Declaration, no disclosure for Hengqin officials’ assets
’55 pct’ of LVS EBITDA from Macau in Q4
Year I Number 290 Wednesday January 30, 2013 Editor-in-chief Tiago Azevedo Deputy editor-in-chief Vitor Quintã MOP 6.00 www.macaubusinessdaily.com
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Melco Crown to issue new bonds, buy back older debt
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Waste tender plan ‘harming public interest’ A
fter a two-years wait, the authorities finally launched a tender for Macau’s solid waste management services. But by doing so during the Christmas and Lunar New Year season, they could be pushing away bidders and harming the public interest, a critic says. The tender is also criticised for lacking the usual anti-corruption assessment and for banning consortia involving Macau firms pairing with international companies. Industry insiders feel the requirements could benefit the current operator, Macau Waste Systems. Several former directors of the company were sentenced for corruption as part of the scandal involving former government secretary Ao Man Long. More on page 3
I SSN 2226-8294
HANG SENG INDEX 23700
Factory rents hit performing groups
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With all other property covered by the special stamp duty, some speculators have turned to the still-exempt industrial premises as investments. Rents in that property segment went up by 20 percent last year and are expected to keep rising in 2013. It could be a blow to Macau’s performing groups in particular. Many of them cannot afford to rent other kinds of space. Page 2
Gambling revenue heads for 11 pct January rise Gross gaming revenue for January is tracking at 10 to 11 percent growth year-on-year, suggests a trio of analysts. That would mean a monthly tally of up to 27.9 billion patacas (US$3.49 billion) for the Macau market. A preview of January’s HSBC China Purchasing Managers’ Index – an indicator of manufacturing activity – released last week, suggests the best performance since January 2011. Page 5
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January 29
HSI - MOVERS Name
%Day
BELLE INTERNATIO
2.72
Yuan appreciation hits Macau-owned mainland firms
KUNLUN ENERGY CO
2.31
HONG KG CHINA GS
1.86
CHINA RES LAND
1.72
SANDS CHINA LTD
1.60
NEW WORLD DEV
-1.21
WHARF HLDG
-1.36
SINO LAND CO
-1.97
WANT WANT CHINA
-2.06
Mainland-based companies owned by entrepreneurs from Macau and beyond generally saw their revenues rise but their profits fall last year. A slowing in the Chinese economy last year was only part of the reason. Macau Chamber of Commerce blames some of the anomaly on the negative impact of yuan appreciation against the pataca. Macau investors in mainland manufacturing mainly focus on clothing and food processing.
IND & COMM BK-H
-2.18
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Source: Bloomberg
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business daily January 30, 2013
macau
Performing artists squeezed by high factory space rents Rising rents for industrial premises threaten to make the city’s performing groups homeless Stephanie Lai
Owners are either holding industrial units to wait for a higher transaction price, or pushing up rents Vincent Cheang Chi Tat, president of the Live Music Association
sw.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com
If the owner decides the lease has to be terminated, we have to go Lei Hon Cheong, chief operator of Village Macau
be terminated, we have to go,” said Mr Lei.
Limited choice
Many creative enterprises and performing groups occupy industrial premises
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ents for industrial premises, the only kind of property exempt from the special stamp duty, rose on average of 20 percent last year, an estate agent and tenants say. The exemption from the special stamp duty allows speculators to drive up prices and rents for industrial space, creative enterprises and performing groups say. In October, to curb property speculation, the government imposed a special stamp duty of 20 percent on the sale of offices, shops and parking spaces if the seller has owned the property for less than a year, or 10 percent if the seller has owned the property for more than one year but
less than two. “A transaction price of 4 million patacas [US$500,000] for an industrial unit in 2007 has risen to almost 10 times that now,” said the president of the Live Music Association, Vincent Cheang Chi Tat. The not-for-profit association leases 5,000 square feet of floor space in an industrial building in Avenida do Coronel Mesquita. It will have to look for a new home this autumn, as the owner will not renew the lease. “The type of place that we are looking for now, covering about 5,000 square feet, will cost at least 30,000 patacas per month in rent,” said Mr Cheang.
Health and safety construction fines soar
T Despite fewer construction site inspections, fines were up last year
he number of occupational health and safety offences detected in Macau’s construction industry almost doubled last year, official data show. During 2012 the Labour Affairs Bureau opened 48 investigations after construction site inspections, up from just 25 probes in the previous year.
“Now we are already paying more than 20,000 patacas in rent for our space,” he said. “Owners are either holding industrial units to wait for a higher transaction prices, or pushing up rents,” he said. Village Macau holds regular parties, small concerts and photo shoots in a Patane industrial building. The rent the enterprise pays has risen by 30 percent in the past year. The chief operator of Village Macau, Lei Hon Cheong, said other cultural and creative enterprises that were tenants in the building were in a similar predicament. “We are in quite a passive position. If the owner decides the lease has to
It was also the highest number of offences reported since the bureau’s occupational health and safety department began publishing data in 2009. All of last year’s cases ended with the bureau imposing a fine – just like in 2011 –, even though two of the contractors appealed against the decision. The fines imposed in 2012 reached a total of 187,000 patacas (US$23,400), up from 120,000 patacas the previous year, the data released last week show. However, this figure is still far from the 208,500 patacas in fines recorded for just 20 offences in 2009. Occupational health and safety fines ranges between 1,000 and 12,000
For performing groups and creative enterprises, leasing industrial premises is the best option as they are bigger than other kinds of premises and less costly to rent. Mr Cheang and Mr Lei said no better kinds of premises were available. “Rental values and lease terms for shop space are much worse than for industrial buildings,” said the executive director of Theatre Farmers, Jacky Li Chun Kit. Theatre Farmers is housed in an Areia Preta industrial building. Mr Lei said: “Unless art groups are given a specially assigned space such as defunct buildings or schools, like in Singapore, we will have to continue to accept unstable lease terms for using space in private property.” The senior regional sales director of Centaline (Macau) Property Agency Ltd, Ho Sio Hang, predicted that rents for industrial space would rise by 10 percent to 20 percent this year. “I do not think the rental level rise this year for industrial space will be a big one, as the base for transaction volume is low,” said Mr Ho. Mr Cheang of the Live Music Association hopes the government will take measures to curb speculation in industrial property. “I do not see why the government is not closing the loophole by extending the special stamp duty to industrial units as well, as this sector has now become an object of speculation,” he said.
patacas but the bureau also has the power to suspend the construction works in particularly serious cases. There were more fines imposed last year even though the authorities carried out fewer on-site inspections: 7,105 checks, down by 3.5 percent from 2011. On the other hand, the number of recommendations issued by the bureau to the 1,435 construction site inspected rose by 11.2 percent to 2,961. Up to mid-December eight people had died in construction work-related accidents, up from 10 during the whole of 2011, the bureau said last month, quoted by Portuguese-language newspaper Tribuna de Macau. V.Q.
January 30, 2013 business daily | 3
MACAU CSR has been Macau’s solid waste manager since before the 1999
Trash collection tender lacks graft safeguards Unusual provisions in the rules for tendering for a new contract to collect the city’s rubbish are putting off potential bidders Vítor Quintã
vitorquinta@macaubusinessdaily.com
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ith less than three weeks left for companies to bid for a contract worth 2 billion patacas (US$250 million) to manage the city’s solid waste, unusual provisions in the tender rules have limited the interest shown. For instance, according to a notice published on December 26, criteria that bidders must meet to reduce the risk of corruption, which are typically found in the rules for big public tenders, are absent from the rules for the tender for the solid waste management contract. The Environmental Protection Bureau, which in
There should be criteria to measure … the bidders’ ethics, such as whether they were involved in any corruption case Johnny Chan Veng Un, vice-president of the Public Utilities Concern Association
charge of the tender, included such criteria in the rules for its last two big tenders, including the tender in 2010 for the contract to run the hazardous waste treatment plant. The Infrastructure Estimated minimum Development Office bid for the new included a similar provision, meant to waste management ensure a bidder’s contract ”integrity and honesty”, in the rules for its last 25 tenders. Compliance with this the public can still have other provision counted for 12 means to oversee operators.” percent to 15 percent of a Consortiums banned bidder’s final score. The Transportation People in the industry Infrastructure Office’s rules say the omission of an antifor eight of the nine tenders for the Light Rapid Transit graft provision from the rules elevated railway also took for the tender for the solid into account a bidder’s waste management contract gives the impression that corruption record. The Commission Against the government is favouring Corruption said in a in a the present waste manager, written reply to questions Macau Waste Systems Co from Business Daily that it Ltd (CSR). CSR is a joint venture of had no comment on whether Hong Kong’s Swire SITA the rules for all public tenders should have anti-corruption Waste Services Ltd and Macau’s H. Nolasco Group. provisions. A director of H. Nolasco, The vice-president of the Public Utilities Concern Frederico Marques Nolasco Association, Johnny Chan da Silva, and two former CSR Veng Un, said: “There should directors were imprisoned for be criteria to measure … bribing Ao Man Long when the bidders’ ethics, such as he was secretary for transport whether they were involved and public works. CSR and Swire SITA in any corruption case, have hired illegal workers or owe declined to say whether they would bid for the new solid outstanding tax.” But he played down any waste management contract. The tender rules require absence of such criteria, saying: “The government or all bidders to be Macau
MOP2 billion
companies and prohibit consortiums from bidding – another uncommon provision. Consortiums of small Macau companies and big foreign companies have won several big contracts in recent years, including contracts to run the solid waste incinerator and the sewage treatment plant in the Zhuhai-Macau Cross-border Industrial Park. Industry insiders say banning consortiums prevents the transfer of knowledge to Macau companies and the development of synergy that could reduce costs and improve service. Mr Chan said the government should explain “more clearly” the ban on bids by consortiums. “Is it due to the fact that the operator must be very familiar with the situation of Macau, or for other reasons?” he asked.
Little interest The government invited bids for the new solid waste management contract on December 26, just after Christmas, and bids must be submitted on or before February 18, just after Lunar New Year. “Somewhat inappropriate” is Mr Chan’s description of the choice of these dates. “This will give interested bidders less time to consider and prepare proposals, turning some of them away from the process,” he said. “So there will probably be fewer bidders, which means fewer choices,” he said. “In this way, it has harmed the public interest,” he said. Companies contacted by Business Daily said they were uninterested in the bidding. The Environmental Protection Bureau refused to disclose how many companies had bought the tender programme, saying that to do so would impinge on “the impartiality and fairness of the tender procedures”.
Business Daily later asked the bureau why the rules lacked an anti-graft provision and banned consortiums, and why the tender process was being conducted during the holiday season, but had received no reply by the time we went to press.
Gilded garbage The new 10-year solid waste management contract the government intends to award could be worth at least 2 billion patacas (US$250 million), according to the tender programme. That figure is much more than the 1.4 billion patacas that the present waste manager, Macau Waste Systems Co Ltd (CSR), has received since 2006. CSR’s contract had been due to expire in September 2011, but it was extended twice, the last time until March this year, because the Environmental Protection Bureau was preparing “stricter and more cautious contractual provisions”, the bureau says in a written reply to questions from Business Daily. The new waste manager will have to be more environmentfriendly, make assessments of the quality of its service and provide indicators of service quality, the bureau says. The bureau’s deputy director, Vong Man Hung, told reporters last week that the new contract would also mandate gradual expansion of recycling arrangements, including the introduction of glass recycling. The bureau says in its reply to our questions that the new waste manager will also have to keep on all the old waste manager’s employees, giving them the same pay and benefits, and create a pension scheme for them.
