737256

CHINA OILFIELD-A

18.88

1.505376

17572900

KANGMEI PHARMA-A

CHINA PETROLEU-A

6.39

2.076677

39845137

KWEICHOW MOUTA-A

CHINA RAILWAY-A

5.81

1.219512

29317470

LUZHOU LAOJIAO-A

31.39

1.948685

12111728

2.09

0.9661836

50737455

CHINA PACIFIC-A

MOVERS 279

CHINA RAILWAY-A

3.02

1.342282

51650306

CHINA SHENHUA-A

22.7

2.668476

20673287

NINGBO PORT CO-A

2.48

0.4048583

24452255

3.5

5.105105

92648888

HIGH

2249.57

LOW

2128.39

CHINA SHIPBUIL-A

4.19

2.948403

83757101

CHINA SOUTHERN-A

3.54

1.724138

38054315

PETROCHINA CO-A

8.71

0.461361

20562755

CHINA STATE -A

3.32

0.9118541

139872331

PING AN BANK-A

14.02

3.774981

45656785

CHINA UNITED-A

3.36

0.9009009

67399528

PING AN INSURA-A

39.31

1.053985

28115181

CHINA VANKE CO-A

9.2

-0.7551241

89478932

POLY REAL ESTA-A

12.16

-0.8964955

62286471

CHINA YANGTZE-A

6.5

0.931677

19732249

QINGDAO HAIER-A

11.67

-0.3415884

12377909

NAME

PRICE DAY %

Volume

PRICE DAY %

Volume

ACER INC

25.45 -0.9727626

31619082

FORMOSA PLASTIC

76.1

0.794702

4036781

ADVANCED SEMICON

24.75

0.2024291

15420903

FOXCONN TECHNOLO

100

-1.960784

ASIA CEMENT CORP

37.75

1.07095

11664905

FUBON FINANCIAL

33.4

ASUSTEK COMPUTER

314.5

0.4792332

2765633

HON HAI PRECISIO

AU OPTRONICS COR

13.3

3.90625

181968164

HOTAI MOTOR CO

267

1 2250

INDEX 2246.757

METALLURGICAL-A PANGANG GROUP -A

52W (H) 2717.825 (L) 2102.135

2120

5-December

7-December

FTSE TAIWAN 50 INDEX

CATCHER TECH

NAME

144 -0.6896552

10265039

HTC CORP

CATHAY FINANCIAL

31.35 -0.1592357

10068464

HUA NAN FINANCIA

CHANG HWA BANK

15.85 -0.6269592

PRICE DAY %

Volume

TAIWAN MOBILE CO

106 -0.9345794

2849953

10626667

TPK HOLDING CO L

492 -0.9063444

11998453

TSMC

98.1

1.552795

95.5

1.058201

57098848

UNI-PRESIDENT

211.5

-1.398601

401415

-3.610108

31938154

16.45 -0.3030303

5245643

10100064

LARGAN PRECISION

860

0.4672897

3767193

CHENG SHIN RUBBE

76.6

3107852

LITE-ON TECHNOLO

0.3764115

6908252

CHIMEI INNOLUX C

14.9

6.810036

218658576

323.5

11310434

7.2 -0.2770083

37601366

MEGA FINANCIAL H

22.9

19229563

CHINA DEVELOPMEN

MEDIATEK INC

CHINA STEEL CORP

26.3

10769251

NAN YA PLASTICS

51.9

0.9727626

3740309

CHINATRUST FINAN

17.35

0.2890173

35559632

PRESIDENT CHAIN

154

0.3257329

1128734

CHUNGHWA TELECOM

94.2

0.212766

6165472

QUANTA COMPUTER

70.5

0.284495

13768505

COMPAL ELECTRON

20.45

0.7389163

37536357

SILICONWARE PREC

30.75

-1.125402

7809860

DELTA ELECT INC

107.5

0.4672897

4099033

SINOPAC FINANCIA

12.45

0.4032258

25547061

FAR EASTERN NEW

33.8

-1.169591

10467827

SYNNEX TECH INTL

56.6

