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                             A S I A   P A C I F I C

             Friday, September 1, 2000, Vol. 3, No. 171

                                    Headlines


* A U S T R A L I A *

BMCMEDIA.COM: Posts annual loss
GEI AUTOMATION: In receivership
KEYCORP: Posts 1H loss
MULTIPLEX RESOURCES: Gold project failure probed
NATIONAL FOODS: Forecasting worse results
NORMANDY MINING: GCM clean-up pushes it into the red
TRANSURBAN: Delays drops its bottom line


* C H I N A  &  H O N G  K O N G *

BURLINGAME INT'L CO.: Withdraws float plan
E-LIFE INT'L: Posts HK$83.97M fiscal year net loss
PAM & FRANK INT'L HLDGS.: Posts HK$198.8M net loss
SAVOY CONCEPTS: Posts HK$60M 1H net loss


* I N D O N E S I A *

PT BUMI MODERN: Parent to swap debt-for-equity
PT INDOLAND JAYA: Facing bankruptcy suit


* J A P A N *

HAZAMA CORP: Secures waiver deal from Shinsei Bank
JAPAN NATIONAL OIL CORP.: Posts 17.6B yen annual loss
MITSUBISHI MOTORS: To post $560M group net loss
SNOW BRAND MILK PRODUCTS: Police raid headquarters
TOKYU HOTEL CHAIN CO.: To close 2 hotels after 1H losses


* K O R E A *

HYUNDAI SECURITIES: Chief quits under pressure
KOREA MERCHANT BANKING CORP.: Declared insolvent
SAMSUNG GROUP: To launch new restructuring
WOO BANG HOUSING & CONSTR.: Daegu Bank with emergency loans


* M A L A Y S I A *

LION CORP: Net loss narrows to RM254 million
NALURI BHD: Posts RM145.2mil after-tax loss
SALANTA DEVELOPMENT SDN: Special administrators appointed
TELEKOM MALAYSIA: Cellular division post H1 loss


* P H I L I P P I N E S *

MIMOSA LEISURE ESTATE: White knight offers PhP400M infusion
NATIONAL POWER CORP.: Probe of $3.4B "hidden" debt to IPPs


* T H A I L A N D *

AP NATIONAL ELECTRIC: Thai s'holder to fight takeover
SOON HUA SENG GROUP: Rehab deal or bankruptcy by Nov.


=================
A U S T R A L I A
=================

BMCMEDIA.COM: Posts annual loss
-------------------------------
Internet advertising firm BMCMedia.com.au posted a $6.8
million loss for the half-year period ended June 30.

BMCMedia, which has of late received a market hiding thanks
to its heady cash burn rate, achieved a share price rise,
up 4c to 67c, however.  For the six month period to June
30, the group's gross billings totaled $6.6 million, a $2
million increase on the $4.6 million reported for the
company's 1999 calendar year. Revenue was $2.5 million
while operating loss after tax came in at $6.87 million.

BMCMedia managing director Mr Murray Hamilton said the loss
was primarily due to several one-off costs including
expenses associated with the company's December float and a
pending offshore listing, as well as new office and
recruiting costs.

For the 2000 calendar year, stockbroking firm BNP Paribas
is predicting revenue of $6.5 million and a loss of $15.3
million. In 2001, revenue isexpected to rise to $17.4
million while losses are forecast to narrow to around $11.5
million.

Mr Hamilton said yesterday while the company did not make
projections, he was "comfortable with those expectations".
He also said the company had received confirmation from
ASIC that no further investigations would be made regarding
July's Chinadotcom deal.

Last month the Asia Internet giant took a 5.6 per cent
stake in BMCMedia, boosting its cashreserves by $8.5
million.  BMCMedia found itself in hot water over the
transaction when, after being queried by the exchange
regarding a hike in share price days before, reported there
was nothing to announce just 24 hours before unveiling the
deal. (Sydney Morning Herald  31-Aug-2000

GEI AUTOMATION: In receivership
-------------------------------
On 30 August 2000, engineering firm GEI Automation
confirmed it is in receivership. It reports that it will
have to close if a suitable buyer cannot be found.

On the same day, 39 employees at Adelaide-based Ludowici,
got but 30-minutes' notice of their dismissal. The majority
of them were fitters, turners, welders, riggers and
drivers. Some had been employed there since the late-1960s.
MD Glenn Turner said the firm's fate is indicative of what
has happened to heavy engineering in SA - demand for its
products has slowly and permanently diminished.

KEYCORP: Posts 1H loss
----------------------
Smartcard and EFTPOS developer Keycorp posted a net loss of
$19.146 million for the six-month period ended June 30.

The company says it expects to break even for the full
year, however, with revenues of around $120 million to $130
million for the calendar year. Sales revenue for the first-
half of the year fell 28.6 percent though to $37.005
million. Keycorp said the result included an abnormal loss
of $3.746 million from a receivables provision. The company
has not declared a dividend.

"The company is projecting revenues in the order of $120 to
$130 million and a break-even result for the full year,"
Keycorp said yesterday. "The accelerated growth of the
second-half forecast is based on the signed contracts that
are in place and confirmed order projections. The challenge
for the second half will be the on-time delivery of product
and projects to complete these sales."

