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     T R O U B L E D   C O M P A N Y   R E P O R T E R

                            A S I A   P A C I F I C

           Wednesday, November 1, 2000, Vol. 3, No. 213

                                    Headlines


* A U S T R A L I A *

HIH: Continues to founder in rough seas


* C H I N A  &  H O N G  K O N G *

CENTURY 21 MANAGEMENT LTD: Facing winding up petition
FORTUNE CENTRY (HK) LTD: Facing winding up petition
GUANGDONG INT'L TRUST: Reaches repayment plan
NETEASE.COM: Records quarterly loss
NEXT MEDIA: Suspends most Web-site operations
SOHU.COM: Records quarterly loss


* I N D O N E S I A *

PT BAKRIE BROTHERS: Court approves 45-day payment halt
TIMOR PUTRA NATIONAL: Debt restructure awaits FSPC okay


* K O R E A *

HYUNDAI ENGIN.& CONSTR.: Defaults on 22.4B won debt
HYUNDAI GROUP: Stock prices of affiliates down 50%
KOREA EXPRESS: Plans to file for court receivership
SSANGYONG GROUP: Destined for dismantling


* M A L A Y S I A *

ABRAR CORP.: Restructuring to be done by early 2001
ORIENTAL BANK: Minority shareholders sue bank
TAIPING CONSOLIDATED: Rehab by year-end,relisted by March


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

PHIL. NAT.CONSTRUCTION CORP.: Gov't fails to lure buyers
PILIPINO TELEPHONE CORP.: Peso fall delays rehabilitation
WESTMONT INVEST.CORP.: SEC files criminal charges vs execs


* S I N G A P O R E *

NATSTEEL LTD: Asks for share trading suspension - no word


* T H A I L A N D *

ADKINSON SECURITIES: Posts Bt42.35M Q3 net loss
ANGEL AIR: Sued by PB Air for Bt17M
THAI PETROCHEM.INDUS.: Delayed plan vote drops stocks


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

HIH: Continues to founder in rough seas
---------------------------------------
HIH shares touched a record low of 29.5› Monday as
speculation intensified about plans to offload its
Californian workers' compensation business.

The insurer's board of directors will meet later this week,
and sources inside the company said HIH's poor-performing
US subsidiary would be reviewed. If the group decided to
sell any offshore subsidiary, the US business was the prime
candidate, the sources said.

HIH effectively sold off control of its retail business in
Australia last month and, since then, long-serving chief
executive Mr Ray Williams has stepped down. The company is
now looking for a new CEO. Since the sale of the retail
business, the company's share price has fallen from around
$1 to Monday's close of 32›, down 1› during the day.

HIH sources said the US business was the division most
likely to be sold, and there was very little likelihood of
the company purchasing a 50 per cent stake in Korean
insurer Daehan Fire & Marine Insurance, as speculated in
Korean newspapers. While the Australian company had held
talks with the Korean company, "now was not the time" to
get involved, the source said.

The US business is primarily California-based workers'
compensation. At the company's full-year result last month,
Mr Williams hinted that HIH could offload the business.
"This business can, and will, be capable of delivering
suitable earnings returns, but we are concerned that the
time-frame for earnings recovery may not be capable of
meeting our internal benchmarks," he said. "Therefore
these operations remain under close and ongoing review."

Mr William's replacement faces a tough task to turn around
sentiment in the company. Senior HIH representatives agreed
that it would be hard to find a replacement for him. "It's
not an easy job because the whole existence of HIH is being
questioned," one said. "Will some executive leave the
security of their job to become a chief executive of a
company they hope they can turn around? It will mean a big
pay packet ... and plenty of options."

A director, Mr Rodney Adler, hinted at the sale of offshore
assets yesterday, telling AAP that parts of the global
operations had to be closed or sold. "We're in a very
vicious cycle and we need a circuit breaker, and part of
that circuit breaker will be, unfortunately, Mr Williams
leaving and a new guy coming in," Mr Adler said.

HIH had to do several things to get back into the market's
favour, he said. "One of those things is clearly
articulating a plan, announcing it to the market and
following it through."  (Australian Financial Review  31-
Oct-2000)


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

CENTURY 21 MANAGEMENT LTD: Facing winding up petition
-----------------------------------------------------
The High Court of Hong Kong SAR, Court of First Instance,
has scheduled a hearing on December 12 on the petition of
Golden Knight Security Limited for the winding up of
Century 21 Management Limited. A notice of legal appearance
must be filed on or before December 11.

FORTUNE CENTRY (HK) LTD: Facing winding up petition
---------------------------------------------------
The High Court of Hong Kong SAR, Court of First Instance,
has scheduled a hearing on November 15 on the petition of
Sin Hua Bank Limited for the winding up of Fortune Century
(Hong Kong) Limited. A notice of legal appearance must be
filed on or before November 14.