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business daily January 30, 2013
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HOSPITALITY Stable order There was almost no growth in the number of visitors last year. On average, 220 extra arrived every day last year, barely noticeable among the 77,000 visitors that entered the city each day. Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, in that order, are firmly established as three biggest sources of visitors. Last year roughly 60 percent of visitors came from the mainland, 25 percent from Hong Kong and 4 percent from Taiwan. The next-biggest sources of visitors are South Korea and Japan, not necessarily in that order. Last year 1.6 percent of visitors came from South Korea and 1.4 percent from Japan. No other country was the source of more than 1 percent of visitors. The biggest source of visitors outside Asia was the United States, the only one to rise over the 0.5 percent threshold. The order of importance of the lesser sources of visitors may change from time to time, but this pattern seems well established.
Strong yuan pares Macau firms’ profits in mainland The economic slowdown in mainland China shrinks the profits of non-mainland industrial companies operating there, including Macau firms Tony Lai
tony.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com
Most Macau industrial companies operating in the mainland make clothes or food
T
The mainland was the source of the fastestgrowing number of visitors last year, although the number of mainland tourists rose more slowly than in 2011. The falls in the numbers of visitors from Hong Kong and Taiwan is worrying. The falls may be a sign that people in Hong Kong and Taiwan are tiring of Macau and are deterred by worsening congestion and rising high prices here. South Korea was one of the few sources of visitors that sent us more tourists last year than in 2011. The political tension between Japan and China may deter potential tourists from Japan and result in South Korea consolidating its position as our fourth-biggest source of visitors in the near future. J.I.D.
he appreciation of the yuan and surges in raw material and labour costs cut the profits of Macau industrial companies operating in mainland China last year, according to the Macau Chamber of Commerce. The combined revenues of nonmainland industrial enterprises –including Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan companies – amounted to 22.1 trillion yuan (28.1 trillion patacas) last year, 5.4 percent more than in 2011. But their combined net profits fell by 4.1 percent to 1.2 trillion yuan, data released yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics show. This performance was much weaker than 2011, when the combined revenues of non-mainland industrial enterprises grew by nearly one-fifth and their combined net profits grew by 10.6 percent. The National Bureau of Statistics does not give separate data on Macau industrial companies. The vice-president of the Macau Chamber of Commerce, Vong Kok Seng, believes the profit slump was due to slower economic growth in the mainland last year.
The combined profits of all industrial enterprises in the mainland grew by just 5.3 percent to 5.6 trillion yuan last year, having grown by 25.4 percent in 2011. The mainland’s gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 7.8 percent last year, the slowest since 1999, according to China’s official news agency, Xinhua.
Even if they had more revenue last year, this still cannot compensate companies for skyrocketing expenses Vong Kok Seng, Macau Chamber of Commerce vice-president
But Mr Vong thinks the appreciation of the yuan played the most important part in the decline of last year’s profits for Macau industrial companies operating in the mainland. “Expenditure by Macau companies has increased greatly in the past few years because of the higher exchange rate, which helps push up raw material and labour costs,” he told Business Daily. “Even if they had more revenue last year, this still cannot compensate companies for skyrocketing expenses,” he said. Mr Vong said the stronger yuan puts at a disadvantage companies that do business in the mainland in currencies other than the yuan. Monetary Authority of Macau data show the yuan bought 1.28 patacas yesterday, 1 percent more than a year ago. The mainland and Macau governments will not say how many Macau companies operate in the mainland. Mr Vong said the number was not small. He said most operated in Guangdong, because the province was next door and economically important. “Most of them belong to the apparel sector, which was once a strong industry in Macau. There are also more food processing establishments, as Macau has been developing quite well in this segment in recent times,” he said. Mr Vong thinks the yuan will strengthen further this year, putting more pressure on Macau companies operating in the mainland. He is also worried that inflation there may rebound. The annual rate of consumer price inflation in the mainland fell to 2.6 percent last year from 5.4 percent in 2011. But inflation was higher last month than economists had expected, according to Bloomberg.
January 30, 2013 business daily | 5
MACAU
Gambling revenue heads for 11 pct January rise Monthly tally of up to 27.9 billion patacas, suggest analysts Michael Grimes
michael.grimes@macaubusinessdaily.com
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ross gaming revenue for January is tracking at 10 percent to 11 percent growth year-on-year, suggests a
trio of analysts. That would mean a monthly tally of up to 27.9 billion patacas (US$3.49 billion) for the Macau market.
‘55 pct’ of LVS EBITDA from Macau in Q4 But Union Gaming expects flat performance from Singapore operations
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as Vegas Sands Corp. reports its fourth quarter earnings today, United States time (early tomorrow Macau time). Union Gaming Research in Las Vegas says in a note previewing the results it is looking for quarterly EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) from Macau operations of US$579.4 million (4.63 billion patacas) – around 55 percent of the whole group’s property EBITDA. The Macau operating unit, Sands China Ltd, is 70 percent owned by LVS. Union Gaming is anticipating Singapore’s group wide contribution to be US$370.2 million – roughly 35 percent of total property EBITDA; with Las Vegas operations providing just eight percent at US$86.5 million, and Sands Bethworks in Pennsylvania with just three percent of total property EBITDA at US$24.2 million. The research house is anticipating total group EBITDA of US$986 million That’s down slightly on its previous estimate of US$999 million. It attributes the revision to a likely flat quarter-to-quarter performance at LVS’s Marina Bay
Sands property in Singapore. The Singapore authorities recently issued a number of enforcement actions against the two casino operators in that city in relation to local players. In August 2012 Marina Bay Sands was fined S$357,500 (2.31 million patacas) for offences including waiving the levy for local gamblers according to the Casino Regulatory Authority. Genting Singapore PLC’s Resorts World Sentosa was also ordered to pay S$140,000 for “breaching social safeguard requirements,” according to the Casino Regulatory Authority. The following month Resorts World Sentosa was fined S$600,000 for illegally reimbursing entry fees through promotions including free concert tickets and passes to its Universal Studios theme park, said the CRA. In March last year the CRA issued several licences for International Market Agents – a euphemism for junkets offering credit based VIP play. But it barred the IMAs from having business dealings with Macau junkets and from recruiting “locals” – i.e. Singapore citizens or residents. M.G.
Kenneth Fong of J.P. Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd in Hong Kong and Sean Monaghan of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd in Singapore, both suggest the higher 11 percent expansion. They base the forecast on aggregate revenue of 24.5 billion patacas for the month up to January 27. David Bain of Sterne Agee, an independent brokerage in the United States, opts for 10 percent year-on-year expansion in January, based on aggregate revenue of 23.2 billion patacas through to January 27, producing a tally of 27.6 billion patacas for the month. In all cases the analysts are relying on unofficial industry data rather than official figures released by the regulator here, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. The unofficial data generally exclude gross revenue from slot machines. In the past such industry returns have usually been accurate predictors of year-on-year
performance per month to within 100 basis points. Occasionally however a house ‘hold’ rate on VIP baccarat that is significantly higher or lower than the average – recorded in the final days of the month, before the official numbers are released – can confound the prediction method. With many different styles of money – in terms of investment strategy – taking positions in Macau gaming stocks, the demand for advance intelligence on possible trends in gross gaming revenue performance has increased in recent years. Some analysts, for reasons of due diligence and concern about investor litigation, prefer to steer clear of unofficial performance indicators. Even those analysts that refer to them are careful to point out to clients they are merely a guide, not definitive. “Casino operators generally remain positive on the outlook for 2013 although they want to wait until the Chinese New Year figures come out before they are willing to provide an annual growth estimate,” says Sean Monaghan of HSBC in his note on the January numbers. David Bain of Sterne Agee says Macau VIP gross gaming revenue performance has shown a “90 percent correlation” with China’s GDP performance since the first quarter of 2009. He adds that a preview of January’s HSBC China Purchasing Managers’ Index – an indicator of manufacturing activity – released last week, suggests the best performance since January 2011. That is therefore probably good news for Macau gaming, he adds.
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business daily January 30, 2013
macau
Guangdong’s baby steps on officials’ asset declaration
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Rising prices The annual rate of consumer price inflation was 6.1 percent last year. In 2011 it was 5.8 percent. Inflation last year was lower than figures registered early in the year portended. Over the past two years the consumer price index has risen by over 12.3 percent, a figure that is bound to cause some concern. But in the light of the speed of economic growth over the past two years, that inflation figure is not so daunting.
Look at the prices of the various goods and services in the basket of purchases used in compiling the CPI, and it is immediately clear that the prices of alcoholic drinks and tobacco products rose fastest. That should not cause any official worry. The rise in prices, of about 32 percent, was due to higher taxes and therefore the result of deliberate policy. Anyway, alcohol and tobacco have little weight in the basket and accounted for less than a 0.4 percentage point of inflation over the past two years. The prices of two sorts of purchase rose at rates faster than inflation overall. The prices of food and non-alcoholic drink rose by 17.4 percent and the prices of purchases counted as miscellaneous rose by 15.4 percent. Together, food and drink and miscellaneous purchases make up more than 40 percent of the goods and services in the basket. So they were the main drivers of inflation. The prices of all but one of the other sorts of purchase rose at a rates ranging from 10.2 percent to 12.2 percent, all slower than inflation overall. Communication costs were the exception. They did not rise, but fell by 14.4 percent.
No sign of information on officials’ assets being made available to public Stephanie Lai
sw.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com
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uangdong will enact a property declaration system for officials in three pilot areas after the Lunar New Year, the provincial disciplinary authority said on Monday. The three areas selected for the system’s first trial at a provincial level, include Hengqin Island’s special economic zone as well as Guangzhou’s Nansha district, and Shaoguan’s Shixing county. How the officials will report their assets and how many will have to comply is still being studied, Wang Xingning, deputy secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Commission for Discipline Inspection told media. While the Chinese administration was choosing the three areas to test the system last year, the Guangdong authority sent representatives to visit Hong Kong and Macau to learn about the two region’s anti-graft experiences. And, as early as last April, even before Beijing had made an official decision, Hengqin started a pilot scheme, issuing guidelines on how officials should go about declaring property. The Hengqin administration
collected asset data from officials in several departments, including the judiciary, and their family members, said Wang Yanshi, secretary for the Zhuhai Commission for Discipline Inspection in comments to the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper. The asset declaration system for Hengqin officials covers two categories. The first one requires information on each official’s salary, bonuses, subsidies received, cars, property and securities owned by them or their families. The second covers corporate investments by an official or his or her family.
Limited public access Deputy section chiefs and higher rank officials in Hengqin have complied with this new asset declaration system for nearly four months after the asset information was all collected last August, Wang Yanshi said. According to media reports last year, Hengqin also established a special anti-corruption office in September to help introduce the pilot asset declaration system. The new body includes officials
and experts from the discipline commission as well as departments covering supervision, public security, and taxation. At the moment, there is no standard set of rules for the property declaration systems that will be applied in Nansha, Hengqin and Shixing. While Hengqin has tried out the asset declaration system on officials ranked section deputy chief or above, Nansha is applying the system on officials of higher ranks, starting with division directors. And, even in the test district of Hengqin, the asset information disclosed by officials is only available to other party officials through the government’s intranet computer system. Zheng Zhentao, party chief of Shaoguan, told the media that officials’ asset information would be initially put on the government intranet “for internal inquiries”. Mei Heqing, standing committee member of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Commission for Discipline Inspection said the administration would seek the public’s opinion after the whole pilot project is enacted.