Keycorp said the major factors contributing to the current
loss were the impact of transition costs associated with
restructuring the company and longer than expected
certification for some of its products. The result included
$14.5 million for research and development costs associated
with the development and enhancement of e-commerce
solutions.

Keycorp said its strategic alliance with Telstra for the
building of Internet payments solutions, signed in July,
was presently under due diligence.  At the time of signing
the alliance Keycorp said the cash flow generated from it
taking control of Telstra's EFTPOS transaction network
would underpin its growth for several years.

The company also said it expected the process to be
completed next month.  Keycorp shares fell 26c to $12.24
yesterday. (Sydney Morning Herald  31-Aug-2000)

MULTIPLEX RESOURCES: Gold project failure probed
------------------------------------------------
General Gold Operations (GGO) administrator Garry Trevor
has launched a WA Supreme Court probe into circumstances
surrounding the failure of the Multiplex Resources-managed
Yimuyn Manjerr gold project in the Northern Territory.

And in a surprise move, the planned examination is to
include questioning of PricewaterhouseCoopers tax partner
Douglas Corbett.  Mr Trevor, of Ferrier Hodgson, said in a
report to GGO creditors that Mr Corbett advised Multiplex
and GGO's parent General Gold Resources (GGR) on tax
benefits available from their acquisition of the project,
which was known until late last year as Mt Todd.

It is believed that more than $160 million in tax losses
were available when Multiplex Resources acquired a 93 per
cent stake in the project from the collapsed mining company
Pegasus Gold Australia in March last year. GGR bought a 2
per cent stake.

Payment of $14 million of the $30 million purchase price
was deferred until March this year. The deal was varied
that month so that Pegasus relinquished its residual 5 per
cent stake and a final payment of $10.5 million was
deferred until September. GGO fell into administration on
July 5 and the Yimuyn Manjerr project was put on care and
maintenance after Multiplex refused to continue funding the
loss-making mine.

GGO faces about $19 million in claims from creditors for
debts it incurred operating the project for the joint
venturers.  Multiplex, a wholly owned subsidiary of
construction giant Multiplex Constructions, had changed its
name to Yimuyn Manjerr (Investments) Pty Ltd on June 22.

Multiplex says it withdrew funding after the project failed
to meet budget for the July half and independent analysis
showed the December half budget was optimistic. Multiplex
administrator Max Prentice has rejected claims by Mr Trevor
that the company is responsible for debts incurred by GGO.

Mr Trevor said in his report to creditors that Multiplex
was entitled to elect not to contribute to a new budget but
claimed it was obliged to meet cash calls relating to
budgets that had already been approved, such as for the
half-year period to July 5.

Mr Trevor said he would need to carry out further inquiries
and conduct the court examination, but his preliminary view
was that there were possible claims under laws of agency
and its rights as a trustee to indemnity. He said the
possible targets included Multiplex, Multiplex
Constructions, General Gold Resources and Pegasus Gold and
officers of some of these companies.

Mr Trevor gained court orders for a court examination of
people, including General Gold Resources administrator
Vince Smith, Mr Prentice, and Multiplex and Multiplex
Constructions directors Andrew Roberts and Geoff Allen.
Mr Trevor wrote that, shortly before he completed his
report, Mr Prentice had sent a fax indicating that
Multiplex Constructions was considering a proposal to GGO
creditors that could form the basis of a deed of
arrangement.

Mr Trevor declined to comment yesterday and Multiplex
director Andrew Roberts could not be contacted. On August
6, a Multiplex Constructions spokesman said the company had
spent more than $50 million on the project and had used
some of the depreciation benefits.  "We would be very happy
not to have any deductions and not to have invested in the
mine," he said.

When asked whether the construction group was behind when
the tax benefits were offset against the money spent, the
spokesman said: "Absolutely." (The West Australian  30-
Aug-2000)

NATIONAL FOODS: Forecasting worse results
-----------------------------------------
Milk price wars will leave listed dairy company National
Foods facing a $30 million to $40 million earnings hole and
a 10 per cent profit slump this year.

Job cuts and operational changes are also on the cards.
Managing director Max Ould said NatFoods could recover $15
million to $20 million by cutting costs.  The balance would
be borne by paying farmers less for their milk. He said
that as a result of deregulation, "clearly the market
dynamics are moving on us, not more than expected, but more
quickly than expected."

Mr Ould said job cuts among its 2000 staff were possible
but it would also consider "mothballing" some production
facilities and reviewing its 24-hour production schedule.
NatFoods shares were again punished, falling 20c, or 9 per
cent, to close at $2.07, down 40 per cent from their record
high of $3.45.

This was set before Woolworths slashed home-brand milk
prices by up to 26 per cent. The price cuts, matched by
other supermarket chains, have forced NatFoods to cut the
price of its branded products, such as Pura. NatFoods
flagged a $25 million pre-tax abnormal charge to fund the
restructure, reducing the abnormal gain from its juice
business.

