Macau Business Daily, May 2, 2012

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we live inside ideas.

Year I | Number 23 | May 2, 2012 Editor-in-chief | Tiago Azevedo Deputy editor-in-chief | José I. Duarte MOP $ 6.00

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acau Cable TV is urging the government to action on its application to offer consumers broadband Internet access at half the price of the city’s broadband service monopolist CTM. In an exclusive interview with Business Daily, Macau Cable TV chief executive officer Angela Lam In Nie said the government had been sitting on the bid for more than a year. But she stressed it would be good for Macau’s economy and could be done for around one billion patacas – about half the cost of a rival bidder, MTEL – because Macau Cable already has the wiring system in homes across the city. CTM’s broadband system was the subject of a ‘planking’ demonstration

Sands, Wynn best of new HK stocks

CEM mulls new round of power price hikes

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Tackle wealth gap Hong Kongers urge

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BROADBAND COMPETITION FOR ECONOMY’S SAKE – MCTV in Senado Square at the turn of the year. Frustrated subscribers lay down in the square in protest at slow download speeds – despite many paying a premium for supposedly ‘fast’ broadband.

There was also an outcry and a government inquiry earlier

this year when CTM’s mobile Internet and voice telephony system crashed leaving cellular subscribers without communications for hours.

Macau Cable has now decided to sue the government for compensation over accumulated losses of 19

million patacas, mostly due to the ongoing dispute with public antenna companies.

But Ms Lam still believes the company could have an important role to play in a future media liberalisation policy after 2014.

More on pages 4 & 5

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Brought to you by

HANG SENG INDEX

Labour Day PEACEFUL RALLY CALLS FOR CHANGE bout 1,400 people – a quarter of one percent of Macau’s population – took to the streets in the Labour Day demonstrations yesterday according to the police. But the Civil Servants’ Association said it had collected nearly 11,000 signatures in support of the socalled ‘plus 4 minus 4’ initiative. It calls for four legislators directly appointed by the Chief Executive to be replaced with four directly elected ones.

The street marchers expressed grievances ranging from poor living conditions, concerns about labour importation, the quality and timing of infrastructure, standards of education, and worries about health care and animal rights.

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But an underlying theme was that there needs to be more accountability in the governance system if Macau is to fulfil the potential promised by rapid if so far uneven GDP growth.

The largest of four authorised marches - and the last to arrive at government headquarters overlooking Nam Van Lake - was a group of residents seeking reunion with their adult children living in mainland China.

The demonstrations passed peacefully – unlike in 2007, when a passer-by was struck by a ricochet from a warning shot fired by a policeman, and 2010, when scores were injured in scuffles and police turned water cannon on protestors.

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HSI - Movers Name

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HSBC HLDGS PLC CHINA MOBILE

Casino money reports top half million

Speymill to restructure in hunt for profitability

Macau’s Financial Intelligence office processed more than half a million currency transaction reports from casinos in the past year. The amount of dubious currency deals also shot up and the number of cases heading to prosecutors for further investigation increased 88.1 percent to 190. The number would be even higher had Macau imposed on casinos the US$3,000 trigger favoured by the U.S. for general money movements.

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Speymill Macau Property Company Plc., the former owner of AIA Tower, will restructure and change investment strategy, it says. In future it will target “a variety of smaller and overlooked markets that lack significant foreign institutional analysis” added the company. The statement did not say whether the new company would continue investing in Macau. The restructuring plan will be voted on in at a shareholders’ meeting on May 24.

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CHINA CONST BA-H

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TENCENT HOLDINGS

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AIA GROUP LTD

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ESPRIT HLDGS

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CATHAY PAC AIR

0.15

ALUMINUM CORP-H

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SUN HUNG KAI PRO

-0.31

WANT WANT CHINA

-1.55

Source: Bloomberg

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business daily May 2, 2012

macau

May 1 rallies pass off peacefully Political reform, too much imported labour and declining living conditions among motivations driving about 1,400 people to join yesterday’s Labour Day protests Cherry Lee and Kelsey Wilhelm newsdesk@macaubusinessdaily.com

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at headquarters, comprised residents seeking reunion with their adult offspring living in the mainland.

Ms Hwang criticised the individual travel scheme that means she sees her children in nearby Zhongshan city only once or twice a week. She complained that the government only allowed children of the rich and powerful to enter Macau.

Protesters shared diverse and often contradictory views.

João dos Santos, 63, said allowing the adult children of Macau citizens into the city might lead to bigger problems. “When one comes, 20 may follow,” he said.

Political change The president of the Civil Servants’ Association, José Pereira Coutinho, joined the rally under the banner of Macau Youth Dynamics. He said he had joined the rally as an ordinary citizen.

Bearing a sign reading “Plus 4, Minus 4”, he called on the government to replace four legislators appointed by the chief executive with four seats voted into the Legislative Assembly by popular election.

“We achieved close to 11,000 signatures that support ‘Plus 4, Minus 4’. Therefore, the government has to pay attention because ... there’s a part of society that is in favour of democracy, of more directly elected deputies,” he said.

In addition, he called for an increase in maternity leave and overtime payments, as well as changes to city planning, transportation and housing.

He said he wanted the “herd education” system to be tackled. Instead, there should be a focus on educating citizens in basic rights and liberties.

“The government only knows how to distribute cheques,” he said, “[It’s] lazy … it only distributes cheques

and doesn’t solve anything.”

Mr Coutinho also wants an increase in the amount distributed under the wealth-sharing scheme to 10,000 patacas (US$1,251). The increase would cover rising prices and rents.

Another protester, who gave her family name as Lam, joined the New Macau Association of Iron Fitters rally.

She wanted broad reforms in education. She said hundreds of parents competed to get their children into kindergartens here, yet the quota was not big enough to accommodate all of them.

Bystanders seemed interested in the rallies but some doubted their effectiveness.

“They’re not going to achieve anything with this,” said one resident who gave his name as Santos. “With dialogue and direct contact, maybe, (they) could bring this to the table but doing this just because it’s May 1 is pointless.”

Photo by Manuel Cardoso

bout 1,400 people took to the streets in Labour Day demonstrations yesterday, according to estimates provided by the police.

Protesters demanded better living conditions and political reform among a grab bag of issues. There were noisy protests expressing discontent about the number of nonresident workers in the city, poor infrastructure, and the state of education system and medical treatment.

Protesters held banners, and umbrellas, and aired their grievances to the government using megaphones.

The cities’ May 1 rallies went off without incident and, although no trouble was expected, each of the rallies was under constant police vigilance on roads leading towards Government Headquarters.

Four community associations were behind the biggest protests. The biggest of the four, and the last to arrive

About 1,400 people joined this year’s Labour Day rally but despite heavy police surveillance there were no incidents The largest of yesterday’s four protests was organised by a group of residents seeking reunion with their adult children living in mainland China

The New Macau Association of Iron Fitters demonstration, which began at the Iao Hon market, called on the government to further restrict the number of non-resident workers

The rally launched by the Macau Youth asked for the replacement of four Chief Executive-appointed legislators by four directly elected ones

May 2, 2012 business daily | 3

MACAU

More dubious currency deals heading to prosecutors More than half a million reports designed to halt money laundering were lodged last year, with fewer than 200 sent to Public Prosecutions Office Tiago Azevedo

tiago.azevedo@macaubusinessdaily.com

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here has been a nearly twofold increase in currency transaction reports probed by the Public Prosecutions Office in the past year.

According to figures from the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau revealed last Friday, 555,872 currency transaction reports were filed last year by gaming operators, a 89.1-percent increase from the 293,931 reports filed in 2010.

There were 1,563 suspicious transactions reports overall last year - a 28.1 percent rise over 2010.

The number of cases submitted to the Public Prosecutions Office for further investigation leapt to 190 – an 88.1-percent increase from a year earlier.

Casinos remain the biggest source of suspicious transactions reports.

Gaming operators filed 1,082 reports last year, more than twothirds for the year, according to Duarte Chagas, legal adviser at Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. Mr Chagas was speaking at a University of Macau seminar on the Operation of Games of Chance and Contracts.

Few prosecutions The number of cases probed remains just a small fraction of

the total number of suspicious transaction reports.

The reports were created as a tool to prevent money laundering.

However, between 2007 and last year, the number of cases sent to the prosecutor was just a fraction.

Even smaller was the number of prosecutions.

In 2007, of the 64 suspicious transaction reports, only three cases resulted in prosecution and just one conviction was recorded.

Between 2008 and 2010, courts here handed down four more convictions. Figures related to last year’s prosecutions and convictions will be released later this month.

“There is a gap between what is reported and the number of prosecutions,” says Mr Chagas. “(The number of accusations) is not very high but it’s a common trend to all jurisdictions.”

combating money laundering.

In Macau, casinos have to file mandatory currency transaction reports with the gaming regulator for any transaction above 500,000 patacas.

Those reports are then submitted to the Financial Intelligence Office, which decides on whether to submit them to the Public Prosecutions Office.

“Our threshold is much higher but

we don’t intend to change it,” said Mr Chagas.

He says setting a lower threshold would not be sustainable in Macau.

Even with a 500,000-pataca ceiling, the gaming regulator received more than half a million currency reports last year.

“If it [the threshold] is lowered there will be no capacity to analyse all reports,” said Mr Chagas.

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Regulations by the Financial Action Task Force requires casinos to provide additional information for all transactions above a threshold of US$3,000 (23,971 patacas).

The task force is an intergovernmental body that sets standards and promotes effective implementation of measures for

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Sands, Wynn best of new HK stocks Sands China and Wynn Macau are the best-performing newcomers to the Hong Kong stock market in past three years Tony Lai

tony.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com

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ands China Ltd. and Wynn Macau Ltd. are the two best performers among the companies newly listed at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2009, according to data provider FactSet. The Wall Street Journal reported that Sands China was the first-ranked stock among the newly listed stocks, its price nearly tripling to HK$30.50 at the close of Monday’s session from its November 2009 initial public offering price of HK$10.38.

Rival gaming operator Wynn Macau was ranked second, its stock price more than doubling to HK$24.90 at the close Monday from HK$10.08 when it listed, in October 2009.

The last casino company to join the Hong Kong stock exchange was Melco Crown, last December, and its stock soared 60.6 percent from its initial introduction price of HK$25.4 to HK$40.8.