GUANGDONG INT'L TRUST: Reaches repayment plan
---------------------------------------------
Guangdong International Trust & Investment Corp., which
collapsed in 1998 in China's biggest corporate failure,
agreed to make an initial payment of 711 million yuan ($86
million) to creditors, or about three percent of its debt.

Bank of China and Standard Chartered Plc are among the 215
creditors that will receive payment under the plan, agreed
upon at a meeting between creditors, officials of China's
Guangdong province -- which owns Gitic -- and liquidator
KPMG Peat Marwick Huazhen, said Louie Choi, a KPMG partner.

Gitic recognizes total claims of about 21 billion yuan, he
said. Gitic's failure in late 1998 was a shock to foreign
banks that expected authorities to support the nation's
state-owned trusts, the fund-raising and investment
vehicles of various arms of federal, provincial, and
municipal governments. Loans to non-bank Chinese borrowers
booked through Hong Kong plunged 28 percent in the 18
months after Gitic's collapse.

"The time it's taken to get a mere 3.4 percent of the debt
repaid illustrates the difficulties and complexities
involved in liquidating Gitic's assets," said Paul Muther,
managing director of CCIC Finance Ltd. in Hong Kong.

CCIC, whose shareholders include the Bank of China, the
International Bank of Japan and Chicago-based Bank One
Corp., has a separate claim on Gitic to seek $39.2 million
in loans owed since 1997.  The repayment of Gitic's debts
comes as the Guangdong provincial government tries to
entice foreign investors back to one of China's fastest-
growing regions.

In November, Governor Lu Ruihua will welcome top executives
from firms such as American International Group Inc.,
Daimler-Chrysler AG and Royal Dutch- Shell Group to win
more investment for the southern Chinese province.

Future payments of Gitic's remaining debt will be based on
the sale of the company's 7 billion yuan of assets,
liquidators said. Before creditors get paid, they will
first need approval from China's State Administration of
Foreign Exchange to receive U.S. dollar payments. Each
creditor will also need to send documents to liquidators to
officially request the payments.

All the banks that met Gitic's liquidators in the southern
city of Guangzhou approved the plan, KPMG's Choi said. As
of July 20, the KPMG-led group of liquidators had charged
as much as 235 million yuan in fees, according to a
report on Gitic's financial situation. That's nearly a
third of the payout that will be collected by the 215
creditors after today's meeting.

Some banks said they may take court action to get the
liquidators to recognize more of their claims. If
successful, this could lead to a reorganization of the
payouts, Choi said.

Gitic is only one of several Chinese trusts to have either
experienced difficulty repaying debt or to have been closed
by authorities. China's central bank wants to combine the
country's 240-odd state-owned trusts -- first set up in the
1980s -- into around 50 groups. Several are struggling
to reorganize their debt to foreign lenders and
bondholders.

"Difficulties are evident in many of the other troubled
Chinese borrowers," said CCIC's Muther said. "Turning their
assets into cash will be time consuming and expensive."

Dalian International Trust & Investment Corp. is asking
creditors to write off 40 percent of their loans, under a
payment plan worked out by CLSA Global Emerging Markets.
This month, Hainan International Trust & Investments Corp.,
the Hainan government's investment arm, defaulted on 238
million yen ($2.2 million) of interest owed to Japanese
investors in its yen bonds.

The firm, which owed 4.56 billion yuan at the end of 1998,
is also seeking liquidators for its assets. In the past 6
months, the central bank has shut down trust firms owned by
the governments of Luoyang and Wuhan. (Bloomberg  31-Oct-
2000)

NETEASE.COM: Records quarterly loss
SOHU.COM: Records quarterly loss
-----------------------------------
Two of China's largest Internet portals reported rising
revenue but showed few signs of making profits in their
results for the three months to September.

Netease.com sustained a loss of US$5.02 million in the
third quarter, up 53.2 percent from the previous quarter.
Revenue jumped 46.9 percent to US$2.42 million. Sohu.com
reported a net loss of US$4.3 million in the three months
to September 30, down 33.8 percent from the previous
quarter. Revenue increased 23 percent to US$1.6 million
from the previous quarter.

At the end of September, Netease.com held US$94.6 million
in cash, while Sohu.com had US$70.06 million. The number of
Netease.com's registered users increased by 56.9 percent
compared with the previous quarter to 9.26 million users.
Sohu.com had 9.2 million registered users at the end of
September compared with 3.27 million at the end of the
previous quarter, though the September number was boosted
by the acquisition of another Web site.

Analysts said the results showed the difficulty for portals
to make profits as the firms depended on revenue from
online advertising, which accounted for more than 85 per
cent of revenues.  "I have no positive recommendations on
any of the pure play China portals because the size of the
online advertising market is too small and will remain so
for the next few years," said Lehman Brothers head of new
media research Stephen McKeever.