0.8912656

7431220

FAR EASTONE TELE

0.6993007

8566709

TAIWAN CEMENT

39.4

3.957784

25472120

16.15

5523311

-1.333333

2114365

27.8

1621406

FIRST FINANCIAL

17.95

0.2793296

10433898

FORMOSA CHEM & F

68.8

0.4379562

5047819

TAIWAN FERTILIZE

FORMOSA PETROCHE

85.7 -0.3488372

1604422

TAIWAN GLASS IND

TAIWAN COOPERATI

NAME

7399149 37114121

7599614

UNITED MICROELEC

11.65 -0.4273504

94978100

WISTRON CORP

31.45

1.125402

5077218

YUANTA FINANCIAL

14.75 -0.3378378

14678525

YULON MOTOR CO

54.1 -0.1845018

4325918

MOVERS

7 5400

INDEX 5385.73 HIGH

5398.57

LOW

5312.73

52W (H) 5621.53 5310

(L) 4643.05 5-December

7-December

December 10, 2012 business daily | 13

MARKETS GAMING STOCKS - DAILY PERFORMANCE (Hong Kong Stock Exchange) gaLaXy eNTerTaINMeNT

MeLCO CrOWN eNTerTaINMeNT

MgM CHINa HOLDINgS 38.8

28.8

14.40

28.6

14.35 38.3

28.4

14.30

28.2

Max 28.75

average 28.535

Min 28.2

28.0

Last 28.2

SaNDS CHINa LTD

average 32.087

Max 32.45

14.25 Max 38.5

average 38.072

Min 31.8

Last 31.95

average 14.270

Min 14.22

Last 14.38

WyNN MaCaU LTD 21.2

32.2

17.4

21.0

31.9

17.3

20.8

31.6

17.2 Max 17.42

average 17.35

WTI CRUDE FUTURE Jan13

85.93

-0.382552792

-12.12802945

109.6699982

79.68000031

BRENT CRUDE FUTR Jan13

107.02

-0.009343175

3.400966184

120.7699966

90.15999603

GASOLINE RBOB FUT Jan13

259.74

0.019253726

5.013341958

293.3099985

218.4999943

GAS OIL FUT (ICE) Jan13

909.25

-0.818107445

1.450488145

1036.25

799.25

3.551

-3.136933988

-8.550090136

4.377000332

3.062000036

HEATING OIL FUTR Jan13 Gold Spot $/Oz Silver Spot $/Oz Platinum Spot $/Oz Palladium Spot $/Oz

DAY %

YTD %

(H) 52W

Min 17.24

Last 17.34

20.6 Max 21.1

average 20.975

291.53

-0.947947812

1.458202826

334.2199802

255.5699825

1704.07

0.6016

8.8925

1796.08

1522.75

33.065

0.6677

18.7893

37.4775

26.1513

1606.68

1.5806

15.2155

1736

1339.25

698.5

1.9559

6.886

725.19

553.75 1827.25

LME ALUMINUM 3MO ($)

2094

0.19138756

3.663366337

2361.5

8035

0.4375

5.723684211

8765

7131

LME ZINC

2028

0.148148148

9.918699187

2220

1745

3MO ($)

LME NICKEL 3MO ($) AGRICULTURE ROUGH RICE (CBOT) Jan13 Mar13

17225

0.145348837

-7.936932122

22150

15236

15.265

-0.293925539

-0.586128297

16.60000038

14.60000038

737.25

-1.896207585

22.82382341

846.25

511

WHEAT FUTURE(CBT) Mar13

PRICE

(L) 52W

LME COPPER 3MO ($)

Last 21

Min 20.7

MAJORS

ASIA PACIFIC

CROSSES

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

DAY %

1.0488 1.6039 0.9345 1.2927 82.49 7.9825 7.7501 6.2243 54.475 30.67 1.2209 29.064 40.945 9708 86.517 1.20795 0.80599 8.0437 10.318 106.67 1.03