The only gaming firm to drop in the neighbouring market was MGM China, whose shares were listed at HK$15.6 in June 2011 but have since fallen by 7.8 percent to HK$14.38.

Altogether, 127 companies have listed their shares at the Hong Kong exchange in the past three years, raising at least US$100 million (800 million patacas) in their IPOs. Although the two Macau casino operators have performed well, 72 percent of the newcomers

From 2009 to the close of Monday’s session, Sands China’s price nearly tripled while Wynn Macau’s value more than doubled

are currently trading below their initial public offering prices.

Shampoo maker Bawang International (Group) Holding Ltd. and solar-panel manufacturer Trony Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. were the worstperforming newcomers, the prices of their shares dropping by more than 70 percent since their debuts.

Other well-known newly listed companies, such as AIA Group Ltd. and Prada S.p.A. have seen their stock prices rise by about one-third since they went public.

The Hong Kong exchange ranked first in the world for initial public offerings from 2009 to

last year, raising about US$138.7 billion.

But the market has been hit by investor distrust amid auditing disputes and delistings involving mainland companies listed abroad.

Hong Kong’s securities regulator stripped Mega Capital (Asia) Co. Ltd. of its corporate finance licence for failing to highlight misleading information given for the listing in 2009 of Hontex International Holdings Co. Ltd., a mainland maker of fabrics.

The regulator said new rules that would make bankers legally liable for prospectus information would be published for public consultation in the coming weeks.

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business daily May 2, 2012

macau Brought to you by

HOSPITALITY On an upswing

Cable TV dispute holding up cheap Internet access Vítor Quintã

vitorquinta@macaubusinessdaily.com

At the time of the handover, Macau had 74 hotels, with a total of 9,431 rooms.

In the first few years after 1999, the city saw a decrease in both the number of hotels and rooms. They reached their lowest levels between 2002, with just 68 hotels - and 2004, when the city’s inventory of rooms stood at 9,168 – the opening of the first Sands in NAPE notwithstanding.

Things started to turn around completely in 2005. New hotel openings brought the total to 75, exceeding for the first time the 1999 number, and a total of almost 1,700 additional rooms.

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acau Cable TV has been waiting for more than a year for a decision on its application to provide Internet access, which the company’s chief executive, Angela Lam In Nie, says would be 50 percent cheaper than CTM’s broadband service.

But Ms Lam told Business Daily in an exclusive interview that the company has had no regular dialogue with the government and had no choice but to sue it for failing to protect the company’s cable television concession.

She admitted that Cable TV will not break even by the time its concession ends in 2014 but she is confident that the company will have an important role to play in any liberalised market.

What is the financial situation of Macau Cable TV? In these past two years we are finally in a healthy situation and have managed to break even. Our profits are just about 5 million patacas but compared with our accumulated losses, we are still in the red.

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How big is the company’s accumulated loss?

Now it’s still 19 million patacas.

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Excluding this year’s hotel openings, from 2004 to last year, the number of hotel rooms increased by about 13,200 rooms to almost 22,400 rooms overall.

Their number more doubled, rising by an average of about 2,000 rooms a year.

This significant increase in supply permitted the city to accommodate a swelling number of hotel guests, but it has not immediately translated into a sustained rise in either occupancy rates or the amount of time visitors spend here.

In fact, the length of stay, in particular, showed a strong inertia.

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The period between 2001 and 2002 was a recession, followed by the SARS outbreak in 2003.

The contraction of the figures in that period is not surprising. But the length of stay kept declining up to 2006, albeit very slowly.

A relatively major turnaround occurred only in 2007. In absolute terms, the statistics suggest much more work is required to have tourists stay longer.

J.I.D.

Cable TV’s exclusive concession to broadcast copyright-protected channels ends in 2014. Do you expect to have recovered the accumulated loss by then?

We just have two years … I don’t think we can.

In the last five years we have already worked very hard. We tried our best just to make up for the losses and to break even.

In the end Cable TV is going to be a loss-making venture. How do your shareholders, including Kong Seng, view this fact?

They understand the circumstances we have been through and they also trust our operations. I think they can see the positive changes to our financial situation and also to our technical situation.

How about market penetration?

Last March, your lawyer said Cable TV had a penetration rate “below 20 percent or about 10,000 customers among 160,000 to 170,000 units”.

Well, there have been some changes.

For instance, the share that we get is about 50 percent on condominiums.

In the hotel sector, it’s almost 100 percent, with some guesthouses the only exceptions.

How about individual flats?

If you combine the customers from both the digital service and the analogue service, overall, we do have about 50 percent. But a significant slice of the analogue service segment is provided through other private companies we have cooperation with.

Obviously a 50 percent market penetration rate was not what the company had in mind when it signed the exclusive contract in 1999.

First of all, we should say that from day one until now we did not have the exclusive rights for this business because of the public antenna companies. We also don’t understand what the government want and what is their planning for it.

From our side, we already did all we can do, such as improve our service quality, the number of channels we have, our network reach. For instance, we have managed to adequately respond to all the requests from our hotel customers. The international brand hotels have high requirements for all things, including television.

Right way Public antenna companies charge 25 patacas a month per unit, while Cable TV’s basic package costs 168 patacas. Is price the only reason why people still choose the public antenna companies?

That is a long story but in people’s minds the first factor is the price.

Actually, we can’t really say the issue here is the price because the

fees charged by the public antenna companies are not realistic.

The price should include the rightful costs but just with the small amount of money public antenna companies are charging, it’s unreasonable that people expect to be able to watch so many channels.

So what are the other factors playing a role here?

On the other hand, it may be that we have many people from mainland China who want to watch channels from their home provinces, such as Fujian.

In addition, people want to have access to the sports channels without having to pay more than a small amount. But that would be a big harm to our business.

We did things the proper way. We bought the licence fees and it’s not a small amount for the business we should be getting. In the meantime, we have yet to get back the money we paid for the rights to broadcast these sports channels.

How much is Cable TV paying for the licence to broadcast English Premier League football matches?

We have a contract worth 20 million patacas for three seasons.

Failed collaboration What is the company’s relationship with the public antenna companies?

We had dialogue with those public antenna companies a long time ago. Now we’ve got some antenna companies cooperating with us.

We provide a clean signal to them, a signal covered by licence.

But there are still some antenna companies who are unwilling to talk or cooperate with us. They just do what they did before and some big ones even provide signal to other small ones.

Do the companies that cooperate with you pay you a commission?

No, nothing. Our intention is to make the entire cable signal in Macau legal, so we just give it and never collect money from the six antenna companies that are working with us like this.

We think Macau Cable TV is a suitable company to help the government promote competition in our industry

That does not sound like good business.

Well, for the last five years we have tried to propose a solution. We spoke with the antenna companies to cooperate with them. We just want to show to the government that there is a feasible solution.

Obviously, if the government would support us and enforce the law that

May 2, 2012 business daily | 5

MACAU

Orders ignored So the solution would be to get all the public antenna companies working with you and then start changing a commission?

There are two main problems. One is the copyright issue because they broadcast many channels for which they don’t have the copyright.

The second thing is that under the contract there is only one cable network provider.

Our solution would make it possible to solve both problems, step-bystep. But for that we would need the government to support us and to carry out the law.

And the government has not given you that support?

No. Even after we took some cases to the court and we got an injunction preventing the public antenna companies from continuing broadcasting some content, nobody in the government followed the orders. The DSRT [Bureau of Telecommunications Regulation] didn’t help carry out this injunction.

The major shareholder of Cable TV is actually a public antenna company, Kong Seng. How much does this fact further complicate the legal dispute?

Mainly it depends on the people involved, if they really want to solve the problem.

In our relationship with Kong Seng, we are trying to solve the problem in a better way. If the government really wants to solve the problem, there is a lot of input they can bring.

We are just trying to have Kong Seng and other smaller public antenna companies working together to show to the government and everybody that we can solve the problem, step-by-step, the proper way and peacefully.

What will be the impact of the new copyright law, which will come into effect next month, on this dispute?

We don’t think it will make any difference. It won’t change the injunction we already have on some copyright-protected content.

Meanwhile TDM has the licence to broadcast free-to-air English Premier League matches, but now they are indirectly providing the signal to the public antenna companies. But in the industry everybody knows it should not be this way because TDM does not have its own network. It just makes the case more complicated and more confusing to the Macau people, namely because TDM is controlled by the government.

everywhere in the buildings but in the new areas we are trying to make it clean. Still, there was no improvement on our concession situation.

We had some meetings with our lawyers and we reached the conclusion that we should take this step in order to protect our company.

Do you expect a court decision before the end of your contract?

All legal procedures in Macau take time. I really don’t know if we will get any result by the end of our contract. It’s out of our control. It will also depend on how much time the government will take to reply to our lawsuit.

Is Cable TV willing to take this lawsuit all the way or is it just an attempt to pressure the government into accepting an out-of-court agreement that would include financial compensation?

We still trust the law in Macau, so that we hope that the court’ll give a final decision that is fairer to us. In the meantime the current situation is quite unfair to Macau Cable TV. Even our image is seriously harmed.

What kind of harm?

For example, the illegal channels broadcasting football matches. We just want everything to operate according to the law and this is something that should be a duty of the government. But people now think we are to blame, that we are raising these issues to try to prevent them from seeing football matches on television.

Photo by Manuel Cardoso

protects our concession rights, then we could invite all the antenna companies to join this cooperation.

Only then would Macau’s television market be fully legal. In this way I think we might have some income from those antenna companies.

But in the last five years nothing changed.

Future doubts Do you think Cable TV’s contract will be renewed after 2014?

We really don’t know what the government is planning.

But authorities are looking to issue new licences to landline networks because they want more competition. With more competition, there can be better prices and service for Macau citizens.

We think Macau Cable TV is a suitable company to help the government promote competition in our industry.

We already have the resources and the infrastructure here so it would be easier and it would take less time for us to provide better service and better price to the customers.

We would like the government to know that if they issue new licences, they should think about Macau Cable TV as well.

So you think that a new exclusive concession contract is off the agenda?

We really don’t know. In the last few years we have been unable to find out what the government is thinking, what’s in their minds.

We tried to talk to them but still no

answer. We even applied for some licences but they are stuck. There is no reply on whether we can do it or not.

What kind of licences did you apply for?

According to our concession contract, we could expand our service from just cable television to telecommunications services. We have applied to provide Internet access through our cable network, which is very common worldwide.