Two weeks ago, Sina.com announced that its loss had fallen
13 percent to US$6 million in the three months to September
compared with the previous quarter while net revenue rose
24.1 percent to US$7.2 million.  Analysts place greater
emphasis on the quarter-on-quarter growth figures due
to the low base of comparison in the previous year's third
quarter when the portals were starting to develop.

The three portal operators are listed on the Nasdaq market
in the United States. Analysts said that Sohu.com's results
were below expectations.

"When the revenue bases are low they should be growing
faster," said Credit Suisse First Boston senior associate
of Asian equities research Jay Chang.  "It's not the end of
the world for the company but I think they are going to
have to do a lot more proving to the market to position
themselves as a leader."

Credit Suisse First Boston underwrote Sina's US$68 million
flotation on the Nasdaq in April. Netease.com's results
were better than Sohu.com's, according to analysts,
due to its much stronger revenue growth.

"Compared with Sohu, Netease was a good result," said Mr
McKeever. In September, Sohu.com acquired the youth
community Web site ChinaRen.com in a deal valued at US$30.8
million, which fuelled predictions of further consolidation
in the sector.

"This is a real opportunity to snap up some of the more
promising Web sites in China," said Jonathan Iu, of SG
Securities.

Sina.com has advantages over Sohu.com and Netease.com due
to some of its users being based outside the mainland,
according to analysts. This will help generate higher
revenues as companies will spend more to advertise to
richer customers in overseas markets.

"Sina has been able to draw on a wider market as it targets
Hong Kong and US-resident Chinese while Sohu and Netease
are totally focused on mainland China," said Mr McKeever.

Electronic commerce is expected to remain a small portion
of revenue in the near future despite companies' hopes of
earning revenues from users. "In China it is probably still
a long way off because the necessary infrastructure is not
there," said Mr Iu of electronic commerce development.

The lack of infrastructure to facilitate items such as a
developed credit card payment system will hinder growth in
online transactions, according to Mr Iu. Revenue from e-
commerce related services in the third quarter was about
US$330,000 for Netease.com and for Sina.com was US$179,000.
(South China Morning Post  01-Nov-2000)

NEXT MEDIA: Suspends most Web-site operations
---------------------------------------------
Next Media Ltd. has decided to suspend most of its Web-site
operations, a move that will affect about 100 staff.

All Web sites about general news, financial news,
entertainment, football and lifestyles will be closed
immediately and their editorial staffs dismissed, according
to the company, which is controlled by media mogul Jimmy
Lai.

More than 10 staff from the production unit, five editors
and some staff from the information technology unit will
stay with the company and be assigned to other Next
operations, including Apple Daily, Next Magazine, Sudden
Weekly, East Finder and Food Lovers.

In July, Next fired 62 employees in a restructuring of its
Internet operations.  It said the victims of the latest
layoffs will be compensated, but it gave no details.
(Quamnet News  31-Oct-2000)


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

PT BAKRIE BROTHERS: Court approves 45-day payment halt
------------------------------------------------------
The Jakarta Commercial Court has approved a 45-day
suspension of payments on US$1.057 billion in PT Bakrie
Brothers debt to allow the company to move ahead
with debt restructuring negotiations.

Judge Mahdi Soroindah Nasution said Bakrie Brothers is
still considered a going concern, though heavily burdened
with debt. According to the 1998 Bankruptcy Law, Bakrie
Brothers will have to secure the vote of a majority of
creditors or conclude a restructuring agreement by the end
of the suspension period before proceeding with further
negotiations, Soroindah said.

TIMOR PUTRA NATIONAL: Debt restructure awaits FSPC okay
-------------------------------------------------------
The debt restructuring of Timor Putra National (TPN) is
currently waiting for approval from the Financial Sector
Policy Committee (FSPC). In the meantime, the Indonesian
Banking Restructuring Agency (IBRA) continues to refuse to
reveal exactly how much is to be restructured.

"The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has
been scheduled since last month. I don't know the exact
figure as the final decision will be made by the FSPC,"
Danang Kemayan Jati, IBRA Group Head of Public Relations
told IndoExchange.com.

In response to a statement made by TPN that the company
signed a debt restructuring agreement worth $354m with IBRA
on September 30, 2000, Danang said it might only be in the
form of debt restructuring proposal. "It has yet to be
signed," said Danang. "We have not received the MoU, so it
's probably only the proposal."

According to information acquired by IndoExchange.com, TPN
debts per September 30, 2000 totaled Rp3.02tr. Since being
transferred to IBRA, the company has never conducted debt
restructuring.  TPN is one of 12 subsidiaries belonging to
Humpuss and is included as one of the 21 largest debtors to
IBRA.