Mr Ould said NatFoods expected to launch a 10 per cent
share buyback, costing $70 million to $80 million, because
it believed its share price was not fairly valued.
The earnings gap will come from lower margins on milk and
less revenue from the NSW own-brand milk contract because
NatFoods has been forced to drop its price to retain the
contract.

NatFoods lost the Victorian Woolworths contract, which the
company said was for 4 million to 5 million litres of home-
brand milk.  NatFoods' bottom line profit for the year
ended June 30, 2000, was up 3 per cent to $48.2 million.
The final dividend (fully franked) was steady at 7.5c a
share, giving a total dividend of 14c, 8 per cent more than
last year.

Mr Ould said NatFoods had tried to anticipate the changes
in the dairy industry post-deregulation. He said its $300
million spend, designed to set itself up as a national
processor, had reduced its costs but the move had not won
NatFoods more Woolworths contracts.

Mr Ould said he believed the milk price cuts adopted by the
large supermarkets reflected a long-term policy and "it's
going to take, I would think, 12 to 18 months for us to
recover the margin losses that have been brought about by
this change."

But "this doesn't wipe out a business. This is just a
situation we have to deal with". (The Australian  31-Aug-
2000)

NORMANDY MINING: GCM clean-up pushes it into the red
----------------------------------------------------
The Great Central Mines acquisition continues to haunt
Normandy Mining, with a $413 million abnormal writedown on
the deal pushing the company into the red to the tune of
$282.3 million in 1999-2000.

The writedown, $270 million of which was related to non-
expensed gold exploration, marred an otherwise improved
pre-tax and abnormals operating result up $40 million to
$193.3 million for the year to June 30.  Despite Normandy's
claim the GCM writedown had been well flagged to the
market, securities analysts reacted negatively to the news,
saying they had not been expecting such a high figure.

"The market was not warned about that," one analyst said.

The $413 million writedown stemmed from Normandy's decision
to radically revamp its gold business in April by buying
the 42 per cent of GCM it did not already own from the
company's managing director, Mr Joseph Gutnick.  Normandy
moved to clean up the ownership structure of GCM in
response to criticisms from investors that its convoluted
gold interests had failed to add value to the company.

But analysts said yesterday the GCM clean-up had done
little to diminish those concerns, particularly given the
impact of the writedown.  "Normandy has still got a long
way to go," Shaw Stockbroking's head of resources Mr John
Colnan said. "They've got to get their debt down and
they've got to increase real profits before they get back
on the radar screens of investors."

Although it is Australia's largest gold producer,
Normandy's share price has struggled to push past the $1
mark because of these concerns, analysts say. The shares
closed steady yesterday at $1.02.  Normandy's managing
director, Mr Robert Champion de Crespigny, said continuing
corporate restructuring had positioned the company for
profitable growth.

"We're a very different animal now than we were 12 months
ago," Mr de Crespigny said.  "Today the company produces in
excess of 2 million ounces per annum at below $300 per
ounce and will generate an aggregate $1.5 billion gross
operating cash flow in the next three years."

Writedowns aside, the GCM operations contributed $36.4
million to Normandy's cash flow, but were still well behind
the core Kalgoorlie and Tanami mines which together made a
much-improved contribution of $196.6 million for the year.
Normandy has maintained its final dividend at 3.5c a share,
partly franked, which is payable on September 20. (Sydney
Morning Herald  31-Aug-2000)

TRANSURBAN: Delays drops its bottom line
----------------------------------------
Transurban finished its first operational period in the
red, reporting a $105.2 million net loss for the year to
June 2000.

However, the loss was in large part balanced by a $92
million payment from the Transfield Obayashi Joint Venture
as part of standstill agreements that allow work on the $2
billion CityLink tollway project to continue despite legal
action between Transurban and TOJV.  Transurban managing
director Mr Kim Edwards said the negative result was not a
surprise.

"Accounting losses in the early years [of large
infrastructure projects] are inevitable and Transurban has
planned for them," he said.

The losses are expected to continue for five to six years
but will be staunched considerably as operating revenues
rise. Next year, the company expects to lose between $30
million and $40 million. The result was worse than the
market predicted with analysts expecting losses of between
$30 million and $99.8 million.

This year's losses, toted up since tolling commenced in
January, were significantly increased by construction
problems that have delayed completion of the roadway and
are now the subject of a legal dispute between Transurban
and major contractor TOJV.

"Our results would have been very different if CityLink had
been completed on time. TOJV is liable for this foregone
revenue," Mr Edwards said.

The Western Link was delivered seven months late and
tolling on the Southern Link commenced four months late.
Southern Link will not be completed till the troubled
Burnley Tunnel is opened late in November at the earliest,
Mr Edwards said.

Operating costs were higher than planned because of start-
up costs associated with Transurban taking over customer
service operations from the Translink group. Problems in
the central tolling computer system had also increased
costs by pushing up labour costs.