0.0382 -0.4716 -0.7919 -1.1319 -0.1455 0 -0.0013 0.0627 -0.6196 -0.0652 -0.1638 0.1514 -0.0366 -0.6077 -0.1826 0.3494 0.665 1.0903 1.1543 0.9562 0

YTD %

(H) 52W

2.7329 3.1911 0.3852 -0.2623 -6.7645 0.2142 0.2232 1.1359 -2.5883 2.8693 6.2003 4.1804 7.0705 -6.5822 -9.345 0.7318 3.3995 1.1251 0.3295 -6.5717 0.0097

(L) 52W

1.0857 1.6309 0.9972 1.3487 84.18 8.0198 7.7864 6.3964 57.3275 32 1.3138 30.396 44.35 9708 88.637 1.23977 0.85545 8.4985 10.7712 111.44 1.0314

0.9582 1.5235 0.8931 1.2043 76.03 7.9823 7.7498 6.2105 48.6088 30.2 1.2152 28.914 40.795 8875 74.482 1.19995 0.77553 7.7018 9.6245 94.12 1.029

MACAU RELATED STOCKS (H) 52W

(L) 52W

3.2

45.45454

3.32

2.16

1468199

CROWN LTD

10.16

0.6937562

25.58714

10.34

7.92

1058716

18.65999985

AMAX HOLDINGS LT

0.066

-24.13793

0.119

0.055

1277000

66.84999847

BOC HONG KONG HO

-1.030928

30.43479

17.46

10574707

CENTURY LEGEND

0.28

-1.754386

21.73913

0.335

0.204

508000

CHEUK NANG HLDGS

4.53

1.116071

61.78572

4.54

2.5

78639

CHINA OVERSEAS

23.65

2.380952

82.40859

23.8

12.066

23314520

CHINESE ESTATES

11.84

2.422145

-5.28

13.26

8.3

24000

CHOW TAI FOOK JE

11.24

-0.5309735

-19.25287

15.16

8.4

3462100

EMPEROR ENTERTAI

1.74

-1.694915

56.75675

1.82

0.99

2135000

FUTURE BRIGHT

1.13

-5.042017

169.0476

1.43

0.38

6634000

GALAXY ENTERTAIN

28.2

-0.1769912

98.03371

29.85

13.28

12438236

861

-0.116009281

17.30245232

948.25

652

SOYBEAN FUTURE Jan13

1472.25

-1.27409891

21.37262984

1781.5

1126.75

COFFEE 'C' FUTURE Mar13

153.85

1.921165949

-35.34355957

249

146.3499908

SUGAR #11 (WORLD) Mar13

19.21

-0.774793388

-17.76541096

25.12999916

COTTON NO.2 FUTR Mar13

73.79

0.326308634

-16.63088917

98.5

World Stock MarketS - Indices

NAME ARISTOCRAT LEISU

PRICE

DAY % YTD %

VOLUME CRNCY

COUNTRY

PRICE

DAY %

YTD %

(H) 52W

(L) 52W

DOW JONES INDUS. AVG

13155.13

0.6202367

7.673957

13661.87

11735.19

NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX

2978.041

-0.3755102

14.31361

3196.932

2518.01

HANG SENG BK

118

-0.8403361

28.05209

120

91.15

1107699

FTSE 100 INDEX

5914.4

0.2199471

6.139679

5989.07

5229.76

HOPEWELL HLDGS

31.4

60.18645

31.6

19.049

1089560

DAX INDEX

7517.8

-0.2221768

27.45598

7554.51

5637.53

HSBC HLDGS PLC

31403065

NIKKEI 225

9527.39

-0.1861676

HANG SENG INDEX

22191.17

-0.2635528

CSI 300 INDEX

2246.757

1.958384

TAIWAN TAIEX INDEX

7642.26

0.2492372

8.062405

KOSPI INDEX S&P/ASX 200 INDEX

1957.45

0.4016167

12.67884

79.25

-0.4396985

34.32203

80.3

57.05

HUTCHISON TELE H

3.48

0.8695652

16.38796

3.88

2.83

9187080

LUK FOOK HLDGS I

23.25

-1.06383

-14.20664

33.2

14.7

2740540

10255.15

8238.96

20.37919

22371.4

17821.51953

8.25

1.600985

42.98094

8.35

5.12

4661962

-4.219768

2717.825

2102.135

MGM CHINA HOLDIN

14.38

1.697313

49.9142

14.76

9.432

2930769

8170.72

6609.11

MIDLAND HOLDINGS

3.62