Total debts of the 12 subsidiaries amount to Rp5.63
trillion, broken down as: PT Sempati Air Rp219.03 billion;
PT Latoka Eka Prasetya (contractor and construction in
Batam) Rp32.52 billion; PT Bali Pecatu Graha (hotel and
resort management) Rp170.52 billion; PT Gatari Air Service
Rp21.35 billion; Humpuss Inc (investment holding company)
Rp766.7 billion; PT Humpuss Patragas Rp124.27 billion; PT
Humpuss Pengolahan Minyak Rp84.17 billion; PT Humpuss
(holding company group) Rp378.83 billion; PT Humpuss
Terminal Petikemas Rp658.48 billion; PT Mabua Intan Express
(transportation service linking Bali to Lombok) Rp34,47
billion; PT Sekar Artha Sentosa (property) Rp113.47
billion; PT Timor Putra Nasional Rp3.02 trillion.

Of the 12 subsidiaries, eight have signed debt-restruc-
turing agreements worth a total of Rp235.38 billion and
$355.85 million respectively. They are: PT Humpuss, PT
Humpuss Patragas, PT Sekar Artha Sentosa, PT Humpuss
Pengolahan Minyak, PT Gatari Air service, PT Mabua Intan
Express, PT Humpuss Terminal Petikemas, PT Humpuss Inc.

Meanwhile, PT Sempati Air and PT Latoka Eka Prasetya have
been declared bankrupt and all of their assets transferred
to IBRA. (Indoexchange News  31-Oct-2000)


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

HYUNDAI ENGIN.& CONSTR.: Defaults on 22.4B won debt
---------------------------------------------------
South Korea's largest construction firm, Hyundai
Engineering and Construction Co., plunged into crisis
Tuesday after failing to pay debts, prompting the
government to consider a public bailout or even
receivership.

Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), main creditor of Hyundai
Engineering and Construction Co. (HEC), said the company
defaulted on 22.4 billion won (19.8 million dollars) due
Monday.  HEC narrowly avoided being declared insolvent by
paying the sum Tuesday. It also secured a rollover
of 30 billion won in promissory notes due Tuesday.

"The company avoided going under as it repaid all
promissory notes it defaulted yesterday," a KEB spokesman
said.

But with other major debts to be repaid before the end of
the year, the government warned the company could be forced
out of business. "Non-viable firms will be liquidated or
rescued through debt-equity swaps," the Financial
Supervisory Commission (FSC) said in a report presented at
a cabinet meeting.

Yonhap news agency quoted FSC chief Lee Keun-Young as
saying the government could use public funds to nationalize
or place HEC under court receivership if the company failed
to stand on its own.  HEC is one of the world's biggest
civil engineering firms with major projects in Asia and the
Middle East, including ones worth 1.2 billion dollars in
Singapore and 940 million dollars in Iran.

The company is also involved in an international project to
build safe nuclear reactors in North Korea under a 1994
accord aimed at neutralizing the communist state's nuclear
weapons program. But HEC has been rocked by a prolonged
credit crisis. A quarter of its 255 top executives resigned
last week.

"Hyundai Engineering can manage to meet the obligation in
some way or other but it is now likely to see a recurring
liquidity crisis, with worsening cash flows," said Hana
Securities analyst H.S. Yoon.

The default came amid growing fears over a billion dollar
deal for American International Group (AIG) to buy into
troubled Hyundai financial units. AIG chairman Maurice
Greenberg had been expected in the South Korean capital
on Monday. But the trip was postponed, raising fears the
group's lingering liquidity crisis would worsen.

AIG leads a consortium bidding to acquire the group's three
financial arms, including Hyundai Securities Co., for one
billion dollars. The US company has recently come out with
tough demands, including a government guarantee for its
investment and a lower interest rate for debt repayments.
But FSC officials have rejected AIG's conditions as
unacceptable.  (Agence France Presse  31-Oct-2000)

HYUNDAI GROUP: Stock prices of affiliates down 50%
--------------------------------------------------
Share prices for Hyundai Group affiliates have nearly
halved from the level registered when the financial crisis
hit in late 1997, according to Daishin Securities Co.
Monday.

Hyundai affiliates' share prices fell 44.9 percent between
Dec. 24, 1997 to the closing on Oct. 27.  During the same
period, listed affiliates of Samsung Group posted a 138.6
percent rise, SK Group registered a 67.5-percent growth and
LG Group a 29.5 percent increase.

The rout affecting Hyundai Group was led by Hyundai Heavy
Industries, Hyundai Electronics and Hyundai Engineering &
Construction. Hyundai Heavy Industries plunged 65 percent,
Hyundai Electronics 30 percent, and Hyundai Engineering &
Construction plummeted 79 percent.

At the other end, Samsung Electronics, the leader among
Samsung affiliates, showed the largest gain at 360 percent,
although its price has slid recently. Samsung Electro-
Mechanics also registered a hefty 357 percent growth during
the period.  SK Telecom, the leader among SK Group
affiliates, posted an impressive 670 percent rise.