Traffic figures on the roadway were encouraging with
average weekday traffic figures growing 3.6 per cent in
August to 360,323 journeys. The increase was 4.2 per cent
on Southern Link and 3.2 per cent on Western Link.
Kim Edwards said etag sales were progressing well and there
were now more than 550,000 etags fastened to Victorian
windscreens and the company is "continuing to sell 4,000 a
week and have done so for many months.

The commercial sector [the transport industry] has totally
embraced the Citylink project and are reaping enormous
returns," Mr Edwards said.  Transurban did not declare a
dividend but will begin distributing profits to
shareholders when the Burnley Tunnel is opened. Mr Edwards
said this could be as early as late December.  Transurban
shares closed down 5c to $3.45 (Sydney Morning Herald  31-
Aug-2000)


==============================
C H I N A  &  H O N G  K O N G
==============================

BURLINGAME INT'L CO.: Withdraws float plan
------------------------------------------
Investment property firm Burlingame International Co
confirmed that its stock listing will be withdrawn and
transferred to its restructured vehicle, Interchina
Holdings Co., instead.

Burlingame was unable to meet its debt obligations in 1999
due to a local property market slump. Its creditors issued
a number of writs against the company, but later reached a
restructuring agreement with Burlingame by which honorary
chairman Tang Sung Kwong and new independent investors
would together control more than 70 percent of the company.

E-LIFE INT'L: Posts HK$83.97M fiscal year net loss
--------------------------------------------------
E-Life International Ltd. (0370), an air and sea freight
forwarder, posted a HK$83.97 million net loss for the year
ended March 31. That was up from a HK$26.7 million net loss
a year earlier. Loss per share was 14.1 HK cents this last
year compared to 6.2 HK cents the previous year. Revenue
dropped 22.5 percent to HK$188 million. No final dividend
was proposed.

PAM & FRANK INT'L HLDGS.: Posts HK$198.8M net loss
--------------------------------------------------
Pam & Frank International Holdings Ltd., a small Hong Kong
property investor, recorded a HK$198.8 million net loss for
the 15-month period from April 1, 1998 to June 30, 1999.

It marked a major turnaround from a net profit of HK$9.2
million in the 12-month period April 1, 1997 to March 31,
1998. Loss for the most recent 15-month period was 18.9 HK
cents per share, compared with a profit of 4.28 HK cents
per share for the prior described period. No dividend was
proposed.

SAVOY CONCEPTS: Posts HK$60M 1H net loss
----------------------------------------
Telecom product makes Savoy Concepts Ltd. posted a net loss
of HK$59.9 million for the six-month period ended June 30.
That was substantially up from the HK$20.5 million net loss
is recorded for the same period a year earlier.

Earnings per share was 5.72 HK cents, down from 7.96 HK
cents for the first half of last year. Company revenue,
meantime, rose 13.5 percent to HK$258.8 million. No
interim dividend will be distributed, unchanged from the
same period last year.


=================
I N D O N E S I A
=================

PT BUMI MODERN: Parent to swap debt-for-equity
----------------------------------------------
Financing firm PT Bakrie Finance Corporation plans to
swap part of debt its owed amounting to Rp1.6 trillion (US$
197 million) by its affiliate, hotel operator PT Bumi
Modern, for stock shares. The company confirmed that
several creditors had approved of similar swap deals.

PT INDOLAND JAYA: Facing bankruptcy suit
----------------------------------------
Bahamas-based Kenya Service Ltd has filed a bankruptcy suit
against PT Indoland Jaya, a subsidiary of the Ongko Group.

According to Indoland's lawyer, Titus Rimo, the suit was
filed with the Commercial Court after Indoland failed to
repay a promissory note worth $11.5 million.


=========
J A P A N
=========

HAZAMA CORP: Secures waiver deal from Shinsei Bank
--------------------------------------------------
Hazama Corp.'s third-largest creditor, Shinsei Bank Ltd.,
has agreed to forgive 15.3 billion yen ($143.7 million) of
the company's debt.

According to a newspaper report in the Nihon Keizai,
Shinsei bowed to substantial pressure to waive debt of the
Japanese general contractor. Ironically, Shinsei only last
month refused to waive large loans to Sogo Co.

Other major creditors of Hazama have agreed to buy the
remainder of its debt of 43 billion yen. A Hazama spokesman
denied that a waiver deal had been reached with creditors.

JAPAN NATIONAL OIL CORP.: Posts 17.6B yen annual loss
-----------------------------------------------------
Government-affiliated Japan National Oil Corp. posted a
17.6 billion yen loss in fiscal 1999, having to dip into
reserves of 23.7 billion yen for losses related to its
investment in and loans to oil development companies.

Consequently, JNOC's cumulative loss totaled 351.8 billion
yen, up five percent from fiscal 1998. The loss is expected
to continue to grow as the company accelerates the
liquidation of loss-making operations to improve its
financial viability.

JNOC also plans to sell its shares in oil-developing
companies to net about 485 billion yen. The company will
work out specific share sale plans by the end of this year,
though disagreement with other investors might prevent
JNOC from selling all the shares as planned. The company
has massive bad loans on the books due to its debtor oil
companies falling sequentially into financial difficulty.