J.I.D. The content of this column is the work of Business Daily’s journalists.
14.4 %
Fall in communication costs since 2010
New property declaration system for Hengqin officials after the Lunar New Year (Photo: Manuel Cardoso)
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MACAU
Melco Crown to issue M US$1 bln in new bonds Buying back existing debt and seeking lifting of ‘restrictive’ covenants Michael Grimes
michael.grimes@macaubusinessdaily.com
MCE co-chairman Lawrence Ho Yau Lung
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acau casino developer and operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd is to issue up to US$1 billion (eight billion patacas) in new three-year bonds with a coupon of 5.25 percent and use the proceeds to buy back some of its existing, higher interest debt. Approval in principle has been received for the listing of the new senior notes on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd, said a company filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Nasdaq during Monday U.S. time. The new notes will not be guaranteed directly by MCE but “by certain of MCE Finance’s subsidiaries,” added the filing. Melco Crown’s total debt at the end of the third quarter of 2012 was US$2.4 billion, and total net debt to shareholders’ equity as of September 30, 2012 was seven percent according to the firm’s unaudited third quarter 2012 results. In the latest exercise MCE plans to repurchase in full US$600 million existing senior notes bearing 10.25 percent interest. The notes were issued in May 2010 by Melco Crown Finance Ltd – itself a unit of MCE – and were due to mature in 2018. The new bond sale will also be used for the partial repayment of 2.3 billion yuan (US$364.9 million) in bonds yielding 3.75 percent interest issued by MCE in May 2011 and due in 2013. Investors’ appetite for funding project debt for casino developers with their main operations in Macau has increased significantly in the past few months as China’s economy has
gathered new momentum and gross gaming revenues have returned to healthy year-on-year growth – of 30 percent plus in the case of the mass market. That, combined with a new round of casino building on Cotai, has led some operators to revisit their current financing arrangements as well as looking at new near-term requirements. Some are restructuring existing debt in cases where that debt was originally purchased under more restrictive conditions in a more bearish market. The company said in another U.S. filing issued on Monday U.S. time it was seeking consent from holders of the existing U.S. dollar bonds to ease “restrictive covenants” (conditions) on them. MCE’s Nasdaq-listed stock hit a 52-week high in New York on January 4. A number of analysts have been increasingly bullish about the firm’s prospects in Macau, where it operates the City of Dreams resort on Cotai and Altira Macau, a VIP-focused casino hotel in nearby Taipa, and is constructing the 60 percent-owned Studio City site after taking it over from other investors in 2011. Some analysts also see positive news in MCE’s too close decision to enter the Philippines market by joining forces with local firm Belle Corporation on the US$1 billion Belle Grande Manila Bay project. MCE is due to release its fourth quarter and full year results for 2012 on February 6. MCE’s Nasdaq-listed stock closed at US$20.06 in New York in Monday trading, down 1.62 percent.
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business daily January 30, 2013
GREATER CHINA Gome expects 2012 loss on slowdown Gome Electrical Appliances Holding Ltd, China’s second-largest electronics retailer, said it probably posted a loss last year after rents rose and slowing economic growth in China damped consumer demand. More investment in the company’s e-commerce business also contributed to the loss, Beijing-based Gome said in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday. The company said an economic rebound in China is expected to create new market opportunities. The company reported a net loss of 686.7 million yuan (US$110 million) for the first nine month of last year, compared with a profit of 1.79 billion yuan a year earlier.
Shanghai’s stock index Shares reach highest levels since mid-2012 Weiyi Lim
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We are expecting urbanisation to pick up pace and there are hopes for more liquidity in the stock market. This rally should continue Deng Wenyuan, Soochow Securities Co.
hina’s stocks rose, sending the benchmark index into a bull market, on optimism over the outlook for the nation’s economy. Financial and energy shares led gains. The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.5 percent to 2,358.98 at the close, extending its advance since December 3 to 20 percent, a threshold signalling a bull market to some investors. Haitong Securities Co., the secondbiggest listed brokerage jumped 7.3 percent, leading a rally for financial shares. Shanxi Lu’an Environmental Energy Development Co. surged 3.1 percent as oil traded near the highest level in four months in New York. Chinese stocks have rallied since approaching a four-year low last month on signs of an economic recovery and a government pledge to bolster urban development will boost growth. A government report showed on Monday industrial companies’ profits jumped 17.3 percent last month. A preliminary reading for a Purchasing Managers’ Index last week showed manufacturing expanded at
the fastest rate in two years. “The economic is recovering and this is the year of reforms by new leaders, so there are a lot of expectations,” Deng Wenyuan, an analyst at Soochow Securities Co., said. “We are expecting urbanisation to pick up pace and there are hopes for more liquidity in the stock market. This rally should continue.” The CSI 300 Index advanced 0.9 percent to 2,675.87 yesterday and is up 27 percent since December 3. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slid 0.3 percent yesterday. The Shanghai Composite exited its longest-ever bear market. A 756-day stretch without a 20 percent gain from November 8, 2010, through December 3 is the longest on record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Birinyi Associates Inc. The gauge fell 38 percent during the period.
Financials rally The Shanghai index surged 15 percent last month, the most since July 2009, after the government
Scramble for mines spurs first railway dollar bond Government seen encouraging investment in resources
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hina Railway Group Ltd is selling its first dollardenominated notes, funding faster transport links to mines across the world at record-low borrowing costs. The nation’s biggest rail builder by assets will seek projects in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America, where “natural resources are abundant,” and is already building a railway in Venezuela, according to its bond marketing materials and website. The company’s 2017 yuan bonds yield 5.43 percent. Asian corporate bonds in dollars yield an average 3.84 percent after falling to a record low of 3.77 percent this month, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes. The government is encouraging
investment in resources to fuel the world’s fastest-growing economy through projects including China Railway’s 472-kilometre line in Venezuela and 320-kilometre link in Ethiopia. The rail builder and Hainan Airlines Co. are among Chinese companies contributing to record offerings this year, helping to diversify dollar bonds from the nation’s borrowers that are dominated by developers. “The fact that we’re seeing a number of these other sectors is encouraging, and speaks to the fact that, as an emerging market, China and the rest of Asia will see this kind of diversity of issuance over a period of time,” Sabita Prakash, head of Asian fixed income at FIL Ltd, said about the dollar-bond market. “If
Rail builder seeks projects in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America
you have the wherewithal to do the research and chose the names, it could be a good opportunity.” Developers have led sales of dollar bonds by Chinese companies this year, selling 85 percent of the US$7 billion debt offered by the nation’s corporates as of January 25, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. China Railway Group is
marketing 10-year dollar notes to yield about 220 basis points more than similar-maturity Treasuries, a person familiar with the matter said yesterday, asking not to be identified because the terms aren’t set. That compares with the average 252 basis point premium on securities in the currency sold in Asia, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. indexes. Bloomberg News
January 30, 2013 business daily | 9
GREATER CHINA Credit Suisse to sublet at HK skyscraper Credit Suisse Group AG is seeking to sublet as much as 64,000 square feet of office space in Hong Kong’s tallest skyscraper, as prime office vacancies rise in the city amid job cuts by global financial services companies. The Zurich-based bank is looking for tenants to take up two floors at the International Commerce Centre in West Kowloon, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Rental of prime offices in Hong Kong’s Central business district will extend last year’s decline until at least the end of the first half, property broker CBRE Group Inc. has said.
x enters bull market
Caterpillar considers ‘all options’ as Chinese probe continues
C
said it would spend more on urban development to drive economic growth. Li Keqiang, due to replace Wen Jiabao as premier in March, is championing urbanisation as a new growth engine that will boost incomes and consumption. The Shanghai measure is trading at 13 times reported earnings, the highest level since May. Average trading volumes in the index were 13 percent higher than the 30-day average today. Its 30-day volatility was at 17.8 on Monday, compared with last year’s average of 17.1. A gauge of financial stocks including banks, brokerages, insurers and developers rose 1.7 percent yesterday, the most among 10 industry groups. The sub-index has rallied 38 percent since December 3, the biggest gain among the groups. Citic Securities Co., the largestlisted brokerage, jumped 4.3 percent to 14.96 yuan. Haitong Securities Co., the second-biggest, rose 7.3 percent to 11.81 yuan for a twoday gain of 16 percent. Brokerages rallied yesterday after regulators
announced an expansion in the number of stocks available for short selling and margin trading. China may let individual investors in Taiwan invest in Chinese stocks and bonds, Taiwan’s Economic Daily News reported yesterday, citing Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. The CSRC has expanded foreign investor quotas to buy stocks, cut trading fees and pushed companies to increase dividends since Mr Guo became chairman in 2011. Hong Kong shares came off the previous day’s 20-month high yesterday, as weakness in heavyweight Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, following a US$1 billion stake sale by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., offset strength in its smaller rivals. The Hang Seng Index inched down 0.1 percent to 23,655.2, slipping from its highest closing levels since May 31, 2011. The China Enterprises Index of the top Chinese listings in Hong Kong fell 0.2 percent. Bloomberg News
aterpillar Inc., the largest maker of construction and mining equipment, said it’s considering “all options” to recover losses from false accounting at a Chinese business that led to a US$580 million writedown. The company is also seeing how it can hold those responsible to account for the “multiyear, coordinated accounting misconduct,” chairman and chief executive Doug Oberhelman said on Monday U.S. time. “We are not done,” Mr Oberhelman said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings conference call with analysts. “We are putting in more effort to finish our investigation.” Caterpillar, which revealed the discrepancy on January 18, said it first became concerned about issues at its Zhengzhou Siwei Mechanical & Electrical Manufacturing Co. unit after a count of physical inventory. That assessment took place in November, a month after Caterpillar completed its purchase of Siwei’s parent ERA Mining Machinery Ltd for HK$6.15 billion (US$793 million). The takeover was Caterpillar’s largest Asian deal and among US$10.3 billion of acquisitions announced by Mr Oberhelman since
he became CEO in 2010. Caterpillar says it has replaced the management at Siwei, which makes hydraulic roof supports used in underground coal mining. The U.S. company said it doesn’t comment on pending or potential litigation. “When we put our own team in place, the way we operate, we get to the bottom of it,” chief financial officer Brad Halverson said. Those responsible “purposefully misled their auditors and us”. Fourth-quarter net income fell 55 percent to US$697 million, or US$1.04 a share, from US$1.55 billion, or US$2.32 a year earlier, Caterpillar said. Excluding the 87-cent-a-share writedown and a tax benefit, earnings were US$1.46. Caterpillar said it doesn’t expect the problems at Siwei to have a “significant impact” on 2013 profit and revenue, which it forecast at US$60 billion to US$68 billion. China is “a very important market now, and as we look to the future, we expect it to become even more significant,” Mr Oberhelman said on the call. “While the industries we serve in China are significant, it doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges.” Bloomberg News
Pollution shrouds Chinese capital Residents told to stay inside as hazardous smog hits Beijing
B
eijing told its 20 million residents to stay indoors yesterday after a U.S. Embassy pollution monitor showed that air quality reached hazardous levels for the 18th day this month. The concentration of PM2.5, the fine air particulates that pose the greatest health risk, was 476 at 2pm, more than 19 times World Health Organisation recommendations for day-long exposure and 50 percent higher than the embassy’s “hazardous” cut-off of 301. Anything above 500 is branded “beyond index”. Pollution levels have remained high after hitting record levels on January 12 and Beijing officials later proposed new rules aimed at improving air quality. Further measures to clean up the capital may be difficult because much of Beijing’s smog comes from surrounding regions. “China is the world’s biggest steel producer, and half of China’s steel is produced in areas around Beijing such as Hebei and Tianjin, mostly by burning coal,” Ma Jun, a Beijing-based environmentalist and
founder of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, said. “How can the region stand this?” Exposure to PM2.5 contributed to a total 8,572 premature deaths in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi’an in 2012, and led to economic losses of US$1.08 billion, according to estimates given in a study by Greenpeace and Peking University’s School of Public Health published in December. China, which the World Bank estimates has 16 of the 20 mostpolluted cities globally, is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Official measurements of PM2.5 rose to 993 in Beijing on January 12. The city has proposed rules to scrap old vehicles, ban new cement and steel factories, and impose fines for roadside vendors barbecuing food on smoggy days. Beijing’s government should restrict or ban fireworks during the Lunar New Year if air pollution remains serious, Beijing News said in an opinion piece yesterday, citing unidentified environmental analysts at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University and Tsinghua University.