The price rise in LG affiliates was not very significant
because its flagship units, LG Chemical and LG Electronics,
posted modest rises of 63 percent and 56.4 percent,
respectively. (Korea Times  31-Oct-2000)

KOREA EXPRESS: Plans to file for court receivership
---------------------------------------------------
Korea Express Co., a transport affiliate of Dong-Ah
Construction Co., said it will file for protection from
creditors, bringing the Dong-Ah Group's most profitable
unit one step closer to bankruptcy.

At an emergency board meeting, Korea Express also agreed to
consider a lawsuit against Seoul Bank, Dong-Ah
Construction's main creditor, said Kim Sang Ki, a company
spokesman.

"We have been directly hurt by Seoul Bank's mismanagement
of Dong-Ah when it was under the creditor-led debt
repayment program," Korea Express said in a statement.

Korea Express, the nation's largest transportation company,
has been struggling with creditors over how to pay off a
700 billion won ($629 million) debt guarantee it made on
behalf of its parent, Dong-Ah Construction. Korea Express
also pledged 300 billion won in collateral on loans the
contractor took out to fund its overseas projects.

The company is profitable, despite its debt burden. Korea
Express, with about 6,000 workers, earned 19.3 billion won
in the first half, a three-fold rise from the same period a
year ago.

Talks between Dong-Ah's creditors and Korea Express have
been in a deadlock for months. Korea Express was willing to
meet only 202.5 billion won of the debt guarantee, while
creditors wanted the transport company meet the full
obligation.  The company's stock was suspended from trading
on the Korea Stock Exchange.

Dong-Ah Construction, which has $2.9 billion in debt, was
refused new loans by creditors yesterday. Its board is also
meeting this afternoon to decide whether to file for court
receivership.  Korea Express said it won't meet 10 billion
won worth of loan payments due today with its decision to
file for court protection from creditors. The court will
decide within 14 days whether to grant Korea Express'
request. (Blommberg 31-Oct-2000)

SSANGYONG GROUP: Destined for dismantling
-----------------------------------------
Ssangyong, once the nation's sixth largest business
conglomerate in terms of assets, is certain to be
dismantled, largely due to its failed attempt to expand
into the automobile business.

Ssangyong Cement, a core subsidiary of the group, said
Tuesday that Japan's Taiheiyo Cement had completed the
transfer of W366 billion the same day, for a 29.1 percent
stake in the firm. This makes it the largest shareholder of
Ssangyong Cement and relegates Ssangyong to the spot of
second-largest shareholder, with a 14.3 percent stake.

Ssangyong Cement and Taiheiyo also signed a management
contract the same day, with each firm to appoint five
directors to the board of the firm. Taiheiyo will be in
control of the finances and business planning, but current
chair Kim Suk-won will continue to participate in
management as co-chair.

Thanks to the cash injection by Taiheiyo, Ssangyong
Cement's debt-to-equity ratio has been brought down to the
200% level from about 320 percent. Ssangyong Cement also
said that it would sell off three of its subsidiaries
within a month.

Ssangyong Heavy Industries is expected to sell for W16.9
billion; Ssangyong Precision Industries is expected to
fetch W16 billion; and the sale of Ssangyong Information
and Telecom should bring in W900 billion. The successful
sale of these three firms would bring Ssangyong Cement's
debt-to-equity ratio further down to the 100 percent range.

Cho Hung Bank, the largest creditor bank of Ssangyong
Cement, announced Tuesday, that if the company moves ahead
with its self-rescue plan, including the sell off of the
three subsidiaries, it will consider converting its W300
billion debt into equity within a month's time.

The Ssangyong business group has sold off several units
since its management troubles first began in 1996. Firms
that have been sold include Ssangyong Paper; Ssangyong Oil
Refining; Ssangyong Motor; and Ssangyong Securities. Its
core construction unit, Ssangyong Engineering &
Construction has been undergoing a workout steps. (Digital
Chosun  31-Oct-2000)


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

ABRAR CORP.: Restructuring to be done by early 2001
---------------------------------------------------
Ailing Abrar Corporation Bhd expects to complete its
restructuring exercise by the first quarter of next year.

The restructuring exercise, which could include capital
reduction, will see the emergence of Global Innovative
Management Sdn Bhd (GIM) as the new controlling shareholder
through asset injections.  On last Sept 18, construction-
based Abrar entered into a memorandum of understanding with
GIM, an information technology service provider.

White knight GIM's shareholdings in the construction group
has not been determined, according to Abrar managing
director Nor Amirudin Nor Rahmat. This is probably due to
on-going negotiation of the pricing for the assets
to be injected.

Abrar's total debt now stands at RM180 million and the
company is under the care of special administrators
appointed by Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Bhd. Nor
Amirudin said the restructuring, when completed, will see
the streamlining of Abrar's operations with information
technology becoming its core business.

He was speaking to reporters at the transfer ceremony of
the Abrar's entire 20 percent stake in Express Rail Link
Sdn Bhd (ERL) to TH Technologies Sdn Bhd. Abrar today sold
its 5.2 million shares in ERL to the Tabung Haji subsidiary
for 5.2 million cash. The proceeds from the disposal will
be used to retire Abrar's debts.