You can find such services in Hong Kong, America and all over Europe.

One after another When did you apply for Internet services?

Over a year ago.

And there was no reply from the government?

Their reply was to ask us many questions. We answered those doubts and yet there were again all different kinds of questions raised.

They never gave us an answer.

Out of control The public antenna companies have been an issue since 1999 and last February Cable TV decided to sue the government for failing to protect its exclusive concession. Why only now?

We did all kinds of things in the last few years. We tried to talk to the antenna companies. We tried to talk to the government. We tried to offer a solution and we even tried to give a lower price to clients. We built up our network and we improved our signal.

In the old neighbourhoods of the city you can see cable spaghetti

Key Points • Although Cable TV made a 5-million-pataca (US$626,000) profit last year, its accumulated losses are 19 million patacas • The company is paying 20 million patacas to show English Premier League matches for three seasons • Cable TV’s strategy has been to let some public antenna companies re-transmit its signal free of charge – at least initially • The company’s fate after its concession ends in 2014 is unclear • Cable TV’s Internet service could be 50 percent cheaper than CTM’s service

They only raised one problem after another.

I have no idea why they left us hanging there, without giving us a clear answer: yes, no or what we have to do to correct in our proposal.

How would this service benefit Macau?

In our proposal we said the service would have a very reasonable price to the customer. The government itself has said Internet access prices are quite unreasonable at the moment. Well, if Macau Cable TV can join the competition, it would be very good for Macau.

In comparison with CTM’s broadband Internet access, how reasonable would your price be?

About half. That is our estimation.

But of course we can think that the price could be even lower in the meantime.

How profitable would the Internet service be for Macau Cable TV? We don’t have those calculations yet.

And what kind of investment would be necessary?

Well, the company [MTEL] vying to get a licence for the landline network said it would invest as much as 1 billion patacas. We have a network already, so of course that would be an advantage because we can begin providing the service much sooner.

I believe our investment would be about half of the one of any other company starting from scratch.

If the government were to give you the green light today, how soon could you have the service up and running?

In about six months.

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business daily May 2, 2012

macau Brought to you by

Electricity prices may rise again CEM says a second round of power increases is likely in the second half of this year

Importing affluence Macau has a growing and increasingly affluent population, which implies greater consumption.

Given the limited supply of most consumer goods, the additional demand can only be satisfied by imports.

Naturally, imports have been rising, almost doubling during the period from 2008 to last year.

Data for the first quarter of this year suggests a continuation of that rapid growth, with the average growth of imports of consumer goods reaching about 32 percent.

A rough estimate for this year, based on the growth rates registered in the first quarter, highlights dramatic, recent changes.

Higher mainland prices for electricity and irregular supply of natural gas may lead to a second round of power increases

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Tough economic times between 2008 and 2009 resulted in flatlining imports of goods.

Most growth has been registered in the past two years.

In the “Other consumer goods” category, it is interesting to note the evolution of products that are in demand from tourists. Among them, are personal accessories such as jewellery, watches, bags and shoes, and cosmetics.

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he electricity tariff may increase again in the second half of this year because of rising costs, Iun Iok Meng, an adviser to the executive committee of Companhia de Electricidade de Macau S.A. has said.

The city’s sole electricity supplier announced last week that the price of electricity for the majority of the population would rise by 3.1 percent to 1.32 patacas (US$0.17) a kilowatt-hour in this quarter.

Now CEM is pondering whether to increase the electricity tariff again later in the year because of higher prices for electricity generated in the mainland, the irregular supply of natural gas and an upsurge in the price of diesel fuel, the Chinese-language Macau Daily News quoted Mr Iun as telling after a CEM customer liaison

meeting on Monday.

Mr Iun said the government should come up with a new plan for easing the burden on residents, considering the situation. Every Macau household receives a 180-pataca electricity subsidy a month from the government.

The president of the Industry and Commerce Association of Macau’s northern district, Wong Kin Chong, told reporters after the meeting that the government should also subsidise the electricity used by small and medium enterprises.

Mr Wong said electricity accounted for one-fifth of the operating costs of most companies.

He said electricity demand in old neighbourhoods, such as the northern district, was increasing in tandem with economic development.

The grid there struggles to keep up with demand and Mr Wong hopes CEM has plans to improve its infrastructure to stabilise the supply.

Two power cuts in less than a month last year affected almost 6,000 households in the Areia Preta and Horta e Costa areas.

The first, which lasted for almost three hours, was due to the failure of a transformer in a substation.

Mr Iun said CEM still did not know when natural gas supplies would resume. Supplies were suspended last June because of blasting work on Hengqin Island.

Natural gas provides about onethird of power generated in Macau. Just 21 percent of the electricity consumed in the city was generated here.

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Taipa car park opening delayed

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Additional parking spaces at Central Park deferred until second half

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Imports of these products have grown explosively between 2010 and last year. The first three categories doubled or more. They even make imports of shoes and cosmetics, with growths of 50 percent and 33 percent, look mild.

Some retailers do not seem to have any reason to complain about the times. Our visitors are keeping them busy.

J.I.D.

he car park beneath the proposed Taipa Central Park will open to the public later than planned, in the third quarter of this year, Business Daily has learned.

Construction works on the Light Rapid Transit rail project near the Jockey Club will cut the number of parking spaces available in the area and the underground car park was to soften the impact.

The Transportation Infrastructure Office said works on this section

of the rail system would only start once the car park beneath the Taipa Central Park had opened.

But the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau told Business Daily it would “try to have some of the car silo spaces available to the public soon”.

A press conference has been called for today to clarify the car park’s opening.

“At the moment we are stepping up our efforts to put together and organise trials for the several facilities existing

in the car silo,” the bureau said.

“We believe that his solution will soften the pressure created by demand over parking spots in this area (and) make up for the reduction in the number of parking spots that were removed due to construction work in this area.”

The car park will have 2,727 spaces, with about 1,300 spots each for motorcycles and cars, including 10 spaces for drivers with disabilities.

V.Q.

Weather Beijing 29/16o C Changchun 17/7o C

Harbin 17/9o C

Xian 25/15o C Shanghai 23/17o C Chengdu 26/18o C Kunming 26/15o C Haikou 36/26o C Sanya 33/28o C

Guangzhou 31/24o C

MACAU (30 April-5 May) Day

Temperature

Humidity

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Shenzhen 28/25o C

ASIA (today)

Hong Kong 30/25o C

Manila

Macau 30/26o C

TOKYO

Jacarta

34/27 C

32/26o C

19/15o C

32/25o C

Bangkok

SEOUL

K. lumpur

o

37/25 C o

SINGAPORE

25/15o C

33/26o C

taipei

31/22o C

May 2, 2012 business daily | 7

MACAU

Speymill to restructure in hunt for profitability Loss-making fund manager announces restructuring and shift of focus; future in Macau unclear Tony Lai

tony.lai@macaubusinessdaily.com

T

he former owner of AIA Tower, Speymill Macau Property Company Plc., will restructure and change its investment policy, the company announced in a statement on Monday.

The company’s name will change to Terra Capital Plc., with new investment objectives and strategies aimed at “investing a large percentage of its assets in a variety of smaller and overlooked markets that lack significant foreign institutional analysis”.

The statement did not say whether the new company would continue investing in Macau.

Three of the four existing directors – Howard Golden, Yarden Mariuma and Harald Wengust – will resign.

Terra Partners Asset Management Ltd., a company controlled by Mr Golden, Mr Mariuma and Filip Montfort, will be appointed as the new company’s external investment manager.

Since its first investment in 2006, Speymill’s objective has been to invest in high-quality residential property here.

In mid-2008, the firm bought AIA Tower from a joint-venture led by Morgan Stanley and involving Hong Kong-listed investors such as Pioneer

After selling its last asset, AIA Tower, Speymill will restructure and focus on ‘smaller and overlooked markets’

Global Group Ltd. and Wachovia Corp. for a reported HK$600 million.

The Global Financial Crisis of 200809 hurt the company’s bottom line.

It posted a loss of US$46.5 million (372 million patacas) in 2008, which eventually led to shareholders agreeing in November 2010 to sell its property assets and commence liquidation.

According to the 2011 annual report, Speymill recorded a loss of US$5.9 million, a 15-percent increase over

Corporate World’s top eateries include Robuchon

C

hef Joel Robuchon’s threeMichelin-star restaurant in Macau is in the list of the 100 top restaurants in the world compiled by the World’s Best Restaurants Academy and published in Britain’s Restaurant magazine.

Robuchon a Galera is ranked 82nd.

The restaurant has since been renamed Robuchon au Dôme and has moved to the Grand Lisboa Hotel.

Robuchon’s restaurant was fourth in the list of Asia’s 20 best restaurants in last year’s Miele Guide.

The World’s Best Restaurants Academy top 50 includes eight restaurants in the United States and five in Spain.

The top 50 also includes six establishments in Asia: Iggy’s and Waku Ghin in Singapore; Narisawa and Nihonryori Ryugin in Tokyo; Amber in Hong Kong; and Nahm in Bangkok.

Noma, a waterside establishment in Copenhagen, was named the world’s best restaurant for the third time in a row.

George Benson to open Venetian’s music fest Jazz legend George Benson is scheduled to open The Venetian Carnival 2012, which will take place at The Venetian Macao from May 25 to 27.

The 10-time Grammy Awardwinning musician will perform on May 25, followed by entertainers such as the Michael Foster Project brass band and four-time Emmy nominees the Pine Leaf Boys.

The event will present 12 jazz and blues bands, as well as individual

performers selected from a pool of entrants to the Venetian’s jazz and blues band competition.

The closing date for performers to enter the battle of the bands contest has been put back to May 4, the Venetian Macao has announced.

“Entries to date have exceeded expectations with the sheer number of high-calibre talent,” said The Venetian’s vice-president of sales and resort marketing, Brendon Elliott.

the loss of US$5.1 million in 2010.

The company pulled the plug on a deal with La Salle Investment Management over the residential complex Bel-Lago.

The development’s plot near the Nam Van Lake remains frozen.

After the sale of AIA Tower to American International Assurance Co. (Bermuda) Ltd. for HK$1.26 billion on January 31, shareholders reversed their decision to liquidate the company.

Mr Golden, who is the company chairman, said the restructuring would be carried out as “a majority of shareholders by value would like to maintain their investment in the company and would support the continuation of the life of the company”.