0.8356546

-8.44823

5.217

3.249

3238670

NEPTUNE GROUP

0.156

40.54054

0.222

0.084

1820000

NEW WORLD DEV

12.42

0.1612903

98.40255

13.2

6.13

13700248

SANDS CHINA LTD

16467913

7.214059

2057.28

1750.6

4551.758

0.9405579

12.20732

4581.8

3985

4290.796

-0.04214224

12.26596

4381.746094

3635.283

FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI

1617.77

0.09528347

5.686178

1679.37

1448.54

NZX ALL INDEX

875.205

0.3325675

19.92391

878.077

712.548

JAKARTA COMPOSITE INDEX

14.20

17.5

PRICE

NAME

Max 14.38

32.5

NAME

CORN FUTURE

37.8

CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES

NATURAL GAS FUTR Jan13

METALS

Last 38.25

SJM HOLDINgS LTD

Commodities ENERGY

Min 38

MELCO INTL DEVEL

31.95

-1.388889

45.55808

33.95

20.35

SHUN HO RESOURCE

1.34

3.875969

1.37

0.97

115000

SHUN TAK HOLDING

4.19

3.20197

63.72763

4.23

2.418

34589775

SJM HOLDINGS LTD

17.34

-0.1152074

38.65859

18.36

11.973

6902440

SMARTONE TELECOM

14.46

1.118881

7.589289

17.5

12.96

3077662

WYNN MACAU LTD

0.9615385

7.692308

25.5

14.62

3784778

ASIA ENTERTAINME

2.91

-3

-50.51021

7.24

2.4

106392

BALLY TECHNOLOGI

46.17

-0.3238342

16.70879

51.16

35.79

436187 1300

PHILIPPINES ALL SHARE IX

3716.46

0.3472297

22.04963

3719.32

2965.32

HSBC Dragon 300 Index Singapor

606.19

-0.01

22.13

STOCK EXCH OF THAI INDEX

1334.95

-0.3679434

30.19838

1343.03

1006.16

HO CHI MINH STOCK INDEX

383.8

-0.4900309

9.17366

492.44

332.28

BOC HONG KONG HO

3.06

-2.857143

27.64959

3.3

2.24

Laos Composite Index

1198.48

-1.503969

33.24438

1249.34

876.33

GALAXY ENTERTAIN

3.6

92.51337

3.87

1.75

380

14.4

-0.3460208

-16.27907

18.1

10.92

2634701

INTL GAME TECH

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

JONES LANG LASAL

81.72

0.876435

33.39863

87.52

56.51

198048

LAS VEGAS SANDS

43.65

-0.4333942

8.753636

58.3216

32.6127

4886451

MELCO CROWN-ADR

15.13

2.22973

57.27651

16.02

8.32

5463345

MGM CHINA HOLDIN

1.82

52.72387

1.96

1.1917

1200

MGM RESORTS INTE

10.93

-0.3646308

4.793861

14.9401

8.83

14411185

SHFL ENTERTAINME

13.29

-3.345455

13.3959

18.77

10.61

358091

SJM HOLDINGS LTD

2.25

39.96256

2.36

1.5484

10057

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business daily December 10, 2012

Opinion Let’s all jump off fiscal cliff out in the first half of 2013. As with a similar measure enacted with bipartisan support in 2008, the tax rebates would phase out for higher-income households, focusing the cash on low- and middle-income households. We would add US$50 billion for spending to rebuild roads, repair and modernise public schools, and fund scientific research. We see a need for a sustained increase in infrastructure spending, even in the face of the long-term fiscal adjustment. This amount is meant as a start, and in recognition that only so many high-quality projects can be initiated in 2013.