Air quality was given the worst rating on the city’s six-level scale yesterday, according to the Beijing Municipal Environment Monitoring Centre’s website. Levels of PM2.5 were an average of 380 micrograms per cubic metre near Tiananmen Square in the 24 hours to 2pm, according to its measure. Beijing will tighten emissions
criteria for new cars to match the strictest European Union standards starting next month. Diesel-driven vehicles that don’t meet China’s equivalent of the Euro V emissions specification will not be allowed to be sold or registered from February 1, while a similar ban for gasoline cars will commence March 1.
Thick smog blamed on coal-burning and vehicle emissions
Reuters
10 |
business daily January 30, 2013
ASIA
India cuts key rate to spur growth Decision comes after nine months of wait but central bank remains cautious Kartik Goyal
I
ndia lowered interest rates for the first time since April and cut the amount of deposits lenders must set aside as reserves, easing policy to aid growth as inflation cools and the government curbs the budget deficit. The Reserve Bank of India reduced the repurchase rate to 7.75 percent from 8 percent, it said in Mumbai yesterday, as 30 of 35 analysts in a Bloomberg News survey predicted. Four expected a cut to 7.5 percent and one no change. Governor Duvvuri Subbarao cut the cash reserve ratio to 4 percent from 4.25 percent, effective February 9, adding 180 billion rupees (US$3.4 billion) into the banking system. India becomes the first major Asian economy to ease borrowing costs in 2013, after inflation moderated to a three-year low and the government called for cheaper credit as it vows prudence in next month’s budget to damp price pressures. While the cost of living is still rising by more than 7 percent, the central bank said yesterday there’s space, “albeit limited,” to spur expansion as it cut the inflation forecast. “Easing inflation and a better fiscal situation are creating space to cut rates,” said Saugata Bhattacharya, an economist at Axis Bank Ltd in Mumbai. “The central bank will be cautious in further easing due to concerns over elevated inflation, high current account and fiscal deficits.” The yield on the 8.15 percent government bond due June 2022 fell three basis points after the rate decision. The BSE India Sensitive Index rose 0.4 percent, while the rupee gained 0.5 percent to 53.66 per dollar. The rupee has strengthened more than 1 percent against the dollar since mid-September, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh began a policy overhaul to contain subsidies, lure foreign investment and speed up infrastructure projects.
‘Limited’ space “There is an increasing likelihood of inflation remaining range-bound around current levels going into
Park, Lee clash over special pardon plans S. Korea president issues controversial pardons
S
outh Korea’s outgoing president Lee Myung-Bak yesterday brushed off criticism from his successor and handed out pardons to a host of former close aides and confidantes jailed for corruption.
India’s central bank is trying to support an economy set for its slowest growth in a decade
2013-2014,” the Reserve Bank said. “This provides space, albeit limited, for monetary policy to give greater emphasis to growth risks.” The central bank added the policy guidance will be “conditioned by the evolving growth-inflation dynamic and the management of risks from twin deficits.” India’s economy will expand 5.5 percent in the year through March 2013, less than an earlier estimate of 5.8 percent, the Reserve Bank said. The prediction for wholesale-price inflation was cut to 6.8 percent from 7.5 percent. Five of 28 analysts in a Bloomberg survey predicted the reserve-ratio cut, the fifth since the start of 2012, with the rest seeing no change. Finance Minister Palaniappan
Chidambaram said last week he’ll stick to his target of narrowing the budget gap to 4.8 percent of gross domestic product in the 12 months through March 2014, from an estimated 5.3 percent this fiscal year. Officials are trying to give Mr Subbarao more room to lower borrowing costs. They are also trying to avert a credit-rating downgrade after Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings warned in 2012 that fiscal and trade shortfalls imperil India’s investment-grade status. The current-account deficit is expected to have widened in the quarter ended December, the central bank said. It was 5.4 percent of GDP in the previous three-month period. The Reserve Bank said it’s “critical now to arrest the loss of growth
The special pardons for 55 people included Mr Lee’s longtime confidante and former minister Choi See-Joong and friend and businessman Chun Shin-Il – both serving prison terms for bribery. Former parliament speaker Park Hee-Tae and an ex-senior political affairs aide to Mr Lee were also pardoned. Both were convicted last year for their roles in a votebuying scandal in Mr Lee’s ruling conservative party. “This is not an abuse of power. It was carried out according to law and procedure,” Mr Lee’s spokesman told reporters after the pardons were announced. The list did not include the president’s elder brother, Lee Sang-Deuk, who was convicted and sentenced last week to two years in jail for corruption. There had been speculation that his brother’s case had been rushed
through the court to make him eligible for a presidential pardon. President-elect Park Geun-Hye, who had urged Mr Lee not to hand out the pardons, felt it was “extremely regrettable” that he had decided to go ahead, Ms Park’s spokeswoman told reporters. “The latest special pardons ignore the will of the people and are an abuse of presidential power, and will undoubtedly trigger nationwide condemnation,” the spokeswoman said. Mr Lee and Ms Park, who will assume office next month, are both from the same conservative New Frontier Party. The right of South Korean presidents to grant pardons is enshrined in the constitution and is often exercised at the time of major national holidays and at the end of their terms. AFP
momentum without endangering external stability”. Benchmark inflation was 7.18 percent in December, the highest in the BRIC group of major emerging nations that also includes Brazil, Russia and China. The currentaccount deficit was a record US$22.31 billion in the quarter ended September 30. India partially freed diesel prices from state control on January 17 to curb fuel subsidies, adding to recent policy steps. A rise of 0.45 rupees a litre every month until March 2014 will add around 64 basis points to inflation and lower the budget gap by 14 basis points, according to Nomura Holdings Inc. The Finance Ministry forecasts economic growth of as little as 5.7 percent in 2012-2013, the least in a decade. “High inflation, a volatile exchange rate and commodity prices pose huge macroeconomic risks,” said Rupa Rege Nitsure, an economist at Bank of Baroda in Mumbai. Bloomberg News
KEY POINTS RBI cuts policy repo rate by 25 bps to 7.75 pct Central bank also cuts banks cash reserve ratio to 4 pct India’s economy forecast to expand 5.5 pct in the year through March Wholesale-price inflation seen at 6.8 pct
January 30, 2013 business daily | 11
ASIA Posco forecasts lower sales Posco, Asia’s third-biggest steelmaker by output, forecast sales may fall this year after reporting worse-than-estimated fourth-quarter profit as waning orders from carmakers and shipbuilders lowered prices. Sales on a parent basis may slip to 32 trillion won (US$29 billion) in 2013 from 35.7 trillion won in 2012, the Pohang, South Korea-based company said in a regulatory filing yesterday. Net income was 513 billion won in the three months ended December 31, compared with 767 billion won a year earlier, missing the 592.6 billion won average of 18 analyst estimates, compiled by Bloomberg. China’s economic slowdown and Europe’s fiscal crisis have reduced demand for steel used in houses, cars and ships, squeezing profits at global steelmakers. Posco yesterday said an “unprecedented slump” in the worldwide steel market cut prices and hurt profits last year. The company also forecast its crude steel output forecast may decline this year. Posco fell 0.1 percent to 355,500 won at the close in Seoul yesterday, while the local benchmark Kospi index gained 0.8 percent. The stock has climbed 1.9 percent this year, compared with a 2.1 percent drop in Kospi. The earnings announcement came after the stock market closed.
Lenders told to use the spot ringgit rate
Malaysia requires local fixings use for ringgit contracts New directive sent last week to heads of banks
M
Philippines’ surpasses 2012 growth target The Philippine economy grew faster last year than the government’s 5 percent to 6 percent target, President Benigno Aquino said yesterday, ahead of the release of GDP data tomorrow. “Definitely,” Mr Aquino told reporters when asked if the country exceeded the government’s 2012 growth goal. “Can I just say all of us will be impressed?,” Mr Aquino added, suggesting the economy may have ended 2012 much stronger than expected. He did not elaborate. In a Reuters poll last week, economists forecast that the Philippines grew 6.4 percent in 2012. They also projected the fourth-quarter’s annual growth pace at 6.4 percent. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the country’s central bank, kept its key policy rate steady at a record low of 3.5 percent on January 24, as it expects the economy to sustain its strong momentum and inflation to remain benign. The Philippines, like most of its neighbours in Southeast Asia, has stayed resilient in the face of the European debt crisis and weak growth in key trading partners such as the United States, with strong private and public spending offsetting weaker exports.
F&N to dissolve board next week Fraser and Neave Ltd’s (F&N) board of directors will step down after a takeover offer by Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi closes next week, paving the way for the Thai billionaire to have a greater say in the Singapore company’s future. Thailand’s third-richest man, who currently has no representation on F&N’s board, is inching closer to taking over the 130-year-old property and drinks conglomerate in Southeast Asia’s biggest acquisition, after amassing a 46.1 percent stake through TCC Assets Ltd and Thai Beverage PCL since July last year. Charoen’s offer for F&N shares that he does not already own, which values the Singapore conglomerate at S$13.75 billion (US$11.2 billion), will turn unconditional if the Thais secure a stake of more than 50 percent. “As clearly the largest shareholder of the company today, and probably a controlling shareholder of the company in a few days’ time, it’s not inappropriate for them to have that full flexibility and to want a clean slate, where they would want to move things forward,” F&N Chairman Lee Hsien Yang said at a shareholders meeting on Tuesday.
alaysia’s central bank said it has told domestic banks they must use a reference rate produced by the country’s foreign exchange association for ringgit foreign exchange contracts. The central bank’s directive would exclude use of a Singapore-based fixing that is currently used by many traders in the market. The directive was sent to heads of banks in Malaysia and dated January 25. Traders in Kuala Lumpur said the central bank had provided no reason for the ruling. Traders, speaking on condition they not be named, said onshore banks had been told to use the spot ringgit rate derived each day from contributions onshore. That rate is managed by the Association Cambiste Internationale (ACI) and is an average
of contributions from 12 banks. Many of them had been using the reference rate provided by the Association of Banks in Singapore. The ABS’s set of rates includes spot currency rates and interest rates for the ringgit, Singapore dollar, Thai baht and Indonesian rupiah. The ABS declined comment. “Please be informed that a licensed onshore bank is required to ensure that the Malaysian USDMYR fixing is used as reference for the pricing of foreign exchange contracts involving ringgit. No other fixing shall be used as reference,” Bank Negara Malaysia’s note to banks said. The reference rates, or fixings, are used by banks to settle maturing onshore forward contracts and offshore nondeliverable forwards (NDFs).
Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, ordered banks that help set local interbank lending rates and NDF rates to review the fixing process last year as U.S. and British regulators cracked down on manipulation of the London interbank offered rate (Libor), a benchmark used to set interest rates for around US$600 trillion worth of securities. A source with knowledge of the inquiries told Reuters that the internal reviews by banks in Singapore had found evidence that traders colluded to manipulate rates in the NDF market. The source did not make specific comments about possible wrongdoing by individual banks or traders and Reuters has no independent evidence of such wrongdoing. Reuters
Bank Indonesia steps up intervention In bid to narrow rupiah price gap
I
ndonesia’s central bank stepped up intervention in the past two weeks to support the rupiah after an offshore fixing for the currency sank to the biggest discount to the onshore spot rate in almost 16 months. Bank Indonesia acted to boost dollar supply in the market and revive confidence in the rupiah, which lost 0.4 percent this month to extend a six-quarter slide, and narrow the gap between local and overseas prices, said Hendar, executive director for monetary policy. The monetary authority sees room to adjust foreignexchange rules to temper excess dollar demand and stabilize the rupiah, he said, without elaborating. “We are increasing the supply of dollars in the currency market to restore market confidence,” Hendar, who goes by only one name, said in a telephone interview from Jakarta yesterday. “This is in line with our effort to not have a dual foreign- exchange market. We are leaning toward seeing a narrower gap between the rupiah’s onshore and offshore levels.” The difference between rupiah quotes within Indonesia and those
We are increasing the supply of dollars in the currency market to restore market confidence Hendar, executive director for monetary policy, Bank Indonesia
outside reached 2.6 percent on January 11, the widest since September 22, 2011. Analysts at HSBC Holdings Plc led by Paul Mackel in Hong Kong wrote in a research note on January 11 that the “two-tiered market” for the rupiah may prompt companies to hoard dollars and Indonesians to prefer holding foreign currencies. The spread declined to the least
in a month after Hendar said it has increased intervention. An average of 18 global lenders’ quotes compiled by The Association of Banks in Singapore and used to settle non-deliverable forwards was fixed at 9,783 per dollar yesterday. That was 0.9 percent cheaper than the onshore rate, the least since December 20. The rupiah fell 0.2 percent to 9,675 in the spot market in Jakarta yesterday, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg. It was the worst performer among Asia’s 11 most- traded currencies last year, weakening 5.9 percent, as the nation’s current account remained in deficit for a fourth straight quarter through September. The central bank estimates the shortfall reached 2.4 percent of gross domestic product for the full year, the most since 1996. “Fulfilling dollar demand has helped stabilise onshore rates, but it remains a short-term measure that doesn’t address the bigger issue of the current-account deficit,” said Thio Chin Loo, a senior currency analyst at BNP Paribas SA in Singapore. “We remain negative on the currency.” Bloomberg News
12 |
business daily January 30, 2013
MARKETS Hang SENG INDEX PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
PRICE
DAY %
Volume
AIA GROUP LTD
30.6
-0.3257329
35057878
CHINA UNICOM HON
12.14
-0.3284072
33627612
ALUMINUM CORP-H
3.75
0.536193
16447557
CITIC PACIFIC
12.52
1.130856
4999369
BANK OF CHINA-H
3.79
0
257038966
SANDS CHINA LTD
CLP HLDGS LTD
65.9
0.610687
4759862
6.5
0.1540832
52366462
SINO LAND CO
14.92
-1.971091
8460650
CNOOC LTD
16.1
1.257862
52214993
SUN HUNG KAI PRO
128.6
-0.5413766
2887721 1908586
NAME
BANK OF COMMUN-H BANK EAST ASIA
NAME
NAME POWER ASSETS HOL
PRICE
DAY %
Volume
66.9
0.4504505
1279442
38.15
1.59787
9919230
31.9
-0.931677
2492711
COSCO PAC LTD
12.08
-0.330033
4301882
BELLE INTERNATIO
17.36
2.721893
11816224
SWIRE PACIFIC-A
98.85
0.05060729
ESPRIT HLDGS
10.88
-0.3663004
3920748
BOC HONG KONG HO
26.75
0.3752345
16870085
TENCENT HOLDINGS
267.2
-0.2240478
2636896
HANG LUNG PROPER
29.4
-0.3389831
4350330
TINGYI HLDG CO
21.85
0.6912442
7473795
125.9
0
1895227
WANT WANT CHINA
10.46
-2.059925
12817394
58
-0.7698888
2720180
WHARF HLDG
68.8
-1.362007
6170964
HENGAN INTL
77.65
-0.7667732
1764426
HONG KG CHINA GS
21.95
1.856148
7904249
HONG KONG EXCHNG
146.6 -0.06816633
3069202
HSBC HLDGS PLC
87.25 -0.05727377
12832650
CATHAY PAC AIR CHEUNG KONG CHINA COAL ENE-H CHINA CONST BA-H
15.7
0.8997429
5297822
HANG SENG BK
128.2
-0.4658385
2945215
HENDERSON LAND D
8.67
0.5800464
18838119
6.65
-0.8941878
246679197
CHINA LIFE INS-H
25.75
-0.5791506
28546438
CHINA MERCHANT
26.85
0.3738318
2931040
CHINA MOBILE
85.15
1.188354
25802137
HUTCHISON WHAMPO
CHINA OVERSEAS
24.4
-0.204499
16210330
IND & COMM BK-H
CHINA PETROLEU-H
9.41
0.4268943
61915405
LI & FUNG LTD
CHINA RES ENTERP
87 -0.05743825
MOVERS
24
1 23735
INDEX 23655.17
4484205
5.82
-2.184874
2000786805
11.48
-0.6920415
26648204
31.6
0.7974482
1744995
HIGH
23731.43
LOW
23488.14
27.35
-0.5454545
1643585
CHINA RES LAND
23.7
1.716738
5764618
NEW WORLD DEV
14.64
-1.214575
13393743
CHINA RES POWER
20.9
1.456311
4650042
PETROCHINA CO-H
11.08
0.1808318
55777933
CHINA SHENHUA-H
32.9
0.9202454
13033504
PING AN INSURA-H
68.85
-0.5057803
8083938
PRICE
DAY %
Volume
30.55
-0.3262643
11790166
YANZHOU COAL-H
CHINA PETROLEU-H
9.41
0.4268943
61915405
ZIJIN MINING-H
MTR CORP
25
52W (H) 23736.01953 23480
(L) 18056.4 25-January
29-January
Hang SENG CHINA ENTErPRISE INDEX NAME
NAME
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
AGRICULTURAL-H
4.16
-1.187648
133184557
AIR CHINA LTD-H
6.76
-0.4418262
8029436
ALUMINUM CORP-H
3.75
0.536193
16447557
CHINA RAIL CN-H
8.12
-1.575758
18542286
ANHUI CONCH-H
30.4
2.184874
10318201
CHINA RAIL GR-H
4.35
-0.4576659
22470418
BANK OF CHINA-H
3.79
0
257038966
CHINA SHENHUA-H
32.9
0.9202454
13033504
CHINA PACIFIC-H
6.5
0.1540832
52366462
CHINA TELECOM-H
4.18
-1.415094
78925757
26.05
0.5791506
1898178
DONGFENG MOTOR-H
12.8
1.105845
27050322
CHINA CITIC BK-H
5.35
-0.1865672
37318146
GUANGZHOU AUTO-H
6.77
5.451713
13494974
CHINA COAL ENE-H
8.67
0.5800464
18838119
HUANENG POWER-H
7.54
2.585034
23068944
CHINA COM CONS-H
7.92
-0.6273526
17321492
IND & COMM BK-H
5.82
-2.184874
2000786805
CHINA CONST BA-H
6.65
-0.8941878
246679197
JIANGXI COPPER-H
20.75
1.219512
7160054
BANK OF COMMUN-H BYD CO LTD-H
4.17
2.205882
23491429
PETROCHINA CO-H
11.08
0.1808318
55777933
25.75
-0.5791506
28546438
PICC PROPERTY &
11.68
0.1715266
9788274
CHINA LONGYUAN-H
6.29
-0.6319115
9118000
PING AN INSURA-H
68.85
-0.5057803
8083938
CHINA MERCH BK-H
18.4
-0.9687836
17464745
SHANDONG WEIG-H
7.68
3.087248
29660001
CHINA COSCO HO-H CHINA LIFE INS-H
CHINA MINSHENG-H
11.42
1.964286
53299959
SINOPHARM-H
24.2
0
5420309
CHINA NATL BDG-H
12.24
1.492537
31646191
TSINGTAO BREW-H
45.35
-0.8743169
1215767
17.1
2.272727
10119639
WEICHAI POWER-H
32.05
-0.4658385
3046765
CHINA OILFIELD-H
NAME
PRICE
DAY %
Volume
13.3
1.681957
17984872
3
-0.3322259
46630293
ZOOMLION HEAVY-H
10.46
0.5769231
10001232
ZTE CORP-H
14.58
-0.6811989
6708458
MOVERS
20
18
2 12150
INDEX 12077.87 HIGH
12145.23
LOW
11932.08
52W (H) 12244.15 (L) 8987.76
11930
25-January
29-January
Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 NAME
PRICE
DAY %
Volume
PRICE
DAY %
Volume
CHINA YANGTZE-A
7.33
-0.6775068
29714428
QINGDAO HAIER-A
14.15
0.4971591
13040344
25547173
CHONGQING CHAN-A
8.27
-0.4813478
46842195
QINGHAI SALT-A
26.58
-0.8948546
7110178
1.162791
33723942
CITIC SECURITI-A
14.96
4.32357
231065299
SAIC MOTOR-A
17.38
-0.855676
34236172
0.4889976
34561305
CSR CORP LTD -A
4.88
0.8264463
46740475
SANY HEAVY INDUS
11.37
1.973094
74589883
7.27
0.137741
38822116
SHANDONG GOLD-MI
37.6
1.84182
19949411
4.19
1.452785
18349533
SHANG PHARM -A
12.11
-1.384365
11186261
15.26
5.459572
42443581
SHANG PUDONG-A
11.3
1.073345
191067344
PRICE
DAY %
VOLUME
AGRICULTURAL-A
2.91
0
313601945
AIR CHINA LTD-A
6
-1.960784
5.22 20.55
ALUMINUM CORP-A ANHUI CONCH-A
NAME
AVIC AIRCRAFT-A
12.01
2.913453
126171876
DAQIN RAILWAY -A
BANK OF BEIJIN-A
10.31
0.3894839
88456484
DATANG INTL PO-A
BANK OF CHINA-A
3.03
0.3311258
92884322
EVERBRIG SEC -A
BANK OF COMMUN-A
5.24
0
165741442
BANK OF NINGBO-A
NAME
GD POWER DEVEL-A
2.73
-1.086957
124859078
SHANGHAI ELECT-A
4.11
0.2439024
7465438
35735578
GEMDALE CORP-A
7.14
-0.1398601
104307025
SHANXI LU'AN -A
22.56
3.107861
24542851
15.56
4.149933
136984995
SHANXI XISHAN-A
14.08
2.028986
30767993
29.4
1.030928
16481338
SHENZEN OVERSE-A
6.89
-0.8633094
64169120
12.44
-0.48
BAOSHAN IRON & S
5.01
-0.1992032
23824404
GF SECURITIES-A
BBMG CORPORATI-A
7.92
0.2531646
21195708
GREE ELECTRIC
22.51
-2.300347
7154104
GUANGHUI ENERG-A
17.65
-1.835373
27546479
SICHUAN KELUN-A
67.2
-0.4296933
2137679
5.08
0.9940358
54401644
HAITONG SECURI-A
11.81