The restructuring plan will be voted in at a shareholders’ meeting on May 24. If approved, the Isle of Man-based company will buy back shareholders’ stakes at US$0.825 a share.

Michael Leven, president of LVS

8 |

business daily May 2, 2012

GREATER CHINA

China’s incoming leadership to pursue ‘healthy’ growth West’s claims of rigged yuan ‘weak’ argument – sovereign boss

C

hina will pursue a more “healthy,” slower growth rate under its next leadership, the vice chairman of Beijing’s sovereign investment fund said yesterday.

Other Asian countries – rather than Europe or the United States – are likely to be the beneficiaries of the new policy added Gao Xiqing, vice chairman and president of the China Investment Corp. He said China’s previous growth had been at “neck-breaking” speed.

Mr Gao rebuffed criticism that China has exploited a fixed exchange rate on the yuan to spur its massive growth of cheap exports, saying it could not “rig” the exchange rates in places like Hong Kong and Singapore.

“Whatever we lose in terms of exporting to the United States and to Europe is going to be a gain of other Asian countries,” he told a business and economics conference in Los Angeles.

China’s growth has tapered off recently, falling to 8.1 percent in the first quarter from 8.9 percent in the last quarter of 2011, as domestic demand drops and Europe’s debt problems curb business activity.

Market-based reforms begun three decades ago have slowed, but Mr

Gao said they would revive once China undergoes a key, once-in-adecade leadership transition due to take place later this year.

“With our new government coming in the time has come to follow an even more healthy direction simply because over the past few years we have been going at neck-breaking speed,” said the wealth fund executive.

Brakes applied “The fact that we’ve come down is actually a very good sign... we believe that given time its going to be growing fast and much more healthily,” he added at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles.

He noted that economic reforms had been underway for some 30 to 35 years, but that they had slowed, with state spending growing from 30 percent to more than 50 percent of the Chinese economy over the last decade. “The government will try to reverse that,” he said.

China’s central bank decided last month to allow the yuan to fluctuate up to 1.0 percent on either side of its trading band, and the fund vice chairman noted that Beijing

Gao Xiqing of China Investment Corp

could not dictate the exchange rate everywhere.

“We have a lot of offshore trading places now, Hong Kong, Singapore,” said Mr Gao. “The Chinese government cannot really

go to those places to try to rig the exchange rate. I think it’s a weak argument now when people say, ‘Oh it’s because you are fixed, so therefore we have problems.’

AFP

May 2, 2012 business daily | 9

GREATER CHINA

Manufacturing output 13-month high in April ‘Don’t break out champagne yet,’ says analyst Lucy Hornby

C

hina’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to a 13-month high in April, signalling the economy has found a footing and may be recovering from a first-quarter trough, but smaller factories are still struggling.

The pick-up in the PMI to 53.3 from 53.1 in March indicated a further expansion in the vast factory sector, although it was slightly below market expectations of 53.6. Readings above 50 signal expansion while those below 50 point to contraction.

The manufacturing output subindex rose to 57.2 from 55.2 in March. However, the National Bureau of Statistics noted many important industries remained weak with index readings below 50, among them chemicals, equipment, autos and oil refining.

The improvement in manufacturing in likelihood reflected restocking after a slow winter, said Ting Lu, an economist at Bank of AmericaMerrill Lynch.

Although new export orders edged up to 52.2 from 51.9 in March, the sub-index for all new orders slipped to 54.5 from 55.1, implying that domestic new orders remained weak.

The PMI boosted Australian shares, but did little to move other markets where investors are concerned about a sluggish U.S. economy and the bubbling euro area debt crisis.

Indeed, many markets, including those in China, were closed on Monday to mark public holidays.

Credit squeeze Tight credit, especially for real estate developers and private firms, had helped push the Chinese economy to its weakest footing since the fall

Bubbling under – China recovery still soft

of 2008. But there are signs that the availability of loans is improving.

New loans in April may have reached 900 billion yuan (US$140 billion), the Caijing Magazine said this weekend, citing a recent report

by China International Capital Corp. More attractive interest rates led to acceleration in new mortgages, it added.

China’s annual growth slowed to 8.1 percent in the first quarter of 2012 from 8.9 percent in the previous three months - the fifth consecutive quarter of slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

“China remains in a tough spot.

Timid monetary easing over the

past few months has ensured the gentlest of bounce-backs following the recent crunch,” said Alistair Thornton, economist for IHS Global Insight in Beijing, in a research note.

He added said the figures showed activity picking up but cautioned it was “too early to break out the champagne”.

“There are signs of life in the economy and things should improve, all underpinned by an easing credit climate. But the recovery will be slower, more volatile and less assured than perhaps markets were hoping for,” said Mr Thornton.

The tight credit conditions have

disproportionately hit smaller and private companies, as reflected in a survey of smaller factories by HSBC. The HSBC Flash PMI, the earliest indicator of China’s industrial activity, showed a stabilising economy last week. That index’s reading of 49.1 for April came in below 50 for the sixth month in a row, reflecting a contraction in the factory sector, however the rate of deterioration slowed in a sign the economy may have bottomed out in the first quarter.

HSBC is due to release its final reading for April tomorrow.

Reuters/AFP

Clinton promises Beijing ‘frank’ talk on human rights

Taiwan edges out of recession

Blind activist crisis threatens to derail trade talks

But economy still vulnerable

Outlook clouded – Chen Guangcheng’s case threatens trade talks

U

.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton set off yesterday on a high-stakes trip to China. But the saga of a blind Chinese rights activist reportedly taking refuge at the U.S. embassy in Beijing threatens to overshadow high-level meetings between the two governments.

Mrs Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will lead the U.S. team at the “strategic and economic dialogue” on Thursday and Friday, an annual meeting aimed at broadening ties between the world’s two top economies.

But sharp divisions between Washington and Beijing on human rights could dominate the agenda because of the case of lawyer Chen Guangcheng. Mr Chen upset authorities by exposing stories of alleged forced abortions and sterilisations under China’s one-child policy.

He made a daring escape last week from house arrest and, according to fellow activists, took refuge in the U.S. mission.

U.S. President Barack Obama and other officials

have declined to answer repeated questions about Mr Chen’s whereabouts, underscoring the sensitivity of the situation ahead of the U.S. presidential election and a choreographed leadership change in China’s ruling Communist Party.

But Mrs Clinton yesterday pledged to press China’s leaders on the issue of human rights, which has dropped down the agenda between the two countries in the more than two decades since the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.

“A constructive relationship includes talking very frankly about those areas where we do not agree, including human rights.

That is the spirit that is guiding me as I take off for Beijing,” she said.

Reuters/AFP

T

aiwan’s economy edged out of recession in the first quarter.

But in a sign that Asia’s exporters are not yet out of trouble, the government cut its full-year forecast for a fourth time and flagged an increased inflation risk.

After two quarters of contraction, the economy grew 0.26 percent quarteron-quarter in the first three months of the year. It marks what an economist says is likely to be the bottom for the current cycle. The government trimmed its 2012 growth forecast to 3.38 percent from 3.85 percent however, suggesting recovery will be uneven.

“The quarter-on-quarter figure was a confirmation that Q1 was the bottom of this year,” said Anita Hsu, economist at Masterlink Investment Advisory in Taipei.

“What remains to be seen is whether momentum in the second half will pick up as strongly as the market is expecting, depending on the U.S. economy and Europe’s situation,” she added.

From the first quarter a year earlier, growth was 0.36 percent, at the bottom end of forecasts, pulled down by lacklustre manufacturing and investment.

The revised full-year forecast puts government estimates closer to those of independent economists. A recent long-term Reuters poll put 2012 GDP growth at a median 3.1 percent.

Taiwan’s top two manufacturers of to-order computer chips - TSMC and UMC have forecast strong growth from the second quarter, with TSMC raising its planned capital spending for this year to a record high.

Reuters

10 |

business daily May 2, 2012

ASIA

Asia stocks fall on lower Japanese earnings Outlook for exports uncertain suggests U.S. data

South Korea exports down for third month

Yoshiaki Nohara and Norie Kuboyama

A

sia’s benchmark stock index fell, paring Monday’s advance, as Japanese companies forecast lower-thanestimated earnings. The outlook for exporters also dimmed after a report signalled U.S. manufacturing is slowing.

Tokyo Electron Ltd., which sells industrial electronics products, sank 6.7 percent after its earnings estimate trailed analysts’ projections.

Sony Corp., Japan’s No. 1 exporter of consumer electronics, lost 3.3 percent as the yen gained against the dollar to the highest level since February. Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1.9 percent as the nation’s central bank said it would cut interest rates to spur growth.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.4 percent to 124.80 as of 1.47 p.m. yesterday in Tokyo with six of its 10 industry groups falling. Japan and Australia were the only major markets trading yesterday in Asia, with markets closed in Hong Kong, China, India and South Korea.

“Investors can’t get optimistic about the Japanese economy,” said Koji Toda, chief fund manager at Resona Bank Ltd. in Tokyo, a unit of Japan’s fifth-biggest lender by market value. “The number of companies where earnings are

improving as much as investors’ expectations is relatively small.”

The Asia-Pacific index fell 2.8 percent in March and April amid concern Europe will be trapped in a recession with debt- stricken nations such as Spain cut spending, and as Chinese economic growth slows.

Strengthening yen Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.2 percent after the yen touched 79.74 per dollar on Monday, the strongest level since February 22, showing that the Bank of Japan’s additional stimulus on April 27 isn’t weakening the currency.

A stronger yen cuts the value of overseas earnings at Japanese exporters. Japan’s markets will be closed tomorrow and on Friday for public holidays.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.2 percent after the Reserve Bank of Australia cut its benchmark interest rate by a half percentage point to a two-year low.

Tokyo Electron, the world’s secondbiggest maker of semiconductor production equipment, fell 6.7 percent to 4,155 yen, the lowest level since February, after predicting profit will drop 18 percent this fiscal year.

Yamada Denki Co., an operator of consumer electronics stores, slumped 9.8 percent to 4,690 yen after reporting an operating profit of 88.9 billion yen (US$1.1 billion), missing analyst estimates of 112 billion yen.

Sharp Corp., Japan’s largest maker of liquid-crystal displays, dropped 8.9 percent to 470 yen after forecasting a wider than expected full-year net loss.