Bradley Belt Senior managing director at the Milken Institute and former director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

Jared Bernstein Economic policy fellow at the Milken Institute

William Gale Arjay and Frances Miller Chair at the Brookings Institution

Phillip Swagel

Senior fellow at the Milken Institute and professor at the University of Maryland

Keep patches

ith less than four weeks left, reaching an agreement to avoid the negative short-term economic impact of the so-called fiscal cliff might be beyond the ability of the strained U.S. political system. Just kicking the can down the road, averting the more than US$600 billion in automatic spending cuts and tax increases scheduled to take effect in January, requires one side to give ground on a core belief: either for Democrats to allow an extension of lower tax rates on top earners or for Republicans to accept a return to higher rates for those taxpayers. It is time to consider a backup plan. Both parties agree that any deal will include increased revenue. They disagree over the form of that revenue. Republicans look to limit deductions that mainly benefit people with high incomes, while extending the current 35 percent top income-tax rate. This could raise about US$800 billion over 10 years if the deduction cap is broadly applied, but considerably less if

tax breaks such as for charitable giving are left untouched or if the cap is phased in gradually to avoid a huge penalty for couples crossing the US$250,000 income threshold. President Barack Obama’s plan raises twice that much through higher tax rates and limits on deductions for households with the top 2 percent of incomes. He would extend current tax rates for lower-income groups. Democrats and Republicans know that the U.S. fiscal position is unsustainable and that reforms are needed of the tax code and entitlements, yet there is no consensus on which programmes should be on the table.

Two tracks Our view is that fiscal policy must operate on two time tracks: providing near-term support for the still-fragile recovery, while driving the political system to address the long-term imbalance. We propose to let all tax cuts expire and temporarily offset the negative economic impact.

The changes involved are unsatisfactory to all. Increased revenue comes mainly from higher tax rates rather than from a broader tax base; the higher rates

To avoid a recession, we propose temporary tax and spending measures to boost near-term demand without making choices between the agendas of the two parties

affect all income levels; the alternative-minimum tax hits millions it was never intended to reach; and spending cuts are focused on discretionary programmes rather than the entitlements that drive the long-term fiscal imbalance. To avoid a recession, we propose temporary tax and spending measures to boost near-term demand without making choices between the agendas of the two parties. We see this last point as essential. Getting past the cliff with the least damage to the economy requires not making choices about fundamental long- term issues in a lame-duck setting. This means that our proposal doesn’t separate upper-income tax brackets from other tax rates as sought by President Obama, but neither does it extend all rate cuts as sought by Republicans. Instead, all tax rates go up. Our proposals are explicitly temporary. We propose a oneyear, US$200 billion tax refund to support household spending, with rebate checks of about US$1,200 for a couple and an additional US$600 a child sent

An additional US$50 billion would go to fiscal relief for states. This would offset some of the economic drag from their cuts but not erase all budget gaps or remove state governments’ incentives to reach sustainable levels of spending and revenue. Finally, we propose to extend the legislative patch that prevents the alternativeminimum tax from hitting tens of millions of households and the Medicare “doc fix” that averts sharp cuts in payments to doctors serving senior citizens. We also advocate turning off the sequester put in place in August 2011 that means some US$100 billion in automatic spending cuts. The AMT patch and the doc fix both will be extended under any future fiscal package and aren’t entangled in political conflicts. The spending sequester likewise is opposed by all sides. We think it can be turned off without taking a position on the disagreement over tax rates. All of these proposals together reduce the contraction from the cliff by US$300 billion and add US$300 billion to offset the rest of the fiscal tightening and provide the economy with a near-term stimulus. We look to support the recovery and to provide time for a grand bargain to be negotiated on taxes and spending to ensure long-term fiscal sustainability. At the same time, this isn’t a “least common denominator” approach; the fiscal cliff isn’t avoided, as tax rates rise and expenditures decrease in ways that are painful for people of all political persuasions. This is an outcome preferred by none. Yet it is better than a stalemate that threatens recession. Bloomberg View