With the disposal, TH Technologies and YTL Corporation Bhd
would divide the entire equity interest in ERL on a 60:40
basis. ERL is developing a high-speed system link from
Kuala Lumpur Sentral to Kuala Lumpur International Airport
in Sepang. ERL executive chairman Datuk Nadzmi Mohd Salleh
said all land acquisitions had been made and the project is
44 percent complete.

According to him, the project is progressing at one to two
per cent rate a week. It is expected start generating
revenue from April 19, 2002. (The Edge  31-Oct-2000)

ORIENTAL BANK: Minority shareholders sue bank
---------------------------------------------
A group of 33 Oriental Bank Bhd (OBB) minority shareholders
has filed a suit against the bank, claiming that it had
failed in its fiduciary duty to maintain the integrity of
the shares under its employees share option scheme (Esos).

Also cited as co-defendents were Malaysian Industrial
Development Finance Bhd (MIDF), Koperasi Polis Diraja
Malaysia Bhd and the bank's former chief executive and
executive director Datuk Ramly Ahmad.  A spokesman for the
minority shareholders, K. Kalaiselvan, said the suit was
filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court registry yesterday
morning and is expected to be served on the defendants
sometime this week.

The minority shareholders, numbering over 1,000 individuals
who are the staff or ex-staff of OBB, collectively hold
about 9% stake in the bank, while MIDF holds 75.15% stake
and Koperasi Polis, a 15.6% equity. Kalaiselvan, an ex-OBB
employee, said the Esos shares were offered to the OBB
employees as a reward for their hardwork and the sacrifices
they had made to turn the bank around after the 1985-86
economic downturn.

He claimed the bank's directors had told them in 1996 that
the Esos shares would appreciate in value as the bank was
going for tier-1 status.  "That boosted our morale, and we
did not know after three years the bank is worth only RM1,"
he said at a press conference after OBB's EGM in Kuala
Lumpur yesterday.

Kalaiselvan said many minority shareholders had to take out
loans to buy their Esos shares in 1996, and their costs now
would be around RM2.20 per share after including interest
servicing. Kalaiselvan, who had earlier announced the suit
against the defendants at the EGM, said the plaintiffs had
not applied for an injunction to stop the proposed disposal
as "we want the merger exercise with EON Bank to proceed."

"What we want is that we be refunded the amount we have
paid for our Esos shares together with our costs," he said.
OBB staff had paid between RM1 and RM1.36 to buy their Esos
shares.  As at March 31, 2000, OBB had accumulated losses
of RM727.3mil, representing a loss of 96 sen per share.

At the EGM, shareholders approved the resolution for the
proposed disposal of OBB's business to EON Bank Bhd.
Under the sale agreement, EON Bank would buy the banking
business of Oriental Bank for RM1 and offer the Esos
shareholders an ex-gratia payment of 32 sen for each share.
EON Bank would also repay the outstanding loans totalling
RM830mil to MIDF and Danamodal Nasional Bhd.

About 98.3 percent of the votes counted at the EGM were in
favour of the proposed disposal. Although there were no
heated exchanges between the minority shareholders and the
OBB directors, the minority shareholders had constantly
urged the directors to renegotiate a better deal from EON
Bank and have sympathetic consideration for the financial
hardships faced by them.

At the EGM, OBB chairman Datuk Ahmad Zabri Ibrahim said the
proposed disposal was necessary in view of the bank's poor
financial position and the government call for bank
mergers. "We have the interest of the minority shareholders
at heart," Ahmad Zabri said.

His statement, however, only drew laughter from some 100
minority shareholders at the meeting. OBB directors were
unavailable after the EGM to meet the press. (The Star
31-Oct-2000)

TAIPING CONSOLIDATED: Rehab by year-end,relisted by March
----------------------------------------------------------
Taiping Consolidated Bhd (TaipingCon) expects to complete
its debt restructuring this year and be relisted by the
first quarter of next year, according to executive chairman
Datuk Suleiman Manan. Suspended since July 30, 1998, the
property group seeks to be back on a sound footing.

The only hurdle now is to get a stamp of approval from the
government over certain issues relating to its Sentul Raya
development project. The Securities Commission and the
Foreign Investment Committee had earlier given their
approvals to the group's scheme.

TaipingCon needs the government's approval to include YTL
Corporation Bhd as the new major shareholder since the
company is involved in the Sentul Raya privatisation
project. When TaipingCon emerges as the new entity, YTL
Corp will have a 51 percent stake in the group, with
Suleiman holding about 30 percent.

"All our negotiations with creditors and the authorities
are done, and we are waiting for the (final) approval from
the government," said Suleiman after the company's annual
general meeting today.