Of 374 companies listed on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index that have reported earnings since April 10, about 42 percent missed analysts estimates and 45 percent beat them.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.2 percent yesterday. The index slid 0.4 percent in New York yesterday, when the Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc. said its business activity barometer dropped to 56.2 in April, showing manufacturing is cooling. Readings greater than 50 signal growth.

Companies that do business in the U.S. fell. Sony dropped 3.3 percent to 1,273 yen. Honda Motor Co., Japan’s second- largest carmaker by market value that generates 44 percent of its sales in North America, declined 3 percent to 2,810 yen.

Bloomberg

U.S. backs Japan entry in trade talks

South Korean exports fell for the third month of the last four while inflation hit a 21-month low in April, putting pressure on the central bank to shift policy toward caring for growth in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

“Exports this year may fall short of the US$595 billion that we projected in January,” Han Jin Hyun, the country’s deputy trade minister, told reporters in Gwacheon yesterday. “China is slowing at a pace faster than expected, which is the biggest concern. Europe is also a major drag.”

Exports in April fell a preliminary 4.7 percent from a year earlier, data from the Ministry of Knowledge Economy showed on Tuesday, falling short of the median forecast in a Reuters survey.

The consumer price index rose 2.5 percent in April from a year earlier, Statistics Korea data showed separately, marking the slowest annual pace since July 2010.

Analysts said the weak set of indicators underscored that the economy was still struggling to regain its footing and placed the Bank of Korea under pressure to shift its focus further away from fighting inflation.

The government did not provide a breakdown of export figures by destination for the full month of April, but data for the first 20 days of the month showed sales to the European Union fell 16.7 percent on a year-on-year basis.

Exports to China, which takes in one-quarter of South Korea’s total shipments abroad and is its biggest export market, were up just 1.7 percent for the April 1-20 period.

Financial markets in Seoul were closed on Tuesday for Labour Day.

Mitsui, Mitsubishi buy stake in Woodside

ambitions for the agreement or allowing the talks to drag on.

Canadian trade minister Ed Fast, in Australia to drum up support for his country’s application, said it was unclear when a decision would be made or whether all three applications would be dealt with together.

“Each of our economies - Japan, Mexico, Canada - have unique circumstances, unique challenges, unique trade barriers that the current partners want to have addressed,” Mr Fast told Reuters in an interview at the Canadian consulate in Sydney.

Mitsubishi Corp., Japan’s biggest trading company, and Mitsui & Co. agreed to buy a 14.7 percent stake in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.’s proposed Browse liquefied natural gas project in Australia for US$2 billion.

The Mitsui and Mitsubishi venture, Japan Australia LNG Pty, also agreed to acquire about 1.5 million metric tons of LNG annually from Browse, Perth-based Woodside, Australia’s second- biggest oil producer, said today in a statement.

The shares rose to the highest in almost seven months in Sydney.

Chief Executive Officer Peter Coleman said in August that Woodside may sell stakes in the Browse and Pluto LNG ventures to help fund more than US$70 billion of planned projects to meet rising Asian demand. The company was expected to get about US$1.5 billion for a 15 percent stake in Browse, Bell Potter Securities Ltd. estimated before the announcement yesterday.

“It’s a confidence boost for the project,” Johan Hedstrom, a Bell Potter analyst in Sydney, said. “The chances of it going ahead now are much higher. That’s a serious amount of money. You wouldn’t pay that sort of money if you thought there was a genuine risk of it not going ahead.”

Woodside’s interest in Browse would fall to 31.3 percent from 46 percent.

Woodside’s partners, BHP Billiton Ltd., BP Plc, Chevron Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, have the right to preempt the sale.

Reuters

Reuters/Bloomberg

Presidential approval – Mr Obama backs trade deal with Pacific neighbours

Pacific Rim countries to benefit from Trans-Pacific Partnership Doug Palmer

P

resident Barack Obama voiced support yesterday for Japan joining talks with the United States and eight other countries on a free trade agreement in the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region, but said no final decision had been made.

“We instructed our teams to continue our consultation regarding Japan’s interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would benefit both our economies and the region,” Mr Obama said at a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.

The United States hopes to finish

talks with Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Chile, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei on the TPP pact by the end of the year.

The countries say they are aiming for a “21st century” agreement that goes further than previous trade pacts in tearing down barriers to trade and raising international standards in areas like labour and the environment.

In November, Japan, Mexico and Canada expressed interest in joining the talks. Over the past five months, the current members have been discussing the feasibility of bringing the three countries into the negotiations without lowering

May 2, 2012 business daily | 11

ASIA

Indonesia – the new India?

Investors fear the country is losing its way on economic policy Policy slippage – Jakarta making investors nervous

I

ndonesian bond yields rose along with local inflation last month. Some investors are showing nervousness about the country’s economic direction. The world’s most populous Muslim state – for more than ten years the darling of liberal economists following decades of corruption under former president Suharto has recently shown signs of turning away from free market policies and reverting to populism. An example of the latter is ducking the opportunity to cut fuel subsidies.

Standard & Poor’s kept the nation’s credit rating at junk because of it.

S&P didn’t join Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, which have granted Indonesia investmentgrade status in the past five months, saying the nation is at risk from “policy slippages”.

Indonesia’s two-year bonds (sukuk) fell last month, pushing up yields by the most since September, as Standard & Poor’s kept the nation’s credit rating at junk after the government maintained fuel subsidies.

Indonesia’s inflation accelerated

to a seven-month high in April, rising above 4 percent and putting pressure on the central bank to hold off on further cuts in interest rates.

“Bank Indonesia is fighting against inflationary expectations,” Anton Gunawan, an economist at PT Bank Danamon Indonesia, said in Jakarta before the report. “As long as there’s no certainty in the subsidised fuel policy, inflationary pressure will remain.”

Yields on sovereign 8.8 percent dollar-denominated bonds – compliant with Islamic principles regarding the lending of money for profit - climbed 39 basis points to 2.92 percent on April 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

They are due to mature in April 2014. Their yield compares with a 17 basis point drop in yields on Malaysia’s 3.928 percent global sukuk due in 2015.

Fuel policy The Indonesian government’s inability to pare spending on energy subsidies will boost the budget deficit to 3.5 percent of gross

domestic product, from 1.3 percent last year, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said last week.

“Rising yields is what we get because of the stalling on fuel policy,” Herbie Mohede, a Jakarta-based portfolio manager at PT Samuel Aset Manajemen, said in an April 27 interview. “If fuel prices are raised, a big uncertainty over the inflation risk will be erased from the market and the government will have more funds for infrastructure.”

Higher yields make it more expensive to sell debt as the Finance Ministry targets 40 trillion rupiah ($4.4 billion) of Islamic bond sales this year, up from 34 trillion rupiah in 2011.

Indonesian inflation rose to 4.5 percent in April, driven by higher food prices, the government said Tuesday.

The consumer price index (CPI) was up 4.5 percent from a year earlier, an increase from the 3.97 percent recorded in March, the Central Statistics Agency said.

Staples such as garlic, chilli, sugar, onion and cooking oil were behind the inflationary push, said the

U

Thai inflation eases in April

I

elected members of her party did not witness his address, after they last week delayed their debut in the legislature in a row over the swearing-in oath.

But she announced on Monday that her party would after all take its seats in parliament - dominated by the military and its political allies - and pledge to “safeguard” the army-created constitution.

AFP

Reuters

UN chief’s groundbreaking encounter with Aung San Suu Kyi Daniel Rook

“But a real leader demonstrates flexibility for the greater cause of the people. This is what she has done yesterday (Monday) and I really admire and respect her decision,” he said.

In a landmark speech to parliament on Monday following talks with President Thein Sein, the UN chief had also paid tribute to Ms Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party for participating in recent by-elections.

Mr Ban also welcomed moves by the international community to reward sweeping changes in the country since the end of direct army rule last year, and called for the West to go further in easing or lifting sanctions.

Ms Suu Kyi and other newly

Bloomberg/AFP

nflation in Thailand eased more sharply than expected in April as manufacturers held down prices, backing the view that the central bank will leave interest rates on hold for some time to help the economy recover from last year’s devastating floods.

Headline annual inflation fell to 2.47 percent in April from 3.45 percent in March, the Commerce Ministry said yesterday. That was below the 2.9 percent forecast by economists in a Reuters poll.

Core inflation, which strips out fresh food and energy prices was 2.13 percent, down from 2.77 percent in March. The central bank aims to keep it in a range of 0.53.0 percent.

Annual food inflation moderated further to 4.51 percent in April from 7.07 percent in March. It hit 10.21 percent last November at the height of the flooding, when supply networks were seriously disrupted.

“Inflation in April decreased because manufacturers held their prices steady to maintain sales. On the cost side, prices of raw materials in April were quite steady,” Yanyong Puangrach, permanent secretary at the Commerce Ministry, told a briefing.

Economists expect the Bank of Thailand to leave its policy rate unchanged at 3.0 percent today for the second consecutive meeting, and possibly for the rest of the year.

Ban Ki-moon meets Myanmar democracy leader nited Nations’ SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon met Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday for talks about the country’s political future. It followed a surprise climb down by the Nobel laureate in her boycott of parliament.

The discussions at the opposition leader’s lakeside mansion in Yangon, where she was kept under house arrest by the former junta for much of the past two decades, come a day after Mr Ban became the first visiting foreigner to address Myanmar’s legislature.

After the talks, Mr Ban hailed Suu Kyi as a “real leader” who had shown “flexibility”. “I know that it must have been a very difficult decision,” Mr Ban said.

agency’s head.

The April CPI rose 0.21 percent onmonth compared with 0.07 percent rise in March, the agency said.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, hit 4.24 percent year-on-year in April, slightly lower than 4.25 percent in the previous month.