MITSUBISHI MOTORS: To post $560M group net loss
-----------------------------------------------
Japan's scandal-hit Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will suffer a
group net loss of 60 billion yen (US$560 million) for its
half-year ended Aug. 31.

The company's interim results are expected to exceed the
38.5 billion yen net loss for the same period last year,
the business newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun is reporting.
Contributing to the net loss for the period was an
extraordinary writeoff of unfunded pension liabilities.
In the past year ended March 31, the company posted a group
net loss of 23.33 billion yen. A strong yen and Japan's
sluggish economy were blamed for the results.

Mitsubishi is expected to have to spend 7.5 billion yen in
the next half-year for damage control for recent
disclosures that the automaker covered up customer
complaints about vehicle-quality for nearly 30 years.
The automaker has been forced to recall more than 700,000
vehicles worldwide since the scandal first came to light in
Japanese newspaper reports last month.

Five Mitsubishi properties, including its Tokyo
headquarters, have been raided by investigators over last
weekend after the company confessed last week to concealing
the defective vehicles. The inspection found documents on
faulty vehicles stashed away in employees' lockers at
Mitsubishi's main office, the company claiming it was due
to a scarcity of storage space.

SNOW BRAND MILK PRODUCTS: Police raid headquarters
--------------------------------------------------
Police on Wednesday raided the Tokyo headquarters of
Japan's largest dairy products company, already under
investigation for selling bacteria-tainted milk that caused
food poisoning of 14,800 people.

Investigators also searched Snow Brand Milk Products Co.'s
regional main office in Osaka on the suspicion of
professional negligence - failure to take necessary
sanitary measures.  Snow Brand's president has already
resigned because of the scandal, but no company executive
has been arrested so far.

Meanwhile, Snow Brand's shares continue to fall, closing
Wednesday in Tokyo trading at 410 yen ($3.85), down 9 yen.
The shares have dropped nearly a third from their June
peak.

The company issued another apology and pledged cooperation
in the investigation.  Snow Brand spokesman Joji Tsugai
said Wednesday that the company's own internal probe
revealed that Hokkaido workers were routinely printing
false production dates in an attempt to get rid of excess
inventory that was already months old. At least 70 bags of
suspected contaminated powdered milk produced in April had
been given later July production dates, he said.

Inspections by officials of the Health and Welfare Ministry
also discovered Snow Brand recycled milk that had been
returned from stores, including some with expired
expiration dates.

TOKYU HOTEL CHAIN CO.: To close 2 hotels after 1H losses
--------------------------------------------------------
Tokyu Hotel Chain Co. will close two of its hotels, one in
Nagasaki and the other in Naha, on Nov. 30 as part of
restructuring efforts.

The announcement follows an earlier decision to close a
hotel in Okayama in January. Hotel officials cite
intensifying competition among hotels in the Kyushu and
Okinawa regions and a decline in revenue from those hotels
as major reasons prompting the actions. Renovation was
considered, officials said, but that would not insure
profitablity, so closure was chosen.

Nagasaki Tokyu Hotel opened in 1974 and has 218 rooms; the
Naha Tokyu Hotel reopened in 1972 and has 208 rooms. Some
112 employees work for the hotels. Tokyu Hotel Chain
officials indicated that closure of additional hotels
remains a possibility while reorganization plans are drawn
up.

In its mid-term earnings report through June 30, Tokyu
Hotel Chain recorded sales of 20.2 billion yen, a decline
of 4.7 percent from the same period last year. It posted
198 million yen in pretax losses on an unconsolidated basis
and 3.2 billion yen in net losses, mainly due to
restructuring costs.


=========
K O R E A
=========

HYUNDAI SECURITIES: Chief quits under pressure
----------------------------------------------
The chairman of Hyundai Securities Co. resigned Wednesday,
apparently giving in to pressure from a government that has
been attempting to wrest control of the group from its
founding family.

Lee Ik Chi, after fighting government demands for his
dismissal over the past year, resigned a day after Hyundai
signed a memorandum of understanding that would bring
investment by two American companies in Hyundai's financial
firms to $1 billion.  Government officials had regarded Mr.
Lee as the foremost ally of Chung Mong Hun, a son of the
group's ailing founder, Chung Ju Yung.

Hyundai's financial companies have been hit hard by
investments and loans involving the bankrupt Daewoo Group.
The resignation of Mr. Lee, who was charged last year in a
stock manipulation scandal, relieved Hyundai Group of a
problem that threatened its relations with both the
government and foreign investors. Mr. Lee repeatedly
refused to step down while Hyundai Securities and Hyundai
Investment Trust Management served as major elements in
Chung Mong Hun's control over core companies of the group.

Mr. Lee helped push Hyundai Securities from an also-ran to
first place among Korean securities firms. At the same
time, he had to bear much blame for the troubles of Hyundai
Investment Trust, whose liabilities now exceed its assets
by more than $1 billion  Mr. Lee's resignation was viewed
as another step in the diminution of the power of Chung
Mong Hun, forced to resign as group chairman and chairman
of all his companies earlier this year in response to
demands for ''professional'' management of the group.