The relisting of TaipingCon next year will end years of
painful debt burden following the economic crisis in 1997.
In the process, the group had lost its two-prized
possession, Lot 10 and Starhill shopping centres, which
were sold to pay its debts. Lot 10 and Starhill were sold
to YTL Corporation Bhd for RM323 million, while TaipingCon
also made a restricted issue of 100 million shares to YTL.

The company proposed to issue 280 million irredeemable
convertible preference shares (ICPS) to pay the rest of its
debt. The company's restructuring exercise also involves
the reduction of its paid-up capital from RM112.55 million
to RM22.51 million to set off its mounting debts. Upon the
completion of the restructuring exercise, Suleiman said the
company's core activity would be the Sentul Raya develop-
ment project, which it currently undertakes with KTM
Berhad. KTM has a 30 percent equity interest in the
project.

"We are glad it's almost over, and we are look forward to
continue playing a role in the group as the second largest
shareholder," said Suleiman.

He said the group's priority now is to revive and complete
the Sentul Raya project, which is at different stages of
completion. "We have an obligation to buyers to ensure that
the project is fully completed and to shareholders to see
the rest of the project kicks-off," he said.

So far, the company had completed the 64 units of shop-
houses and a golf course, while only 80 percent of the 380-
unit condominium and 30 percent of the 774-unit apartment
were completed. Suleiman said TaipingCon had yet to develop
its main attraction - the commercial areas, which will
occupy 20ha of the 101.6ha parcel of land available for
development.

He added that the group will reconsider the whole project
but have not decided on the kind of development suitable
for the area. "We will think of its use after the current
restructuring is complete," said Suleiman. (The Edge  31-
Oct-2000)


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

PHIL. NAT.CONSTRUCTION CORP.: Gov't fails to lure buyers
--------------------------------------------------------
The Consortium of Strategic Alliance Development Corp.
(Stradec) and Korean pharmaceutical giant Dong-A emerged as
the highest bidder in yesterday's disappointing auction of
the government's 80-percent stake in Philippine National
Construction Corp.

But the government has very little to cheer about because
Stradec-Dong-A's offer of P1.228 billion was less than 20
percent of the indicative bid price of P7 billion set by
the Committee on Privatization, and only 3 of the 10
investment groups that had expressed interest in PNCC
submitted an offer yesterday.

Stradec is a Philippine subsidiary of Indonesia's PT Citra
Lamtero Gung Persada owned by former Indonesian strongman
Suharto. Stradec has interests in the Metro Manila Skyway
and Tollway or C-6 projects and it likewise won
multibillion-peso computerization projects of the Land
Transportation Office and Land Registration Authority.

Dong-A is a diversified Korean company with interests in
manufacturing and construction and it counts the Hyundai
chaebol as a minority shareholder. The losing bidders
offered less than a billion pesos for the country's
biggest tollway operator -- the Pacific Infrastructure
Development International group led by Fritz Server (RFM
vice president and Home Cable president) with P536.888
million and the group of Philppine Exporters Confederation
president Sergio Ortiz-Luis and Korea Asia Assets with P420
million.

Just like last week's sale of Philippine Phosphate
Fertilizer Corp., Asset Privatization Trust Chief Executive
Trustee Renato Valdecantos said the APT would let the
Committee on Privatization decide whether to accept
Stradec-Dong-A's offer.  Valdecantos could not explain why
the COP pegged the indicative bid price at P7 billion when
the audit on PNCC made by Punongbayan and Aurallo set the
firm's value at P2.6 billion.

Under Commission on Audit rules, the APT can only
accept up to a 20-percent discount off the indicative bid
price.  Dong-A corporate secretary Myong Suh said this was
the best offer the company could make considering PNCC's
debt and the poor economic and political conditions.

Vince Tan of the Ayala group attended yesterday's bidding
and he said he was not surprised at the low bids. Tan said
his group had combed through PNCC's books where they found
the difficult task of turning around the company due
to its huge liabilities.

The big boys -- Ayala Land Inc., First Philippine
Investment Corp. of the Lopez Family, and First Metro
Investment Corp. of banker George Ty - were conspicuously
absent as well as Estrada ally William Gatchalian and
banker George Go.  APT trustee for PNCC Raymundo Francisco,
who was visibly unhappy over the results of the bidding,
said the bidder would shoulder part of the debts not
absorbed by the government, particularly the P12 billion in
loans to Marubeni Corp.

An official of the Ortiz-Luis-Korea Assets group said that
while PNCC was asset-rich (with real estate assets worth
P23 billion), its properties were embroiled in legal and
financial entanglements that would make it difficult
for the winner to liquidate them and erase the company's
assets.

Server said the "amount probably seems quite small compared
to the inflated expectations we have read about in the
newspapers, but we felt it was realistic." (Philippine
Daily Inquirer  31-Oct-2000)

PILIPINO TELEPHONE CORP.: Peso fall delays rehabilitation
---------------------------------------------------------
Pilipino Telephone Corp. said yesterday the peso's steep
depreciation would likely push back its recovery as it
tries to conclude a P34.9-billion debt restructuring deal
with its creditors.