Aung San Suu Kyi – meeting with UN chief

12 |

business daily May 2, 2012

MARKETS Ticker NAME

Hang SENG INDEX Ticker NAME

PRICE

Day %

VOLUME

(H) 52W

(L) 52W

PRICE

Day %

VOLUME

(H) 52W

(L) 52W

74.65

0.8783784

4429778

93.1

53.6

IND & COMM BK-H

5.18

1.369863

283740706

6.68

3.46

494

LI & FUNG LTD

16.6

0.2415459

11764216

20.15

10.82

13

HUTCHISON WHAMPO

1398 1299

AIA GROUP LTD

27.6

2.222222

25235905

29.9

19.84

66

MTR CORP

27.6

1.284404

1768571

28.8

22.45

2600

ALUMINUM CORP-H

3.77

0

25157706

7.35

3.2

17

NEW WORLD DEV

9.67

2.653928

18347201

12.657

6.13

3988

BANK OF CHINA-H

3.25

1.880878

221476296

4.36

2.2

857

PETROCHINA CO-H

11.76

1.030928

81914131

11.92

8.59

3328

BANK OF COMMUN-H

6

3.626943

38180548

7.536

4.15

2318

PING AN INSURA-H

64.9

1.724138

11323514

85.45

37.35

23

BANK EAST ASIA

28.95

2.29682

1212645

34.45

21.85

6

POWER ASSETS HOL

1880

BELLE INTERNATIO

15.22

1.466667

11130280

17.54

11.38

83

SINO LAND CO

2388

BOC HONG KONG HO

24.05

0.4175365

13243632

24.65

14.24

16

SUN HUNG KAI PRO

293

CATHAY PAC AIR

13.16

0.152207

2479063

20.15

11.8

19

SWIRE PACIFIC-A

1

CHEUNG KONG

103.2

0.9784736

2763814

122.6

79.1

700

TENCENT HOLDINGS

243.8

1898

CHINA COAL ENE-H

8.91

3.967328

35428234

11.66

6.59

322

TINGYI HLDG CO

20.7

939

CHINA CONST BA-H

6.04

2.199662

252224812

7.48

4.41

151

WANT WANT CHINA

2628

CHINA LIFE INS-H

21

1.204819

24848643

28.1

17.04

4

WHARF HLDG

144

CHINA MERCHANT

25.1

3.719008

2232501

35.85

19

941

CHINA MOBILE

85.95

2.504472

15478794

87.6

68.05

688

CHINA OVERSEAS

16.82

1.203369

15118943

17.86

9.99

386

CHINA PETROLEU-H

8.36

1.95122

64954176

9.67

6.22

291

CHINA RES ENTERP

28.2

2.545455

2148678

35.5

24

1109

CHINA RES LAND

14.94

0.4032258

11725000

15.6

7.28

836

CHINA RES POWER

14.16

2.164502

4531130

16.2

10.82

1088

CHINA SHENHUA-H

34.45

2.225519

11829523

40.2

27.1

762

CHINA UNICOM HON

13.8

0.1451379

25816416

17.68

12.6

267

CITIC PACIFIC

12.78

1.267829

2660751

23.25

10.26

2

CLP HLDGS LTD

66.45

0.6056018

1754360

75.2

62.1

883

CNOOC LTD

16.54

1.597052

31829688

19.7

11.2

1199

COSCO PAC LTD

11.3

2.540835

1994800

16.5

7.52

330

ESPRIT HLDGS

16

0.1251564

2757824

32.85

7.55

101

HANG LUNG PROPER

28.7

1.59292

3601926

35.3

20.85

11

HANG SENG BK

106.6

0.9469697

1472919

125

84.4

12

HENDERSON LAND D

44.2

1.028571

5367578

53.35

33.2

1044

HENGAN INTL

82.15

2.049689

1449174

83.45

56.8

3

HONG KG CHINA GS

19.84

0.4048583

7721839

20.65

16.68

388

HONG KONG EXCHNG

124.1

1.058632

2565421

178.6

99.15

5

HSBC HLDGS PLC

70.7

1.799856

20075076

85

56

58

0.9573542

1898536

64.8

52

13.4

2.446483

7424610

14.16

8.482

93.6

-0.3194888

6266710

122.4

85.45

91.65

1.607539

2167433

102.539

69.321

4.188034

3569644

245.4

139.8

2.222222

12018320

26

17.84

9.52

-1.551189

12037358

9.78

6.03

46.3

3.11804

3948427

59

33.15

INDEX 21094.21 52W (H) 23924.48 (L) 16170.35 MOVERS 45 2 1

IN FOCUS Shanghai Shenzhen 300 (SHSZ300): Volume of transactions unit: 106 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000

Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 NAME

27-Apr-2012

11-Apr-2011

0

PRICE

DAY %

VOLUME

PRICE

DAY %

VOLUME

PRICE

DAY %

AGRICULTURAL-A

2.72

-0.3663004

53652242

CHINA STATE -A

3.38

1.197605

75915019

PANGANG GROUP -A

7.86

-2.962963

78940670

AIR CHINA LTD-A

6.35

1.6

27369270

CHINA UNITED-A

4.33

-1.141553

59508304

PETROCHINA CO-A

9.93

0.2018163

12413525

ALUMINUM CORP-A

7.08

-1.392758

14744480

CHINA VANKE CO-A

8.98

0.3351955

47593528

PING AN INSURA-A

40.71

-1.165331

23419533

4.4

0.2277904

9736765

CHINA YANGTZE-A

6.48

0

13281781

POLY REAL ESTA-A

12.51

1.624695

42610530

ANGANG STEEL-A

NAME

NAME

VOLUME

ANHUI CONCH-A

17.47

-1.01983

28519135

CITIC SECURITI-A

13

-0.990099

65116970

QINGHAI SALT-A

33.62

0

4842743

BANK OF BEIJIN-A

10.42

0.1923077

21274017

CSR CORP LTD -A

5.02

-0.3968254

25778612

SAIC MOTOR-A

15.38

1.184211

19442706 35623574

BANK OF CHINA-A

3.05

0

17067707

DAQIN RAILWAY -A

7.47

0.2684564

50857806

SANY HEAVY INDUS

14.13

-2.68595

BANK OF COMMUN-A

4.89

0.617284

51714990

DATANG INTL PO-A

5.24

2.946955

12029224

SHANDONG GOLD-MI

35.13

0.9192761

9443800

5

0

21934077

DONGFANG ELECT-A

22.37

0.08948546

6530135

SHANG PUDONG-A

9.41

0.4268943

47114993 8279987

BAOSHAN IRON & S BBMG CORPORATI-A

8.46

-1.513388

30927140

EVERBRIG SEC -A

13.23

-2.649007

19439446

SHANGHAI ELECT-A

5.74

1.234568

25.76

-2.387268

4955135

GD MIDEA HOLDING

13.48

1.049475

15484601

SHANXI LU'AN -A

27.4

-0.6526468

6043554

4.53

0.2212389

10097937

GD POWER DEVEL-A

2.58

0.78125

48081568

SHANXI XINGHUA-A

73.13

3.334746

1864129

CHINA CNR CORP-A

4.49

-0.8830022

37458186

GF SECURITIES-A

30.05

-3.064516

7916469

SHANXI XISHAN-A

17.51

-0.680658

26229418

CHINA COAL ENE-A

9.43

0.2125399

10526590

GREE ELECTRIC

21.89

1.483542

21671611

SHENZ DVLP BK-A

16.56

-0.1206273

16661706 38051020

BYD CO LTD -A CHINA CITIC BK-A

CHINA CONST BA-A

4.79

0

23677623

GUIZHOU PANJIA-A

31.03

-2.236925

7072437

CHINA COSCO HO-A

5.31

-1.48423

12297863

HAITONG SECURI-A

9.89

-1.297405

63396234

CHINA CSSC HOL-A

37.04

-2.165874

13309472

HANGZHOU HIKVI-A

46.19

-0.8798283

990631

3.05

1.666667

32000747

TSINGTAO BREW-A

34.77

2.566372

3022520

64.88

0.8236208

1878460

WEICHAI POWER-A

33.12

-1.399226

6183169

CHINA EAST AIR-A

4.04

0

26469215

HEBEI IRON-A

CHINA EVERBRIG-A

3.03

1.677852

61862826

HENAN SHUAN-A

CHINA INTL MAR-A CHINA LIFE INS-A

SHENZEN OVERSE-A SINOVEL WIND-A SUNING APPLIAN-A

7.59

0.66313

16.09

1.899937

2024854

9.87

-5.278311

170761139

15.5

0

14997518

HUATAI SECURIT-A

10.46

-2.334267

25222452

WULIANGYE YIBIN

35.62

0.9065156

25761946

18.19

-0.709607

9121740

HUAXIA BANK CO

11.21

-0.4440497

23440050

XCMG CONSTRUCT-A

15.27

1.125828

15188451

CHINA MERCH BK-A

12.2

-0.1636661

35413878

IND & COMM BK-A

4.37

-0.4555809

53920711

XINJIANG GUANG-A

24.1

-3.018109

13214307

CHINA MERCHANT-A

12.86

-2.205323

15500916

INDUSTRIAL BAN-A

14.31

0.491573

47696854

YANGQUAN COAL -A

19.81

-0.2517623

13465685

CHINA MERCHANT-A

22.82

0.04384042

9723501

92.98

1.606382

1597365

CHINA MINSHENG-A

6.65

0.7575758

122416241

23.8

0.591716

5252807

CHINA NATIONAL-A

INNER MONG BAO-A

70.97

2.129803

36691237

YANTAI CHANGYU-A

INNER MONG YIL-A

22.03

0.5476951

12855791

YANZHOU COAL-A

6.74

-0.8823529

13010772

INNER MONGOLIA-A

6.03

0

54763868

CHINA OILFIELD-A

17.99

4.229432

21186612

JIANGSU YANGHE-A

166.8

3.602484

1562466

CHINA PACIFIC-A

21.72

-0.4126547

12152155

JIANGXI COPPER-A

26.06

0.1922338

12120833

ZIJIN MINING-A

7.18

-1.373626

38577664

JINDUICHENG -A

14.23

-1.658604

12362168

ZOOMLION HEAVY-A

20.03

0.3507014

7422712

224.56

3.631917

4272823

CHINA PETROLEU-A CHINA RAILWAY-A

2.73

-1.086957

31153283

JIZHONG ENERGY-A

CHINA RAILWAY-A

4.39

-1.569507

25338548

KWEICHOW MOUTA-A

CHINA SHENHUA-A

26.89

0.2983961

11800962

LUZHOU LAOJIAO-A

43.73

1.816065

11118628

CHINA SHIPBUIL-A

6.08

-1.77706

22370555

METALLURGICAL-A

2.67

-0.7434944

20714267

CHINA SHIPPING-A

3.06

-0.6493506

9583881

NARI TECHNOLOG-A

20

-0.04997501

4370776

CHINA SOUTHERN-A

4.85

-1.020408

43485758

NINGBO PORT CO-A

2.63

-0.754717

14404631

Hang SENG CHINA ENTErPRISE INDEX NAME

NAME

ZTE CORP-A

4.3

-1.826484

72342168

9.91

-1.783944

41611490

16.82

-2.152414

20932363

INDEX 2626.157 52W (H) 3212.05 (L) 2254.567 MOVERS 111 178 11

DAY %

VOLUME

PRICE

DAY %

VOLUME

0

4317500

PETROCHINA CO-H

11.76

1.030928

81914131

CHINA MERCH BK-H

16.84

2.557856

16789927

PICC PROPERTY &

9.73

1.143451

10349179

CHINA MINSHENG-H

8.05

2.678571

86628934

PING AN INSURA-H

64.9

1.724138

11323514

CHINA NATL BDG-H

10.48

0

26061643

SHANDONG WEIG-H

8.97

1.355932

4020436

20.35

1.851852

2207036

AGRICULTURAL-H

3.69

1.933702

116317058

AIR CHINA LTD-H

5.63

3.874539

31055948

CHINA OILFIELD-H

12.58

0.9630819

6386140

ALUMINUM CORP-H

3.77

0

25157706

CHINA PACIFIC-H

26

0.3861004

8704671

3.25

1.880878

6

3.626943

BYD CO LTD-H

1734947 12168482

6.13

VOLUME

BANK OF COMMUN-H

-0.335902 0.1736111

PRICE

DAY %

BANK OF CHINA-H

50.44 23.08

CHINA LONGYUAN-H

PRICE

ANHUI CONCH-H

YUNNAN BAIYAO-A ZHONGJIN GOLD

NAME

SINOPHARM-H

25.35

-0.3929273

18003552

TSINGTAO BREW-H

47.1

0.5336179

836049

CHINA PETROLEU-H

8.36

1.95122

64954176

221476296

WEICHAI POWER-H

36.55

1.810585

1872566

CHINA RAIL CN-H

6.19

4.208754

21810100

38180548

YANZHOU COAL-H

16.22

-0.6127451

12086022

CHINA RAIL GR-H

3.08

0

21917663

ZIJIN MINING-H

2.53

-3.802281

112647501

20.45

1.237624

1422470

CHINA SHENHUA-H

34.45

2.225519

11829523

CHINA CITIC BK-H

4.94

3.131524

37336904

ZOOMLION HEAVY-H

11.58

1.223776

9664021

CHINA TELECOM-H

4.18

1.210654

39009452

CHINA COAL ENE-H

8.91

3.967328

35428234

ZTE CORP-H

18.82

1.291712

4160405

DONGFENG MOTOR-H

15.3

0.7905138

11619332

CHINA COM CONS-H

7.8

2.766798

11571766

GUANGZHOU AUTO-H

8.61

2.5

5579429

CHINA CONST BA-H

6.04

2.199662

252224812

HUANENG POWER-H

4.6

2.678571

20654574

CHINA COSCO HO-H

4.5

0

10161466

IND & COMM BK-H

5.18

1.369863

283740706

CHINA LIFE INS-H

21

1.204819

24848643

JIANGXI COPPER-H

18.76

1.077586

8310227

NAME

FTSE TAIWAN 50 INDEX NAME ACER INC

PRICE DAY %

Volume

INDEX 11081 52W (H) 13326.48 (L) 8058.58 MOVERS 32 3 5

PRICE DAY %

Volume

FAR EASTERN NEW

32.95 -0.4531722

2832173

NAME SINOPAC FINANCIA

9.95

0.2014099

8306628

FAR EASTONE TELE

63.5 -0.1572327

10067902

SYNNEX TECH INTL

68.5

-1.438849

4186989

FIRST FINANCIAL

17.5

0

15616420

TAIWAN CEMENT

34.85

2.95421

5861262

FORMOSA CHEM & F

84.7

0

4023493

TAIWAN COOPERATI

17.95

1.126761

5947651

90.9

0.6644518

1529750

TAIWAN FERTILIZE

70 -0.5681818

2703616

83

-1.658768

7864967

TAIWAN GLASS IND

29.1

0

1664032

103

5.209397

18409363

TAIWAN MOBILE CO

94.2

0.5336179

7911028

30.45 -0.9756098

20162870

TPK HOLDING CO L

360

1.694915

5251093

TSMC

86.8

0.9302326

47647085

45.45

3.530752

21012595

15.3

0

48517198

43.85

3.055229

10738244

14

0

19944344

46.8

1.518438

5236394

33.5

-1.033973

13061169

FORMOSA PETROCHE

ADVANCED SEMICON

29.55

3.321678

18703274

FORMOSA PLASTIC

ASIA CEMENT CORP

35.15

-1.95258

5047804

FOXCONN TECHNOLO

ASUSTEK COMPUTER

295

0.1697793

5453083

FUBON FINANCIAL

AU OPTRONICS COR

13.1

-2.238806

40640680

HON HAI PRECISIO

92.4

-6.94864

21967092

CATCHER TECH

187

2.465753

13386007

HOTAI MOTOR CO

186

4.201681

2279971

UNI-PRESIDENT

CATHAY FINANCIAL

30.9 -0.1615509

6177699

HTC CORP

443

4.235294

7958822

UNITED MICROELEC

CHANG HWA BANK

16.2

0

9669174

HUA NAN FINANCIA

16.2 -0.9174312

6486225

WISTRON CORP

CHENG SHIN RUBBE

72.7

1.820728

8928719

LARGAN PRECISION

464

-6.920762

727282

YUANTA FINANCIAL

CHIMEI INNOLUX C

12.1

-2.419355

30968666

LITE-ON TECHNOLO

35.65

1.566952

3264015

YULON MOTOR CO

7.4 -0.2695418

33424959

MEDIATEK INC

253

5.197505

11779391

CHINA DEVELOPMEN CHINA STEEL CORP

29.05

0.1724138

15127131

MEGA FINANCIAL H

23.1

2.439024

34593230

CHINATRUST FINAN

18.65

3.3241

25645953

NAN YA PLASTICS

60.2 -0.8237232

3572836

CHUNGHWA TELECOM

91.4

0.109529

11656176

PRESIDENT CHAIN

157 -0.6329114

COMPAL ELECTRON

33.6

1.510574

9085679

QUANTA COMPUTER

76.8

3.643725

19433636

DELTA ELECT INC

86.8

1.99765

7998084

SILICONWARE PREC

34.65

1.315789

6943500

809584

PRICE DAY %

Volume

INDEX 5211.21 52W (H) 6247.96 (L) 4643.05 MOVERS 27 17 6

May 2, 2012 business daily | 13

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

Max 24.30

Average 24.09

MELCo CroWN ENTErTAINMENT

Min 23.80

24.3

41.8

14.50

24.2

41.6

14.45

24.1

41.4

14.40

24.0

41.2

14.35

23.9

41.0

14.30

23.8

Last 24.25

Max 41.30

SANDS CHINA LTD

Max 30.65

Average 30.23

Average 41.04

Min 40.80

Last 40.80

Min 29.95

Last 30.50

Average 14.32

Min 14.28

14.25

Last 14.38

WyNN MACAU LTD 17.2

25.0

30.7

17.1

24.8

30.5

17.0

24.6

30.3

16.9

24.4

30.1

16.8

24.2 24.0

16.7

29.9

Max 17.12

Average 17.03

Min 16.90

Last 17.04

Max 24.95

Average 24.81

Min 24.35

Last 24.90

CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATES 2.0

EUR

MAJORS

1.5

1.0

GBP

ASIA PACIFIC

0.5

USD

JPY

2-May-2011

1-May-2012

0.0

MACAU RELATED STOCKS DAY % YTD %

(H) 52W

(L) 52W

VOLUME CRNCY

ARISTOCRAT LEISU

3.04

-1.935484

38.18182

3.25

1.88

4170229

CROWN LTD

9.14

0.4395604

12.97898

9.2

7.45

974045

AMAX HOLDINGS LT

0.088

1.149425

1.149428

0.136

0.06

3259000

BOC HONG KONG HO

24.05

0.4175365

30.70652

24.65

14.24

13243632

CENTURY LEGEND

0.255

-1.923077

10.86956

0.41

0.204

1838

3.14

-1.257862

12.14286

4.79

2.3

4000 15118943

CHEUK NANG HLDGS

Max 14.40

30.9

Major currencies 3-month deposit interest rates

PRICE

40.8

SJM HoLDINGS LTD

IN FOCUS

NAME

MGM CHINA HoLDINGS

CHINA OVERSEAS

16.82

1.203369

29.58398

17.86

9.99

CHINESE ESTATES

10.7

-0.742115

-14.4

14.74

10.2

113500

CHOW TAI FOOK JE

11.68

-0.1709402

-16.09195

15.16

11.46

3501000

EMPEROR ENTERTAI

1.43

1.41844

28.82883

2.09

0.97

210000

FUTURE BRIGHT

1.03

4.040404

145.2381

1.05

0.3

9079200

GALAXY ENTERTAIN

24.25

3.85439

70.29495

24.6

8.69

11544966

HANG SENG BK

106.6

0.9469697

15.68095

125

84.4

1472919

HOPEWELL HLDGS

20.85

-1.41844

4.984891

24.903

18.56

633223

HSBC HLDGS PLC

70.7

1.799856

19.83051

85

56

20075076

HUTCHISON TELE H

3.45

0.877193

15.38462

3.6

2.13

1960000

LUK FOOK HLDGS I

22.15

3.023256

-18.26568

46.15

19.2

3809964

CROSSES

AUD HKD

PRICE

DAY %

YTD %

(H) 52W

(L) 52W

AUD

1.0341

GBP

1.6228

-0.8438