Hyundai Merchant Marine, in which Chung Mong Hun is the
largest shareholder, will hold its controlling stake in
Hyundai Securities until the deal with American
International Group and W.L. Ross & Co. is closed.

Analysts say, however, that Chung Mong Hun may use his
stakes in other Hyundai companies to continue to control
them. Through his own shares as well as cross-holdings, he
remains the dominant figure in Hyundai Merchant Marine and
Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. as well as Hyundai
Engineering & Construction Co.

The troubles of Hyundai Engineering & Construction have
been blamed for forcing the group to agree to a
restructuring under which Hyundai Motor Co. along with
other companies in the automotive unit will "disaffiliate"
from the group next month.  Another profitable unit,
Hyundai Heavy Industries, will disaffiliate within two
years.

American International Group and W.L. Ross & Co. have
agreed to add nearly $200 million to funds that a group of
foreign firms are contributing to Hyundai Securities and
Hyundai Investment Trust Management Co. The investment will
give the foreign partners a 23.7 percent stake in Hyundai
Securities, seats on the board and eventual control of
Hyundai's financial companies. (International Herald
Tribune  31-Aug-2000)

KOREA MERCHANT BANKING CORP.: Declared insolvent
------------------------------------------------
Korea Merchant Banking Corp. has been declared insolvent.

The company failed to repay promissory notes of 14.9
billion won for two consecutive days, its creditor Cho Hung
Bank reported. Korea Merchant now faces suspension of
operations for three months beginning tomorrow, according
to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).

Hana Bank, which holds a 22.6 percent stake in Korea
Merchant, has told the FSC that it has no plans to aid the
cash-short merchant bank unit claiming it needs its capital
to support its own restructuring plans.

SAMSUNG GROUP: To launch new restructuring
------------------------------------------
Samsung Group plans to initiate a restructuring in the
second half of the year, which will include tightening its
management.

Sources at Samsung said the restructure would focus on
boosting the company's financial condition and improving
its profitability.

Samsung Corp also plans to sell unprofitable mineral
exploration assets in Australia totalling 300 billion won
(US$269 million). Also, the firm will accelerate listing
its Internet related firms to withdraw its investment.
Samsung Electronics, meanwhile, will pay loans totaling 2.2
trillion won (US$2 billion) that are due this year and cut
its debt ratio to 60 per cent.

WOO BANG HOUSING & CONSTR.: Daegu Bank with emergency loans
-----------------------------------------------------------
Daegu Bank will extend some 100 billion won in emergency
loans to the contractors of Woo Bang Housing & Construction
Co Ltd, which recently filed for court receivership.

The bank will provide a maximum of 500 million won for each
company based on its accounts receivable in relation to Woo
Bang, at an interest rate of 10.25 pct and with one-year
maturity, it said. It will make loan lending procedures
simpler in cooperation with other relevant institutions in
order to provide substantial and speedy aid to the
contractors, it added.  (AFX News Limited  29-Aug-2000)


===============
M A L A Y S I A
===============

LION CORP: Net loss narrows to RM254 million
--------------------------------------------
Lion Corporation Bhd posted a net loss of RM254.02 million
for the financial year ended June 30, 2000.

By comparison, the company recorded a loss of RM274.59
million for the previous year. Turnover this year, however,
jumped to RM332.35 million from RM179.53 million, according
to an announcement to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.

For the fourth quarter, the company recorded a net loss of
RM91.30 million. Turnover for the group in the fourth
quarter was substantially higher at RM216.53 million, due
primarily to inclusion of Megasteel Sdn Bhd's financial
results for May and June.

Megasteel actually reported a RM33.3 million loss for the
two months, resulting in a higher operating loss for the
quarter of RM48.5 million. Its associated company, Amsteel
Corp. Bhd, recorded a pre-tax loss of RM104.3 million
during the last quarter.

For the full financial year, the manufacturing division
posted a RM79 million net profit on a turnover of RM33.67
million. The other four divisions posted net losses. The
steel division posted a net loss of RM12 million on a
turnover of RM179.48 million, while the construction and
engineering division suffered a net loss of RM859,000 on a
turnover of RM1.46 million. Both the motor division and the
investments sector registered a net loss of RM11.09 million
and RM5.32 million, respectively, with turnovers of
RM117.15 million and RM5.32 million. (Star Online 30-Aug-
2000)

NALURI BHD: Posts RM145.2mil after-tax loss
-------------------------------------------
Naluri Bhd, holder of a 29 percent stake in Malaysia
Airlines Bhd, posted an after-tax loss of RM145.2 million
for the six-month period ended June 30.

By comparison, the company recorded a profit of RM16.7mil
for the same period period in 1999. Turnover this year fell
to RM17.8 million from RM79.1 million for the same period
last year. The sharp fall in turnover was attributed to
disposal of its 90 percent stake in MGS Aviation Sdn Bhd.

Naluri's total borrowings stood at 948.858 million ringgit
at end June. The company said it has refinanced its 600
million ringgit redeemable secured bond with a 5-year fixed
term loan.