editorial council Paulo A. Azevedo, Tiago Azevedo, Duncan Davidson, Emanuel Graça Founder & Publisher Paulo A. Azevedo | pazevedo@macaubusinessdaily.com Editor-in-Chief Tiago Azevedo DEputy Editor-in-Chief Vitor Quintã Associated editor Michael Grimes Newsdesk Alex Lee, Stephanie Lai, Tony Lai Creative Director José Manuel Cardoso Designer Janne Louhikari Contributors Frederico Rato, José I. Duarte, Pereira Coutinho, Ricardo Siu, Rose N. Lai, Zen Udani Photography Carmo Correia, John Si, Manuel Cardoso Assistant to the publisher Laurentina da Silva | ltinas@macaubusinessdaily.com office manager Elsa Vong | elsav@macaubusinessdaily.com Agencies Bloomberg, Reuters, AFP, Xinhua, Lusa, Project Syndicate Printed in Macau by Welfare Ltd.

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December 10, 2012 business daily | 15

OPINION Business

wires

The false promise of a euro zone budget

Leading reports from Asia’s best business newspapers

Daniel Gros

Asahi Shimbun

Japan’s Cabinet Office has downgraded its assessment of Japanese business conditions from “showing downward changes” in September to “worsening” in October, according to a preliminary report released last Friday. It is the first time since the period from June 2008 to April 2009 that “worsening” was used in the assessment, which is based on corporate activities. Of the indexes of business conditions in October, the coincident index, which tracks current business conditions, stood at 90.6 against the base of 100 for 2005. It showed a drop of 0.9 point from September.

Korea Herald The South Korean government is likely to cut its 2013 estimate for economic growth to the 3-percent range as downside risks at home and abroad will weigh on the economy, officials said yesterday. The government earlier forecast that the economy would grow 4 percent next year, much rosier than outlooks presented by the central bank and private think tanks. “I think that we have to consider the weak growth in the third quarter [in adjusting the growth forecast]. The government is taking into accounts a set of downside risks,” a senior official at the finance ministry was quoted as saying.

Bangkok Post Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) finally issued third-generation (3G) licences to the three bid winners on Saturday after investigations into the auction lasted almost two months. The licences for the 2.1-gigahertz band took effect immediately, running for 15 years to December 2027. The telecom watchdog stipulated the three winners must slash charges for voice and data services by at least 15 percent before they can start providing 3G service.

Jakarta Post Several publicly listed developers arepreparingfor furtherexpansion next year to take advantage of predicted higher demand for residential areas, offices and retail space in Indonesia. PT Agung Podomoro Land is aiming to acquire up to three more projects before the end of the year in an attempt to maintain its future revenue levels following the sale of most of its units. Meanwhile, PT Sentul City intends to introduce three new projects next year, according to chief operating officer Bob Mok.

Director of the Centre for European Policy Studies

key question confronts the four presidents of Europe’s major institutions (the European Commission, the European Council, the European Central Bank, and the Eurogroup) as they prepare their report on how to reform the common currency: Does the euro zone need its own budget? They are facing the argument that the United States’ monetary union works much better because there is a large federal budget to smooth the impact of asymmetric shocks – that is, shocks to individual states. The euro zone, it is claimed, should have its own budget to provide similarly automatic insurance to its members. This argument, however, misreads the U.S. experience. True, in the U.S., as in most existing federal states, the federal budget redistributes income across regions, thus offsetting at least part of the interregional differences in income. But, while this has been repeatedly documented in many cases, the inference that redistribution is equivalent to a shock absorber is wrong. For example, in the U.S., the federal budget offsets a substantial part (estimated at 30-40 percent) of the differences in per capita income levels across states, because poorer states contribute less income tax, on average, and receive higher transfer payments. But this does not imply that these mechanisms also provide insurance against shocks (sudden changes in income for individual states). Many of the transfers from the federal government – especially basic social support like food stamps – vary little with the local business cycle. On the revenue side, the degree to which federal taxation absorbs shocks at the state level cannot be very large for the simple reason that the main source of federal revenues that does react to the business cycle, the federal income tax, accounts for less than 10 percent of GDP. The low sensitivity of both federal expenditure and federal revenues to local businesscycle conditions explains why only a small fraction (estimated at about 10-15 percent) of any shock to the GDP of any individual state is absorbed via automatic transfers to and from the U.S. federal budget.