1.293

1.1081

0.9388

-0.037

4.4071

1.6661

CHF

0.9063

1.5235

0.1324

3.5088

0.9596

0.7071

EUR

1.3255

JPY

79.84

0.1209

2.2683

1.494

1.2624

-0.0251

-3.6698

84.18

MOP

7.9908

75.35

0.0075

0.1101

8.0449

7.9823

HKD CNY

7.7579

0.0077

0.1225

7.8113

7.7529

6.2795

0.4841

0.2468

6.5098

6.2783

INR

52.7363

-0.3675

0.6233

54.305

43.855

THB

30.73

0

2.6684

31.96

29.63

SGD

1.2366

0.0485

4.852

1.3199

1.1992

TWD

29.151

0.0617

3.8695

30.715

28.48

PHP

42.115

0.1852

4.0959

44.35

41.879

IDR

9184

-0.0762

-1.2522

9367

8458

AUDJPY

82.527

0.87

-4.962

88.926

72.057

EURCHF

1.2013

0.0067

1.2894

1.28389

1.00749

EURGBP

0.81682

-0.1677

2.0286

0.90835

0.81227

EURCNY

8.3236

-0.1237

-2.2755

9.6757

7.9674

EURMOP

10.5924

-0.1227

-2.1006

11.9509

10.1015

EURJPY

105.84

-0.1606

-5.839

120.83

97.04

1.03

-0.0097

-0.0097

1.0311

1.0288

HKDMOP

World Stock MarketS - Indices COUNTRY

PRICE

DAY %

YTD %

(H) 52W

(L) 52W

DOW JONES INDUS. AVG

NAME

US

13213.63

-0.1109741

8.152776

13297.11

10404.49

NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX

US

3046.36

-0.7441679

16.93608

3134.17

2298.89 4791.01

FTSE 100 INDEX

GB

5737.78

-0.6807902

2.970059

6103.73

DAX INDEX

GE

6761.19

-0.5900325

14.6285

7600.410156

4965.8

JN

9389.85

-1.376342

11.05217

10255.15

8135.79

8.16

0.2457002

41.42114

10.76

4.3

3856004

NIKKEI 225

MGM CHINA HOLDIN

14.38

0.7002801

49.9142

17.183

7.6

2799509

HANG SENG INDEX

HK

21094.21

1.700749

14.42858

23924.48047

16170.35

MIDLAND HOLDINGS

3.92

-1.259446

-2.970296

5.878

2.95

1164000

CSI 300 INDEX

CH

2626.157

-0.2025471

11.95422

3212.055

2254.567

NEPTUNE GROUP

0.11

0

-0.9009022

0.157

0.08

0

NEW WORLD DEV

9.67

2.653928

54.47284

12.657

6.13

18347201

TAIWAN TAIEX INDEX

TA

7501.72

0.2836709

6.07516

9089.47

6609.11

SANDS CHINA LTD

30.5

2.006689

38.95216

33.05

14.9

21924043

KOSPI INDEX

SK

1981.99

0.336143

8.558173

2229.09

1644.11

S&P/ASX 200 INDEX

AU

4447.9

1.167317

9.647073

4875.2

3765.9

MELCO INTL DEVEL

SHUN HO RESOURCE

1.19

0

19

1.32

0.82

0

SHUN TAK HOLDING

3.21

0.3125

25.43334

4.686

2.241

1853585

JAKARTA COMPOSITE INDEX

ID

4177.545

-0.07623067

9.302818

4232.923

3217.951

SJM HOLDINGS LTD

17.04

1.670644

34.38485

21

10.22

6245187

SMARTONE TELECOM

14.6

-4.699739

8.630956

18.5

9.8

5414561

FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI

MA

1570.61

0.179232

2.605293

1609.33

1310.53

WYNN MACAU LTD

24.9

4.1841

27.69231

27.48

14.807

7222164

NZX ALL INDEX

NZ

796.692

0.5054971

9.165757

814.431

700.441 2695.06

ASIA ENTERTAINME

5.81

0

-1.190478

10.8692

4.72

47419

BALLY TECHNOLOGI

48.55

1.124766

22.72497

49.32

24.74

825624

BOC HONG KONG HO

3.05

-2.555911

27.23244

3.16

1.81

4200

GALAXY ENTERTAIN

3.16

2.265372

68.98396

3.16

1.08

82470

INTL GAME TECH

15.58

-1.329956

-9.418609

19.15

13.38

3399766

JONES LANG LASAL

79.94

-1.612308

30.49298

103.56

46.01

242353

LAS VEGAS SANDS

55.49

-0.6801503

29.86193

62.09

36.08

8713079

MACAU CAPITAL IN

0.11

0

9.999998

0.11

0.11

500

MELCO CROWN-ADR

15.52

-2.020202

61.33056

16.15

7.05

4097214

MGM CHINA HOLDIN

1.78

0

49.36731

2.21314

1.00254

1500

MGM RESORTS INTE

13.42

-2.612482

28.6673

16.05

7.4

7732775

SHUFFLE MASTER

1014097

17.67

-1.119194

50.76791

18.77

7.35

SJM HOLDINGS LTD

2.22

1.369863

36.19632

2.64

1.28

250

WYNN RESORTS LTD

133.4

-1.214455

20.73491

165.4931

101.02

1839760

USD

PHILIPPINES ALL SHARE IX

PH

3469.52

0.3810378

13.94005

3499.2

HSBC Dragon 300 Index Singapor

SI

582.97

0.26

17.46

na

na

STOCK EXCH OF THAI INDEX

TH

1228.49

1.378963

19.81528

1228.49

843.69

HO CHI MINH STOCK INDEX

VN

473.77

0.7571085

34.76604

488.02

332.28

Laos Composite Index

LO

1029.55

0

14.46313

1332.57

876.33

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

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CLOSING India exports drop

British growth slows

India’s exports in March fell for the first time since the 2009 financial crisis as demand weakened in the United States and Europe, further clouding the outlook for the country’s balance of payments.

Exports fell 5.7 percent to US$28.7 billion from the same period a year earlier, continuing a sharp slowdown in shipments in recent months that, combined with high imports of oil and gold, sparking concern over the country’s swelling trade deficit. Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut its credit rating outlook for India to negative last week.

The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped to 50.5 in April from a downwardly revised 51.9 in March, keeping the sector just above the 50 level which separates growth from contraction. The economic slowdown in the euro zone curbed demand for goods made in Britain raising the risk of a longer recession. This will fuel a debate over the chances of further monetary stimulus from the Bank of England, after central bankers hinted that they might not extend their asset purchases given a raft of stronger economic data and sticky inflation.

Hong Kongers urge city’s new boss to close rich-poor gap

People power on show in region’s Labour Day rallies Hong Kongers urge Leung to tackle wealth gap

T

housands of workers took to Hong Kong’s streets on the Labour Day holiday yesterday, demanding Chief Executive-elect Leung Chun Ying address a widening wealth gap when he takes office in July.

About 5,000 people gathered at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay and made their way to government headquarters, said Poon Man Hon, policy researcher at the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions. The group called on Mr Leung to raise minimum wages and standardise working hours to a maximum of 44

a week. The police estimated 2,400 people attended the protest, Radio Television Hong Kong reported.

Public discontent is rising in the city after surging property prices made Hong Kong the world’s most expensive place to own a home.

Median monthly household income there has remained unchanged at HK$20,000 (US$2,578) since 1997.

An influx of money from mainland China and low interest rates have fuelled an almost 80 percent gain in home prices since the beginning of 2009, according to data compiled

by Centaline Property Agency. Mr

Australia slashes interest rate to 3.75pct Central bank boss cites moderate inflation, soft growth, as motives

A

ustralia’s central bank slashed its interest rate by a shock 50 basis points yesterday to 3.75 percent due to weak economic conditions and easing inflation.

It is the largest cut since the Reserve Bank of Australia reduced rates by 100 basis points in February 2009 in the wake of the global financial crisis, and it caused a sharp drop in the Australian dollar.

The local currency, which has been at historic highs for the past 18 months, slumped from 104.10 U.S. cents to 103.45 U.S. cents immediately after the announcement. Sydney stocks were up more than one percent.

Bank chairman Glenn Stevens said the decision was “based on information received over the past few months that suggests that economic conditions have been

somewhat weaker than expected, while inflation has moderated”.

“A reduction of 50 basis points in the cash rate was, in this instance, therefore judged to be necessary in order to deliver the appropriate level of borrowing rates,” he said.

Data showed underlying inflation had declined again - a little over 2.0 percent over the latest four quarters - and would likely be lower in the next few years than earlier forecast.

The RBA last cut its rate in December, and Mr Stevens said the board “judged it desirable that financial conditions now be easier than those which had prevailed” then.

He repeated his view that while growth in the global economy had slowed in late 2011, a deep downturn was not occurring.

“Market sentiment remains skittish, however, and the tasks of putting European banks and sovereigns

Leung, elected on March 25 as Hong Kong’s next chief executive, has vowed to build more public housing, increase land supply and provide tax-breaks to help residents buy their own homes.

Regional protests Elsewhere in the region, politicians appeared to be making other concessions to popular protest.

In Malaysia - 48 hours after prodemocracy protests turned violent in the capital Kuala Lumpur - Prime Minister Najib Razak announced

onto a sound footing for the longer term, and of improving Europe’s growth prospects, remain large,” he said.

Australia, dubbed the “Wonder from Down Under” after its miningfuelled economy dodged recession during the global financial crisis, still has higher rates compared to other nations.

The US Federal Reserve is expected

Australia slashes interest rate to 3.75pct

the country’s first minimum wage.

About 3.2 million workers are expected to benefit from it.

In Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, more than 9,000 marched to the state palace in a May Day rally demanding better pay and job security. Around 16,000 police and soldiers were deployed to guard the protest, a police spokesman told reporters.

Indonesia’s parliament in March rejected a plan to hike the country’s heavily subsidised fuel price by a third, after protests in Jakarta that saw demonstrators hurl stones and police retaliate with tear gas and water cannon. But the authorities ducked out of withdrawing the fuel subsidy, as urged by some international economists.

In Manila, in the Philippines about 3,000 workers and activists marched to the presidential palace, bearing a giant effigy of President Benigno Aquino that depicted him as a dog obedient to foreign capitalists. They carried banners saying “raise our pay now” and “fight for socialism”. But in a Labour Day speech, Mr Aquino said: “If our wages go even higher, what foreign investor will put his money here? Our economy could fall even further behind.”

The government in Taiwan is also fretting about its competitiveness in the face of rising global energy prices. Last month it announced that electricity prices would rise by up to 37 percent from midMay, following a recent 10 percent increase in petrol prices.

Denouncing the increases, more than 1,000 workers took to the streets in downtown Taipei for a Labour Day rally that also condemned workplace exploitation.

Bloomberg/AFP

to keep interest rates near zero until late 2014. Bank of England policymakers last month voted to keep rates at a record low 0.50 percent, first set in March 2009.

The European Central Bank’s governing council voted last month to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at the historic low of 1.0 percent.

AFP