SALANTA DEVELOPMENT SDN: Special administrators appointed
---------------------------------------------------------
Pegurusan Danaharta Nasional Bhd has appointed Abdul Khudus
Mohd Naaim and Hassan Hussain of KS & Associates as the
Special Administrators of Salanta Development Sdn Bhd
effective Aug 29, 2000.

With this appointment, the Special Administrators would
assume control of the assets and affairs of the property
development company. A Danaharta statement issued here
Wednesday said the powers of the management and the board
of the company were effectively suspended and only the
Special Administrators could deal with the assets of the
company.

The statement said the appointment of the Special
Administrators was provided for by Pengurusan Danaharta
Nasional Bhd Act 1998. It also was approved by Danaharta's
Oversight Committee, a three-member committee with one
representative each from the Ministry of Finance,
Securities Commission and Bank Negara Malaysia.

In order to preserve the assets of Salanta until the
Special Administrators were able to complete their task, a
12-month moratorium would take effect from the date of
appointment, and during that period, no creditor may take
action against the company.  The Special Administrators, it
said, would prepare a workout proposal which must be
examined by an independent advisor.

The independent advisor's role was to review the
reasonableness of the proposal, taking into consideration
the interests of all creditors (whether secured or
unsecured) and shareholders, the statement informed.
According to the statement, if Danaharta approved the
proposal prepared by the Special Administrators, the latter
would call for a meeting of secured creditors present and
voting at the meeting must approve the proposal before it
could be implemented.

"Relevant regulatory approvals must also be obtained," it
said. (Asia Pulse  31-Aug-2000)

TELEKOM MALAYSIA: Cellular division post H1 loss
------------------------------------------------
The cellular division of Telekom Malaysia Bhd posted a pre-
tax loss of RM160 million (US$42 million) for the first
half of 2000; turnover was RM280 million.

Telekom chief executive Dr Md Khir Abdul Rahman said that
despite the losses, the company would continue to focus on
developing its cellular businesses TMTouch and Mobikom.


=====================
P H I L I P P I N E S
=====================

MIMOSA LEISURE ESTATE: White knight offers PhP400M infusion
-----------------------------------------------------------
Mimosa Leisure Estate will receive between PhP300 million
to PhP400 million ($8.87 million at PhP45.077=$1) in fresh
capital from prominent businessman Antonio "Tony Boy"
Cojuangco to return the resort company to financial
viability.

Clark Development Corp. (CDC) is evaluating the proposal,
according to Bank of Commerce president Raul B. de Mesa.
He said Mr. Cojuangco's bid for a capital infusion is one
of the several applications presented to CDC, the agency
which oversees commercial ventures in the former US air
base in Pampanga, a province north of Metro Manila.

The Mimosa Leisure Estate is a 240-hectare property which
houses the Holiday Inn and Monte Vista hotels, the Regency
Casino, and the 36-hole Mimosa Golf and Country Club. He
said the Cojuangco group, which owns and operates Bank of
Commerce, will seek CDC approval for the rehabilitation
plan first before proceeding with the capital infusion.

Mr. Cojuangco also owns Fontana Leisure Corp. which also
based inside the Clark complex. Should their bid be
successful, Mr. de Mesa said that the Cojuangco group
will operate Mimosa and Fontana as complimentary
businesses, since both resorts offer basically the same
services and facilities.

Investment house PentaCapital Investment Corp. is also
interested in bidding for Mimosa, and has allegedly
contacted representatives of the Sultanate of Brunei to
provide the funding. PentaCapital had earlier syndicated a
PhP650-million bridge financing facility for Mimosa.

Mimosa owes PhP6 billion to Far East Bank and Trust Co.
(now merged with Bank of the Philippine Islands), United
Coconut Planters Bank, Asian Bank Corp. and the Philippine
Banking Corp. (both now part of Global Business Bank), Dao
Heng Bank, and TA Bank.  Of this amount, about PhP3 billion
in loans were reportedly extended to Mimosa without the
benefit of collateral or the so-called "clean basis."
(Business World  31-Aug-2000)

NATIONAL POWER CORP.: Probe of $3.4B "hidden" debt to IPPs
----------------------------------------------------------
The Senate committees on finance and energy ordered on
Wednesday the National Power Corporation to explain a
supposed $3.4-billion "hidden liability" of the debt-ridden
firm to independent power producers (IPPs).

The said liability was exposed following the report of the
foreign consortium tapped by the government to check total
liabilities of Napocor to IPPs. The report stated the total
liabilities amounted to a staggering $9 billion, not just
$5.6 billion as reported by Napocor.

Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. and SGV / Arthur Andersen,
which have been tapped to make an independent assessment of
Napocor's assets and liabilities for P10 million, presented
to the Senate yesterday their findings on the firm's
obligations.  It earlier presented to the Senate its
assessment on Napocor's total assets.

Osme¤a said the consortium's findings only show that
Napocor "does not know what its liabilities were" or worse,
might be even "trying to mislead us" on its real financial
condition.  "We are going to have a hearing and ask Napocor
to comment on the report of the financial advisers. When
you have something like this, you have to confront the
agency and them to report," Osme¤a said.