7.266122
202093871
SUNING APPLIAN-A
7.26
-1.492537
73939310
CHINA CNR CORP-A
4.61
-0.2164502
39015106
HANGZHOU HIKVI-A
30.9
1.644737
8946073
TSINGTAO BREW-A
32
-3.759398
5406115
CHINA COAL ENE-A
7.99
1.139241
18423408
HENAN SHUAN-A
68.1
-0.2197802
2650675
WEICHAI POWER-A
24.1
0.1246365
10634114
BYD CO LTD -A CHINA CITIC BK-A
CHINA CONST BA-A
4.78
-0.2087683
75236204
HONG YUAN SEC-A
20.52
-0.8695652
52958361
WULIANGYE YIBIN
25.25
3.103307
74606110
CHINA COSCO HO-A
4.33
-0.2304147
24354824
HUATAI SECURIT-A
10.18
5.60166
96127080
YANGQUAN COAL -A
15.41
1.716172
32489497
CHINA CSSC HOL-A
23.52
0.08510638
15867998
HUAXIA BANK CO
11.66
1.656495
94112374
YANTAI WANHUA-A
16.19
-0.9179927
8878463
CHINA EAST AIR-A
3.61
-1.09589
17382495
IND & COMM BK-A
4.29
0
139339618
YANZHOU COAL-A
18.23
1.390434
8699879
YUNNAN BAIYAO-A
CHINA EVERBRIG-A
3.49
0.2873563
331812338
INDUSTRIAL BAN-A
20.07
1.723264
132316325
76.46
-0.9585492
2052228
CHINA INTL MAR-A
14.16
-0.4219409
13170864
INNER MONG BAO-A
36.12
1.574803
46559333
ZHONGJIN GOLD
16.3
1.368159
33092551
CHINA LIFE INS-A
19.96
-1.383399
45385105
INNER MONG YIL-A
26.29
-0.6049149
11768097
ZIJIN MINING-A
3.82
0.5263158
78491524
190625562
INNER MONGOLIA-A
5.37
0
60982325
ZOOMLION HEAVY-A
9.24
0
71181143
33.2
-0.1503759
3630567
ZTE CORP-A
10.8
0.9345794
45032746
CHINA MERCH BK-A
14.6
2.961918
CHINA MERCHANT-A
12.3
10.01789
126193667
JIANGSU HENGRU-A
CHINA MERCHANT-A
29.45
0.5462615
19358764
JIANGSU YANGHE-A
81.79
1.74151
13467943
CHINA MINSHENG-A
10.26
2.6
361063210
JIANGXI COPPER-A
24.57
1.403219
15026788
7.5
-0.1331558
33410081
12.9
2.137767
27090583
JIZHONG ENERGY-A
16.75
3.586889
39846620
CHINA NATIONAL-A
JINDUICHENG -A
CHINA OILFIELD-A
17.61
0.05681818
8816423
CHINA PACIFIC-A
21.28
-0.8387698
61721627
KANGMEI PHARMA-A
15.34
0.1959504
37300090
6.99
-0.1428571
39694262
KWEICHOW MOUTA-A
178.16
-0.1904762
11544787
LUZHOU LAOJIAO-A
30.46
1.162405
27018300
CHINA PETROLEU-A
MOVERS 160
5.81
-1.525424
48570054
CHINA RAILWAY-A
3.15
-0.3164557
41487783
METALLURGICAL-A
2.2
-0.4524887
44965997
2.59
-0.3846154
44987553
HIGH
2676.6
4
1.010101
66728593
LOW
2571.04
CHINA SHENHUA-A
24.12
-0.2893758
23080366
CHINA SHIPBUIL-A
5.02
1.006036
74438362
PANGANG GROUP -A
CHINA SOUTHERN-A
4.09
0
26336963
PETROCHINA CO-A
9.07
0
30865273
CHINA STATE -A
3.73
0
177256715
PING AN BANK-A
21.38
1.471286
108289498
CHINA UNITED-A
3.5
0
87656952
PING AN INSURA-A
46.72
0.1285898
40676264
12.21
1.243781
135988614
POLY REAL ESTA-A
13.68
0.9594096
100125503
PRICE DAY %
Volume
PRICE DAY %
Volume
CHINA VANKE CO-A
22 2680
INDEX 2675.866
CHINA RAILWAY-A
NINGBO PORT CO-A
118
52W (H) 2717.825 (L) 2102.135
2570
25-January
29-January
FTSE TAIWAN 50 INDEX NAME
NAME
ACER INC
25.7
6.860707
48421205
FORMOSA PLASTIC
ADVANCED SEMICON
24.9
0.8097166
23384900
FOXCONN TECHNOLO
36.75
0
6997746
FUBON FINANCIAL
ASUSTEK COMPUTER
340
0.2949853
2718708
AU OPTRONICS COR
12.2
3.829787
86150274
CATCHER TECH
133
3.90625
12273323
HTC CORP
CATHAY FINANCIAL
32.5
0
16485360
HUA NAN FINANCIA
CHANG HWA BANK
16
0.3134796
5562605
LARGAN PRECISION
CHENG SHIN RUBBE
77.5
3.748327
13912335
LITE-ON TECHNOLO
CHIMEI INNOLUX C
15.5
4.026846
146108480
325
0
5542434
CHINA DEVELOPMEN
7.81
0.6443299
35810549
MEGA FINANCIAL H
23.65
0.2118644
16926207
CHINA STEEL CORP
27.5
0.7326007
10706993
NAN YA PLASTICS
58.6
1.034483
3203713
CHINATRUST FINAN
16.75
0.2994012
43645105
PRESIDENT CHAIN
161
-0.617284
541721
94.5
0
4692336
QUANTA COMPUTER
66.7
0.3007519
10728903
ASIA CEMENT CORP
CHUNGHWA TELECOM
NAME
PRICE DAY %
79
0.6369427
3724575
TAIWAN MOBILE CO
87.7
2.453271
8652278
36.85
0.1358696
HON HAI PRECISIO
84.9
HOTAI MOTOR CO
234.5
MEDIATEK INC
Volume
107.5
2.380952
TPK HOLDING CO L
509
3.877551
6362808
13490548
TSMC
101
1.711984
35405537
1.555024
31956589
UNI-PRESIDENT
2.178649
558581
284.5
1.426025
8144678
16.85
0.5970149
5480238
797
6.979866
4585859
40.5
0.3717472
3840887
COMPAL ELECTRON
21.65
2.606635
28176005
SILICONWARE PREC
31.25
1.791531
11091625
DELTA ELECT INC
106.5
0.4716981
3015397
SINOPAC FINANCIA
12.85
1.581028
16623081
FAR EASTERN NEW
33.95
1.19225
9771946
SYNNEX TECH INTL
60.6
4.482759
7443446
FAR EASTONE TELE
73.4
0.5479452
4917308
TAIWAN CEMENT
39.6
0.8917197
6611802
FIRST FINANCIAL
17.9
1.129944
13637894
TAIWAN COOPERATI
16.4
0.3058104
4650811
FORMOSA CHEM & F
78.4
0.7712082
2878228
TAIWAN FERTILIZE
73
1.108033
2561194
FORMOSA PETROCHE
83.5
0.6024096
1138761
TAIWAN GLASS IND
28.95
2.477876
1308896
6402388
52.2
0.967118
9496663
11.55
1.762115
40765900
WISTRON CORP
34.9
-3.055556
15797366
YUANTA FINANCIAL
15.3
1.324503
12732812
YULON MOTOR CO
54.3
3.824092
7550299
UNITED MICROELEC
MOVERS
43
2
5 5460
INDEX 5456.03 HIGH
5456.03
LOW
5331.08
52W (H) 5621.53 (L) 4719.96
5330
25-January
29-January
January 30, 2013 business daily | 13
MARKETS GAMING STOCKS - DAILY PERFORMANCE (Hong Kong Stock Exchange) 52.2
34.6
17.8
34.2
17.6 52.1
33.8
Max 34.45
average 34.037
Min 33.65
33.4
Last 34.3
17.4
Max 52.15
average 52.108
Min 52
52.0
Last 52.1
Max 17.76
average 17.653
Min 17.3
Last 17.7
21.0
38.3
17.2
21.8
20.9 38.1
21.7
20.8 20.7
37.9
21.6
20.6 Max 38.2
average 37.997
Min 37.75
Last 38.15
37.7
Max 20.9
average 20.791
Commodities PRICE
DAY %
YTD %
(H) 52W
(L) 52W
WTI CRUDE FUTURE Mar13
96.81
0.383668642
4.920342473
108.9899979
80.48000336
BRENT CRUDE FUTR Mar13
113.47
-0.008812125
3.257803258
118.7999954
90.58999634
GASOLINE RBOB FUT Feb13
292.43
-0.357775658
5.88767788
294.4200039
220.3500032
965
0.311850312
4.408980254
1026.25
800.5
3.263
-0.790513834
-2.626081767
4.090000153
3.049999952
GAS OIL FUT (ICE) Mar13 NATURAL GAS FUTR Feb13 HEATING OIL FUTR Feb13 METALS
306.35
0.062059054
1.045582427
333.4599972
255.6599855
Gold Spot $/Oz
1662.92
0.5581
-0.0925
1796.08
1527.21
Silver Spot $/Oz
31.1488
1.0177
3.45
37.4775
26.1513
Platinum Spot $/Oz
1674.98
-0.5799
10.3594
1736
1379.05
Palladium Spot $/Oz
743.73
0.1657
6.2988
749
553.75
LME ALUMINUM 3MO ($)
2050
0.195503421
-1.109503136
2361.5
1827.25
LME COPPER 3MO ($)
8050
0.249066002
1.500441306
8765
7219.5
LME ZINC
2081
0.048076923
0.048076923
2187.25
1745
3MO ($)
LME NICKEL 3MO ($) AGRICULTURE ROUGH RICE (CBOT) Mar13 CORN FUTURE
20.5
Last 20.7
Max 21.8
average 21.677
Min 21.55
Last 21.55
Mar13
17625
1.409666283
3.311840563
22150
15236
15.26
-0.586319218
0.560131796
16.84000015
14.89999962
729.75
0.068563593
4.511278195
846.25
511
WHEAT FUTURE(CBT) Mar13
779
-0.03208213
0.128534704
948.25
652
SOYBEAN FUTURE Mar13
1446.5
-0.086340874
2.625044342
1728.25
1207.75
COFFEE 'C' FUTURE Mar13
149.4
0.268456376
3.894297636
237.5
141.25
COUNTRY MAJOR
ASIA PACIFIC
CROSSES
AUD GBP CHF EUR JPY MOP HKD CNY INR THB SGD TWD PHP IDR AUDJPY EURCHF EURGBP EURCNY EURMOP EURJPY HKDMOP
PRICE
DAY %
1.046 1.5723 0.924 1.3454 90.66 7.9927 7.7594 6.2264 53.625 29.84 1.236 29.553 40.722 9690 94.829 1.24313 0.85568 8.3707 10.753 121.97 1.0301
0.6931 -0.0127 0.2597 0.0223 0.0331 -0.0375 -0.0245 -0.0273 0.5408 0.4692 0.2265 -0.0575 0.5967 1.4654 -0.6559 0.2405 -0.0351 -0.1434 -0.0651 0.0082 -0.0097
YTD %
(H) 52W
0.7901 -2.8004 -0.9307 2.0015 -5.0298 -0.1189 -0.1134 0.0675 2.5548 2.4799 -1.1812 -1.7596 0.695 1.063 -5.802 -2.8678 -4.705 -1.8302 -2.0701 -6.8869 -0.0194
(L) 52W
1.0857 1.6381 0.9972 1.3487 91.26 8.0039 7.7713 6.3964 57.3275 32 1.2971 30.203 43.975 9904 95.098 1.25692 0.85865 8.4894 10.7712 122.91 1.0314
0.9582 1.5269 0.8931 1.2043 76.03 7.9823 7.7498 6.2105 48.6088 29.63 1.2152 28.913 40.54 8878 74.482 1.19995 0.77553 7.7018 9.6245 94.12 1.029
MACAU RELATED STOCKS NAME
(H) 52W
(L) 52W
3.59
2.279202
13.96825
3.68
2.27
1878506
CROWN LTD
11.85
1.195559
11.05904
12.04
8.06
3165474
ARISTOCRAT LEISU
PRICE
DAY % YTD %
VOLUME CRNCY
SUGAR #11 (WORLD) Mar13
18.76
0.160170849
-3.844182471
25.12999916
18.05999947
AMAX HOLDINGS LT
0.076
-2.564103
8.571428
0.119
0.055
11193000
COTTON NO.2 FUTR Mar13
82.39
1.653300432
9.648655842
98.5
66.84999847
BOC HONG KONG HO
26.75
0.3752345
10.99585
26.85
20.25
16870085
CENTURY LEGEND
0.295
3.508772
11.32076
0.34
0.215
48000
6.1
0
1.836398
6.25
2.8
20898
CHINA OVERSEAS
24.4
-0.204499
5.627704
25.6
14.124
16210330
CHINESE ESTATES
13.54
3.675345
3.51682
13.7
8.3
558517
CHOW TAI FOOK JE
12.38
0.487013
-0.4823118
15.04
8.4
4896200
EMPEROR ENTERTAI
2.03
-1.456311
7.407408
2.09
0.99
295000
FUTURE BRIGHT
1.67
0
36.88524
1.75
0.465
1596000
CHEUK NANG HLDGS
World Stock MarketS - Indices NAME
COUNTRY
PRICE
DAY %
YTD %
(H) 52W
(L) 52W
DOW JONES INDUS. AVG
US
13881.93
-0.1011084
5.935453
13915.72
12035.08984
NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX
US
3154.297
0.1455689
4.463747
3196.932
2726.68
HANG SENG BK
FTSE 100 INDEX
GB
6307.46
0.2073268
6.945797
6311.26
5229.76
DAX INDEX
GE
7841.21
0.104813
3.005887
7871.79
5914.43
NIKKEI 225
JN
10866.72
0.3918033
4.536141
11002.86
8238.96
HANG SENG INDEX
HK
23655.17
-0.07059008
4.405939
23736.01953
18056.4
CSI 300 INDEX
CH
2675.866
0.9051373
6.060919
2717.825
2102.135
MGM CHINA HOLDIN
TAIWAN TAIEX INDEX
TA
7802
1.131999
1.331255
8170.72
6857.35
MIDLAND HOLDINGS
KOSPI INDEX
S&P/ASX 200 INDEX
SK
1955.96
0.8377541
-2.057539
2057.28
1758.99
AU
4888.976