Misleading experience One idea that has been mooted repeatedly in Europe is to create some European, or at least euro zone, unemployment insurance fund. This idea is attractive at first sight. But here, too, the reference to the U.S. experience is misleading. In the U.S., unemployment insurance is organised at

the state level. The federal government intervenes only in the case of major nationwide recessions and provides some supplementary benefits for the long-term unemployed. But this support is given to all states and thus does not provide those most affected with much more support than the others receive. Moreover, unemployment benefits are not as important as is often assumed. In most countries, they amount to only about 2-3 percent of GDP, even during a major recession. In the U.S., the annual supplementary federal expenditure has amounted to only about 1 percent of GDP in recent years. It is thus clear that a euro zone unemployment insurance system would never be able to offset major shocks, such as those hitting Ireland or Greece, where GDP has shrunk by more than 10 percent. The case of Spain illustrates another feature of European economies that makes it difficult to argue for a federal unemployment scheme. Spanish unemployment is now close to 30 percent, which a priori should be a good justification for some form of shock absorber. But Spanish unemployment has typically been consistently higher than the euro zone average, and fell to single-digit levels only as a result of an unsustainable building boom. Any common euro zone unemployment scheme would thus risk financing the long-term unemployment created by rigid national labour-market institutions, which for decades have proved impervious to reforms.

Under stress All in all, it is difficult to base the argument for some euro zone shock absorber on

the U.S. experience. But how can one explain the fact that the global financial crisis led to no regional banking crises in the U.S., whereas several euro zone countries’ banking systems are under such stress that their governments have had to rescue them (and then be rescued in turn by the euro zone’s bailout fund)?

The euro’s longterm stability depends far more on completing plans for a European banking union than it does on creating some new budget for the euro zone

This reflects another aspect of U.S. arrangements that, again, is not widely appreciated. The U.S. “banking union” provides tangible insurance against local financial shocks. For example, the local real-estate boom and bust in Nevada was as severe as that in Spain or Ireland. But, in Nevada, which is similar in size to Ireland, the local banking system’s losses were absorbed to a large extent by U.S. “banking union” institutions, particularly the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the federal mortgage-refinancing agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. For Nevada, such support can be estimated at 10-20 percent of its “national” income. Ireland would certainly be in much better shape if it had received a similar transfer. This leads to a simple conclusion: The euro’s longterm stability depends far more on completing plans for a European banking union than it does on creating some new budget for the euro zone. © Project Syndicate

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business daily December 10, 2012

CLOSING JPMorgan asks staff to help fund tax bill

Apple-Google team up for Kodak patents

JPMorgan Chase & Co. asked more than 2,000 current and former employees to contribute to a settlement with the United Kingdom’s tax authority over an offshore trust for bonus payments, according to a person briefed on the situation. Employees were asked to help fund a payment of at least a few hundred million pounds if they want to settle the case, the person said. The bank and workers may pay about 500 million pounds (US$802 million) total, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

Apple Inc. and Google Inc. have joined forces to offer more than US$500 million to buy some of Eastman Kodak Co.’s 1,100 imaging patents out of bankruptcy, said people familiar with the situation. Unlikely partnerships are typical in patent sales because they allow competitors to neutralise potential infringement litigation. The 132-year-old Kodak is selling these patents to fund a turnaround while pursuing a plan to shrink the company and focus less on photography and more on commercial, packaging and functional printing and enterprise services.