Also, the consortium said it found that Napocor's
liabilities exceed its total assets by $9.7 billion,
showing how debt-ridden the firm is. Osme¤a said the extent
of Napocor's obligations justifies its immediate
privatization, with the government assuming its loans to
make it more attractive to interested investors.  He said
this option is better than letting investors assume the
loans and then pass on the burden to consumers through
higher electric rates.

"At least, it would be a one-deal approach to Napocor's
debts. Government can take steps to address payment through
renegotiations or absorbing it in the budget," he said.

Besides, a higher power rate, resulting from the
government's non-assumption of debts, could only turn off
investors in the long run.  The privatization of Napocor,
which has been a project of the previous administration,
continues to be delayed after senators questioned figures
submitted by its officials.  This prompted the hiring of
the foreign consultant, which however was opposed by
members of the House of Representatives. (ABS/CBN News
Channel  31-Aug-2000)


===============
T H A I L A N D
===============

AP NATIONAL ELECTRIC: Thai s'holder to fight takeover
-----------------------------------------------------
The Aphiphunya family will appeal to the Thai Central
Bankruptcy Court on September 18 in an effort to fend off
what it considers a hostile takeover of AP National
Electric Co by Asia Matsushita.

A producer of National and Panasonic brand electrical
appliances, AP National Electric has accumulated losses of
about Bt419 million. The company owes Asia Matsushita about
Bt1.25 billion for a loan used to finance manufacturing.

AP National Electric chairman Prapat Aphiphunya, whose
family owns about 55 per cent of the company, said the
company has been making its scheduled interest payments,
but Asia Matsushita has asked for a total repayment in an
effort to take over the Thai firm.

"This is really an intention to take over the company
without due justification," he said. Asia Matsushita, based
in Singapore, is a subsidiary of the Matsushita Group
of Japan. Company officials could not be reached for
comment yesterday.

Prapat said Asia Matsushita has guided AP National
Electric's management, and has supervised every step of the
company's expansion. He said Asia Matsushita considers AP
National Electric its regional production hub. But
apparently Asia Matsushita hopes to consolidate its
overseas operations by taking over the Thai company, he
said.

Asia Matsushita has proposed that AP National Electric
reduce its capital to write off the debt. This would reduce
the Aphiphunya family's shareholding ratio to less than 1
per cent. Then Asia Matsushita would inject fresh capital,
and in the process would become the major shareholder.

"This is a proposal that we cannot accept," Prapat said.

He will ask the court to allow AP National Electric to
repay its debts over the next five years, he said. (The
Nation  31-Aug-2000)

SOON HUA SENG GROUP: Rehab deal or bankruptcy by Nov.
-----------------------------------------------------
Debt restructuring for Soon Hua Seng Group, an agribusiness
giant, is expected to be finalised by November -- the
deadline set by the Bank of Thailand to complete
negotiations or take Soon Hua Seng to bankruptcy court.

Regulators had earlier approved an extension after earlier
deadlines had passed. Banking executives said confidence
that a settlement would be reached had increased after a
team was set up to help mediate between creditors and Soon
Hua Seng.  Total debt for the conglomerate, which includes
listed paper manufacturer Advanced Agro, is estimated at
150 billion baht, including foreign liabilities.

Leading the mediation team are Virabongsa Ramangkura, a
former deputy prime minister and a former chairman of
Advanced Agro; M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakul, president of the
Export-Import Bank, and Kosit Panpiamrat, executive
chairman of Bangkok Bank.  Separated from the talks are
Chatri Sophonpanich, chairman of Bangkok Bank, and
Chartsiri Sophonpanich, president of Bangkok Bank, as well
as Kitti Damnernchanvanich, head of the Soon Hua Seng
group.

Last week, Mr Chatri said Bangkok Bank was prepared to file
suit against Mr Kitti and Soon Hua Seng if a resolution
could not be found shortly. Other bankers say, however,
that the group's business prospects have improved, and that
rehabilitation is feasible.

"Talks have failed many times because both Bangkok Bank and
Soon Hua Seng have become emotional about the issues
involved," said one banker. "But the truth is, the
prospects are not that bad," the banker said.

Soon Hua Seng has been able to reduce its debt levels by
repurchasing some of its outstanding bonds and obligations
held by foreign creditors at a discount. "Actually,
creditors should be happy that the group has been able to
retire some debt and make further restructuring
negotiations easier," said one banking source.

However, one complication is that the Export-Import Bank,
which holds outstanding debt for many equipment purchases
made by Soon Hua Seng, has told local banks that it could
call the group in default and call in bank guarantees.
Local banks have offered billions of baht in bank
guarantees against the Exim Bank equipment loans.

Soon Hua Seng has been sporadic in making payments over the
past three years, forcing local banks to cover the debt to
the Exim Bank. But recently the Exim Bank notified other
local banks that it could call all the debts owed by Soon
Hua Seng in default, forcing immediate repayment and thus
exercising the full guarantees. (Bangkok Post  31-Aug-2000)


S U B S C R I P T I O N  I N F O R M A T I O N

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