1.112721
5.163013
4896.6
3985
ID
4430.095
0.2978987
2.627205
4472.108
3635.283
FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI
MA
1636.74
-0.02382218
-3.091268
1699.68
1509.49
JAKARTA COMPOSITE INDEX
21.5
CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES
NAME ENERGY
Min 20.55
GALAXY ENTERTAIN
34.3
1.329394
13.01483
35.35
16.62
10193855
125.9
0
6.065715
126.4
99.2
1895227
HOPEWELL HLDGS
31.8
-0.625
-4.360902
34.4
19.049
1372340
HSBC HLDGS PLC
87.25
-0.05727377
7.318569
87.65
59.8
12832650 5814000
HUTCHISON TELE H
3.4
-0.5847953
-4.49438
3.88
2.98
LUK FOOK HLDGS I
27.35
-0.5454545
12.09017
30.05
14.7
613379
MELCO INTL DEVEL
12.56
2.28013
39.40066
12.6
5.12
7671000
17.7
2.312139
26.24821
17.82
10.04
8285170
3.83
-1.033592
3.513512
5.217
3.249
3858000
NEPTUNE GROUP
0.204
0
34.21053
0.226
0.084
0
NEW WORLD DEV
14.64
-1.214575
21.797
15.12
7.95
13393743
SANDS CHINA LTD
9919230
38.15
1.59787
12.37113
39.35
20.65
SHUN HO RESOURCE
1.46
0
4.285716
1.59
1.03
86000
SHUN TAK HOLDING
4.23
2.669903
0.9546526
4.65
2.56
9310758
NZX ALL INDEX
NZ
910.724
-0.180081
3.250488
914.335
737.172
SJM HOLDINGS LTD
20.7
1.970443
15
21.9
12.34
4283784
PHILIPPINES ALL SHARE IX
PH
3929.26
0.6939711
6.225501
3933.18
3132.34
SMARTONE TELECOM
13.44
-0.591716
-4.545454
17.5
13.1
2789024
HSBC Dragon 300 Index Singapor
SI
634.03
-0.3
2.08
NA
NA
STOCK EXCH OF THAI INDEX
TH
1474.44
0.1623586
5.927732
1478.16
1070.25
HO CHI MINH STOCK INDEX
VN
484.01
0.9195163
16.98692
492.44
Laos Composite Index
LO
1426.32
-1.197692
17.41481
1455.82
Shanghai Shenzhen Composite index is listing the biggest companies by market capitalisation. All data supplied by Bloomberg unless otherwise indicated.
WYNN MACAU LTD
21.55
0.7009346
2.863958
25.5
14.62
2617238
ASIA ENTERTAINME
4.67
11.99041
52.61438
7.24
2.4
510936
BALLY TECHNOLOGI
46.72
0.9507347
4.495641
51.16
41.34
407577
372.39
BOC HONG KONG HO
3.46
0.2898551
12.70359
3.46
2.56
1000
880.65
GALAXY ENTERTAIN
4.41
-2.649007
11.08312
4.53
2.18
12194 2922026
INTL GAME TECH
15.27
0.9920635
7.762879
17.37
10.92
JONES LANG LASAL
91.31
-0.5229328
8.780078
91.99
61.39
268022
LAS VEGAS SANDS
52.81
0.1897173
14.40641
58.3216
32.6127
6003496
MELCO CROWN-ADR
20.06
-1.61844
19.12114
20.59
9.13
3466934
MGM CHINA HOLDIN
2.2
0
18.91892
2.3
1.3525
2000
MGM RESORTS INTE
12.98
-0.1538462
11.51202
14.9401
8.83
14560852
SHFL ENTERTAINME
14.61
-1.616162
0.7586207
18.77
11.75
235718
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business daily January 30, 2013
Opinion
Will the global economy add up?
Lawrence H. Summers
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1999-2001) and a former president of Harvard University
T
his year has begun on a note of cautious optimism for the global economy. Europe is back from the brink. The United States did not fall over the fiscal cliff. Japan is moving to change its economic strategy, and China appears to be getting back on track. Financial-market indices in the U.S., moreover, are near pre-crisis levels, and expected volatility is at multi-year lows. Major financial institutions are, for the most part, better capitalised than they have been in a long time. Balance sheets have been repaired, and many actors are awash with cash. While 2013 will not be a banner year, it may nonetheless come to be viewed as the first year of the post-crisis period. To be sure, the political environment remains challenging almost everywhere. The U.S. will face a trifecta of new fiscal hurdles – lack of legal authority to pay debt, no operating budget for the federal government, and the dreaded prospect of sequestration – before the end of March. Crucial elections lie ahead in Italy and Germany. China’s new government comes to power amid unprecedented levels of public concern about corruption and inappropriate enrichment of public officials. And it is not clear that Japan’s fractured politics will permit stable governance in the years ahead. But there is the prospect of a virtuous circle in which economic improvement leads to less surly politics, in turn reducing uncertainty and boosting recovery further. So far, at least, the worst fears about the adverse political consequences of poor economic performance have not materialised – even in Greece. So my guess is that if nothing else goes terribly wrong, politics will not undo the global economy.
Right strategy Unfortunately, much else could go wrong. In particular, while each of the global economy’s major regions has a plausible growth strategy, these strategies may not add up. Virtually the only proposition on which international economists agree is that the sum of all trade balances must equal
zero. And, as a corollary, every bit of export-led growth that countries enjoy must be offset somewhere in the system by output growth that falls short of demand growth. So, a major challenge now is that around the world there seems to be far more planning for exportled growth than acceptance of reduced competitiveness and increased imports. At the beginning of 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama set the lofty goal of doubling America’s exports by the end of 2014. More than halfway through that five-year period, the U.S. is pretty much on track to meet that target, implying that export growth is ahead of import growth or growth in the global economy. In Europe, the only way that the financially distressed countries of the periphery can reduce their debt is to run trade surpluses. With limits on Germany’s willingness to accept a reduction in its competitiveness and repeated signals from the European Central Bank that monetary policy will remain highly accommodating, export-led growth seems to be the goal
here, too. And, in Asia, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s new Japanese government has already depressed the value of the yen and buoyed export prospects by placing reflation through monetary easing at the centre of its agenda, while the most recent statistics out
While 2013 will not be a banner year, it may nonetheless come to be viewed as the first year of the post-crisis period
of China suggest significantly faster export growth than was anticipated.
Global growth So, where will the extra imports needed to support all of this additional exporting come from? Perhaps weaker commodity prices will create space for other imports, and commodity producers’ trade positions will swing toward lower surpluses. But lower commodity prices in a highly buoyant global economy would not be in line with past patterns. Perhaps emerging economies with improved prospects will attract higher capital flows, financing larger trade deficits as capital goods are purchased directly or indirectly. But will this be enough to offset all that is happening in the larger economies? It is quite likely that some would-be export champions will be disappointed as planned competitiveness increases do not materialise. This is why serene views of the effects of austerity based on historical
experience are misguided. A single country or region consolidating or deleveraging in a thriving global economy can expect that its lower interest rates will translate into a weaker currency and an improved trade position. But most major economies cannot expect this in a struggling global economy. Each country’s austerity imposes external costs by reducing demand for other countries’ products. In this sense, it has a beggar-thyneighbour aspect, which may be enhanced if the austerity is offset by monetary expansion. The implication for policymakers is clear. More than at almost any time in recent years, international coordination to avoid excessive austerity will be essential for global economic success. Ensuring that national strategies are not just locally prudent, but also globally consistent should be the central task for the G-20 and the International Monetary Fund in 2013. Otherwise, the global growth equation may not add up. © Project Syndicate
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 Associate editor Michael Grimes Newsdesk Alex Lee, Luciana Leitão, 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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January 30, 2013 business daily | 15
OPINION Business
Farewell Hillary, for now
Leading reports from Asia’s best business newspapers
Yuriko Koike
wires
Japan’s former Minister of Defence and National Security Adviser and currently an opposition leader in the Diet
Korea Herald The Financial Supervisory Service imposed fines on three foreign-owned brokerage firms – Deutsche Securities Korea, Credit Suisse’s Korean operation and CLSA Korea – worth 37.5 million won (US$35,000) each for breaching real-name account rules. They were also issued a caution warning. A foreign securities firm has expressed unease about the nation’s financial regulator’s recent sanction on them for leaking customers’ information abroad. An executive from one of the three firms claimed that it is legal for foreign companies to share client information among the same companies and affiliate firms.