MGM Resorts eyes refinance With lending costs lower, casino operator wants to reduce heavy interest burden

GM Resorts International is seeking US$4 billion (31.9 billion patacas) in loans and on Friday sold US$1.25 billion of senior notes as the casino operator works to refinance its outstanding obligations. The company issued 6.625 percent bonds maturing in December 2021 that pay 525 basis points more than similar-maturity Treasuries, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Proceeds will help fund the repurchase of senior secured debt and refinance its existing senior credit facility, Las Vegas-based MGM said in a regulatory filing. MGM, which began a tender offer for about US$3.1 billion of outstanding secured debt, was also meeting with lenders during the weekend to discuss the loans, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction. MGM shares increased 10 percent, the most since August 24, 2011, to US$10.97 in New York trading. The transaction will reduce MGM’s interest burden by trimming high-coupon debt and improve its

ability to generate cash, according to report from Standard & Poor’s, which on Friday boosted the company’s credit rating to B+, four levels below investment grade. “It’s very important for the company,” said John Kempf, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets LLC. “They’re able to refinance and generate free cash flow.” MGM’s subsidiary MGM China Holdings Ltd, a joint venture with Macau businesswoman Pansy Ho Chiu King, has won a Cotai land grant and is planning to develop a HK$20 billion casino resort. The loan financing will consist of a US$1.5 billion term portion B, a US$1.25 billion term loan A and US$1.25 billion revolving line of credit, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. MGM will pay interest at 3.75 percentage points more than the London interbank offered rate for the US$1.5 billion term portion B, the person added. “They’re taking out very highpriced debt taken on at the peak of the

MGM is planning a HK$20 billion casino resort for Cotai

financial crisis and refinancing at much lower cost,” said Robert LaFleur, a gaming analyst with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. “It’s pretty significant.” MGM had about US$12 billion of bonds outstanding before Friday’s sale, US$4.9 billion of which come due before 2016, Bloomberg data show. The securities had an average

ECB sees recession ending in 2014 Bigger economies to recover sooner but others to take longer, says official The European Central Bank predicts the euro-area economy will shrink 0.3 percent next year

ll euro-area countries will post positive economic growth in 2014 as policy measures help pull nations out of recession, European Central Bank vice president Vítor Constâncio said. Core economies in the euro region such as Germany and France will

recover sooner, enjoying growth in the second half of next year, while it takes those with deeper economic contractions longer to improve, Mr Constâncio told reporters in Santiago after participating in a meeting of policy makers from Europe and Latin America.

“Countries under stress will continue next year their adjustment policies,” he said. “It’s true that the recovery from mid-next year will be initially mostly in the core countries of Europe, but for 2014 the situation will be different because we expect all countries will

maturity of 4.3 years and paid an 8 percent coupon. “The proposed transaction will allow us to significantly lower our cost of borrowing while enhancing our maturity profile,” Alan Feldman, an MGM spokesman, said in an e-mail. Bloomberg News

enjoy some growth.” The Frankfurt-based institution cut its economic forecasts on Thursday, with president Mario Draghi saying economic weakness will continue into 2013. The European Central Bank predicts the euro-area economy will shrink 0.3 percent next year, from an earlier forecast of 0.5 percent growth. Risks to the outlook remain on the downside, Mr Draghi said, adding the economy should pick up later in 2013. Germany, which is the euro-area’s biggest economy, will grow 1 percent in 2013 and 1.5 percent the following year, according to the median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Spanish gross domestic product will shrink 1.5 percent next year before expanding 0.5 percent in 2014, the surveys show. Spain has tapped 100 billion euros (US$129 billion) of aid for its banks, and the government is deliberating whether to call on Europe’s rescue fund to help shore up its own accounts. The country’s efforts to curb its deficit “hardly advanced” in the first eight months of 2012, the European Commission said on November 7. On Friday Bank of Spain governor Luis Maria Linde admitted the country could miss its budget deficit target this year, just a week after the government announced it would hold pension payments flat to curb outlays. Bloomberg News/Reuters