Myanmar Times Rugy Dragon chairman and Amyotha Hluttaw representative U Nay Win Tun urged the government to extend mining concessions for Myanmar companies from three years to a minimum of five years. Speaking at a meeting at the Ministry of Mines to elect central executive committee members of the Myanmar Mining Association, he said it would improve standards at the country’s mines. “Because work has to be done in a rush over three years, mines cannot be made well,” said U Nay Win Tun, who is also chairman of the Amyotha Hluttaw Minerals and Resources Committee.
Jakarta Globe Indonesia’s Salim Group has announced a major acquisition deal to buy a Brazilian sugar company, marking the group’s foray into the Latin American market. Indofood Sukses Makmur, the world’s largest maker of instant noodles and a Salim Group unit, said in a filing on Monday that it was planning to acquire a 50 percent stake in a plantation company in Brazil through its subsidiary Indofood Agri Resources, as the company expands its sugar plantation business. The acquisition, worth US$71.7 million, will be financed by internal sources, it said.
Straits Times Internal reviews by banks in Singapore have found evidence thattraderscolludedtomanipulate rates in the offshore foreign exchange market, according to a source with knowledge of the inquiries. The probes found evidence showing that traders from several banks communicated with each other over electronic messaging about what rates they were going to submit for the local banking association’s fixings for nondeliverable foreign exchange forwards (NDFs), aiming to benefit their trading books. The Monetary Authority of Singapore ordered banks to review the fixing process last year.
F
. Scott Fitzgerald famously said that “there are no second acts in American lives”. Hillary Clinton’s stunning (and, I trust, unfinished) career – from First Lady to United States Senator to presidential candidate to U.S. Secretary of State in the administration of the man who defeated her – proves that Fitzgerald could not have been more wrong. Today, as Clinton prepares to leave office, there is widespread speculation that she will seek to succeed President Barack Obama in 2016. She has had not only a second act, but a third as well – and millions of Americans want her to write a fourth. Clinton’s four years as America’s top diplomat have given her iconic status around the world – and deservedly so. On her watch, two of the longest wars in U.S. history have been wound down, America’s alliances have been reinvigorated, and young women everywhere have been encouraged to pursue their dreams – whether in academia, business, or politics. Hers is a record that ranks her among the great post-war U.S. secretaries of state – Dean Acheson, Henry Kissinger, and James Baker. The position of secretary of state is truly global in scope. It demands not only a coherent conception of how the world works and the place of U.S. national interests within the international order, but also extraordinary political skill, stamina, timing, and, above all, courage. Clinton used all of these virtues to their highest possible effect. In the midst of two wars and Asia’s rise, Clinton confronted the three great tasks that any U.S. secretary of state must face: pinpointing the challenges at hand; developing a viable strategy that attracts the support of the entire U.S. government and public opinion; and managing the actual practice of U.S. diplomacy. Here, she was aided by the
great confidence that Obama placed in her – a remarkable outcome, given their rivalry in the 2008 presidential campaign. Obama’s decision attests not only to his judgment, but also to her character. Clinton’s primary challenge as secretary of state was to recast the very nature of U.S. involvement in global affairs. The go-it-alone America of the years of the war on terror had alienated its closest allies, and had proven insufficient both to resolving the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to creating a structure of peace for an Asia struggling to cope with China’s new power and assertiveness.
U.S. leadership an overriding priority, which she achieved without seeking to militarise every international problem. Her approach implicitly assumed that creating conditions of cooperative strength can make the search for lasting peace self-reinforcing. Moreover, even as she emphasised the importance of alliances, she did not neglect diplomatic engagement with adversaries,
Renewed trust With Clinton at the diplomatic helm, the U.S. once again made its alliances – in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia – both a core principle and the key operational mechanism of its foreign policy. This renewed trust in allies has been particularly important in Asia and the Middle East, where the U.S. has used cooperation with old partners like Turkey, Japan, and South Korea, and new near-alliances with India and Indonesia, to deter aggression. Indeed, American foreign policy’s “pivot to the Pacific” could not be undertaken without the U.S. having first reinvigorated its relationships with Asia’s democracies. But it also could not have been undertaken without Clinton’s resolve to make China part of the solution, rather than merely a target of recrimination or containment. As a result, China is being given the opportunity to preserve its dignity while receiving incentives to integrate into a stable regional – and ultimately global – order that welcomes it as an integral player, so long as it abides by multilateral rules. Of course, Clinton’s efforts to revitalise America’s alliances made restoring confidence in
Hers is a record that ranks her among the great post-war U.S. secretaries of state – Dean Acheson, Henry Kissinger, and James Baker
though never – particularly with respect to Iran and North Korea – as simply an exercise in splitting the difference. Clinton, the one-time legislator and practicing politician, understood that a stateswoman’s real legacy is not found in today’s headlines and opinion polls, but in lasting policies and institutions. This effort, she knew, requires a willingness to achieve one’s goals in stages, however imperfect. In her own words, “The challenge now is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible, possible.” Finally, less noted but of real long-term consequence, Clinton made the cause of gender equality – and not only in the halls of power – a special focus of her diplomacy. Wherever she travelled, she spoke out for equal rights. “In too many instances,” she noted, “the march to globalisation has also meant the marginalisation of women and girls. And that must change.” Clinton has helped to bring about such change, not only for women like her (and me), but, more important, for the world’s poor, disenfranchised, and silenced women. © Project Syndicate
16 |
business daily January 30, 2013
CLOSING Zhuhai gas line to be done by June
Stable outlook on Nova Park contractor
A new gas pipeline from Zhuhai to Macau would be completed before June, Yang Lei, an official with the National Energy Administration, said yesterday. China National Offshore Oil Corp started construction on the pipeline on January 8, he said at a press conference, quoted by official news agency Xinhua. The 7.7-kilometre pipeline is designed with an annual transport capacity of 520 million cubic metres of natural gas, according to the corporation’s website. The existing line has been suspended since June 2011.
Hong Kong-listed China State Construction International (CSCI) Holdings Ltd earned a “BBB-” rating – just within investment grade – with a stable outlook, from Fitch Ratings, thanks to strong financial ties with its state-owned parent companies. The firm is building Nova Park housing project in Taipa. Fitch analyst Cosmo Zhang told Business Daily he saw no “immediate impact” on the rating from the involvement of a CSCI subsidiary’s former employee in a corruption case linked to Ao Man Long.
China to allot US$16 bln in RQFII quotas to Taiwan
Japan govt approves US$1.02 tln budget
C
Still relying on borrowing to cover 46.3 pct of budget spending Tetsushi Kajimoto
Finance Minister Taro Aso
J
apan’s government approved yesterday a US$1.02 trillion draft budget for the next fiscal year that aims to nudge tax revenues above new bond sales for the first time in four years, but still relies on borrowing to cover 46.3 percent of its spending. The first full-year draft budget compiled under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe marks symbolic improvement after years of deterioration. With the 92.6 trillion yen (US$1.02 trillion) in spending, the government effectively trimmed the size of its draft budget from the previous year for the first time in seven years, taking into account government funding for basic pension payouts. Still, the budget size hovered around record levels, underlining the difficulty which Mr Abe’s government is facing in striking a balance between economic stimulus and fiscal reform. Taken together with an 10.3 trillion yen extra stimulus plan signed off earlier this month and financed in more than half by new bond sales, it drives borrowing to new highs, pushing Japan’s record high debt further into uncharted territory. “We managed to make the annual budget slimmer than before,” Finance Minister Taro Aso told
reporters. “Without the extra budget, the economy would fall into a severe situation in April-June,” he added. In fiscal year 2013/14 starting in April, the government plans to issue new bonds worth 42.8 trillion yen, below this year’s 44.2 trillion yen initial target. But combined with the extra budget borrowing of 5.2 trillion, Mr Abe’s government will borrow 48 trillion yen, though technically the extra budget borrowing will be booked in the 2012/13 accounts. Tax revenue is targeted to rise 750 billion yen to 43.1 trillion yen, mainly reflecting an expected pick-up in economic growth to 2.5 percent from 1.0 percent forecast for the current year.
Fiscal targets Within the 92.6 trillion yen general-account budget, spending excluding debt servicing costs is estimated at about 70.3 trillion yen, slightly less than the 71 trillion yen earmarked in the regular budget for the current fiscal year. The government is expected to submit the extra budget to parliament this week and the 2013/14 budget in late February. The previous government led by
the Democratic Party of Japan had set a 44 trillion yen ceiling on annual bond issuance and a 71 trillion yen cap on spending excluding debt servicing costs. Rating agencies, institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and many economists have said that those limits were seriously insufficient, allowing Japan to rack up budget deficits of close to 10 percent of GDP, above those seen in some of the most indebted euro zone countries. “We need to see whether the government can carry out its growth strategy to boost the economy, thus increase tax revenue, and also whether it can continue to cut expenditure,” said Yasuo Yamamoto, senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute. “I cannot deny a chance that the government will compile an extra budget again if the economy won’t recover ... It may raise public work spending, which would require more bond issuance.” So far, however, vast domestic savings have allowed Japan to comfortably cover nearly all of its financing needs at home and at record low interest rates. Reuters
hina will allot investment quotas of up to 100 billion yuan (US$16 billion) for Taiwanese seeking to put money into its financial markets under the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) programme, China’s securities regulator said yesterday. A China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) official also announced a series of measures to open its securities and futures markets to Taiwan, following an unprecedented meeting between the commission’s chairman Guo Shuqing and Taiwan’s top financial regulator earlier in the day. “This is a big breakthrough in cross-strait financial ties,” Tong Daochi, director of the CSRC’s international department, told a briefing for reporters in Taipei. “Now that we are here, we are sincere and determined.” The two sides have been moving to bolster their ties in the financial sector, which have lagged the closer cooperation in manufacturing and other areas due to Taiwanese concerns over influence by China, its one-time political foe. China’s central bank and Bank of China’s Taipei branch signed a clearing agreement last week for yuan transactions in Taiwan, completing the last step for the launch of yuan-based transactions in Taiwan next month. The Taiwanese will become the first offshore individual investors granted access to China’s mainland markets, under the measures announced yesterday. The RQFII and QFII quotas, established to allow foreigners to participate in China’s overseas markets, are now limited to institutions. China will also allow Taiwanese brokerages to own as much as 51 percent of their joint ventures with Chinese counterparts in Shanghai, Fujian and Shenzhen, Mr Tong said. In addition, Taiwan’s financial firms will be allowed to own a majority stake in mutual fund tie-ups with Chinese companies, he said, adding that China welcomes Taiwanese pension funds to invest in the mainland under the RQFII programme. Mr Tong did not give a timetable for putting the measures into effect. Taiwan, for its part, will double the limit for Chinese citizens’ total investment in Taiwan, under China’s qualified domestic institutional investor (QDII) programme, to US$1 billion, said Thomas Huang, the head of Taiwan’s securities regulator. Reuters