"Most of (the debts) are dollar-denominated. There is no
immediate impact yet because we haven't signed the final
agreement with all of the creditors, but it will push back
the recovery. That's why we have presented a new set of
projections," Piltel president Napoleon Nazareno said
yesterday. "The company's recovery would be pushed back by
about half a year at the P50 per dollar level. It's
difficult to say how the company's recovery would be
affected if the peso further declines."

Piltel hopes to chalk up a positive income by 2006. With
the peso's steep fall against the dollar, however, the
company is moving this target to 2007. The local currency
closed yesterday at 51.48 to a dollar. It has fallen from
46 to a dollar since President Estrada was accused early
this month by a close friend of receiving gambling money.
Piltel owes banks some $332 million. It owes another $279
million to Marubeni Corp. of Japan.

Piltel signed a master restructuring agreement with its
creditors early this year. It also made significant
progress with bondholders, who formed a steering committee
to negotiate for the restructuring. Last week, the company
signed a memorandum of understanding with Marubeni.

This removed a major stumbling block in Piltel's debt
restructuring, especially since Marubeni had insisted on
the immediate and full payment of Piltel's debts.
(Philippine Daily Inquirer  01-Nov-2000)

WESTMONT INVEST.CORP.: SEC files criminal charges vs execs
----------------------------------------------------------
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed
criminal charges before the Department of Justice (DOJ)
against the officials of Westmont Investment Corp.
(Wincorp) for violation of the Revised Securities Act
(RSA).

SEC Chairman Lilia Bautista said the commission has also
referred the complaint to the National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI). The Wincorp. officials named in the
SEC's complaint-affidavit are: John Anthony Espiritu,
Manuel Tan Kian See, Antonio Ong, Henry Cualoping, Vicente
Cualoping, Simeo Cua, Mariza Santos-Tan, Alfonso Reyno,
Manuel Estrella, Nemesio Briones, Francis Orena.

Bautista told reporters last Monday that the report
prepared by SEC's prosecution and enforcement department
(PED) will also be used by the DOJ in the investigation of
the case against the officials.  Emilio Aquino, officer-in-
charge of the PED, said the criminal complaint against the
officials came on the heels of PED's discovery of Wincorp's
illegal issuance of confirmation advice (CA).

Aquino said such issuance violates section 56 of the RSA
and that the CA issued in exchange for investors'
investments constitutes "the nature of an investment
contract."

Aquino said that under the investment contract theory,
Wincorp officials can be held accountable for their failure
to register the CAs issued by them. Meanwhile, SEC's money
market operations department (MMOD) is poised to impose
fines and penalties on Wincorp officials.

It will be recalled that the SEC issued a cease and desist
order (CDO) against Wincorp last May, preventing Wincorp
from dealing in any business transaction concerning the
issuance of any confirmation advice, promissory notes of
commercial papers. The cease and desist order was issued
after the SEC's brokers and exchanges department found
Wincorp guilty of violating the commercial paper rules.

Wincorp closed down early this year after undergoing a
liquidity crisis with its creditline to Westmont-UOB cut
off.  Its condition worsened when several groups identified
with former Finance Secretary Edgardo Espiritu failed to
repay the P5.5 billion they had loaned from Wincorp.
(Philippine Star  01-Nov-2000)


=================
S I N G A P O R E
=================

NATSTEEL LTD: Asks for share trading suspension - no word
---------------------------------------------------------
Punters who happily flipped shares of NatSteel Ltd and
NatSteel Electronics (NEL) on takeover rumours last week
were floored by the surprise suspension of the counters on
Monday.  According to a report in Singapore's Business
Times, NatSteel and NEL had asked the Singapore Exchange
(SGX) to suspend their shares "pending an announcement''
but failed to say anything, even hours after the market had
closed for the day.

The suspension requests in separate statements were filed
before the market kicked off, so neither counter was traded
on Monday.  And not surprisingly, the NatSteel saga
dominated the action on stock discussion portals like
ShareInvestor.com.

Week-old takeover rumours were given a new twist with talk
of an impending general offer by government-linked
Singapore Technologies, or listed ST Engineering. A
Singapore Technologies spokesman said she knew nothing of
any plan to buy a stake in NEL.

And though handsome profits could have been made by punting
on the rumours, some players were irritated by the
deafening silence from the NatSteel stable.  A brief non-
committal statement from NatSteel on Oct 20 failed to crush
the rumours. In fact, punters stoked the rumours to fever
pitch with talk that US-listed Solectron, or perhaps
Benchmark Electronics, or even Toronton-based Celestica,
and now the ST group, were bidding for the NatSteel stake
in NEL.

In an e-mail to Business Times, a reader said: "Until now,
NEL directors have still failed to make things clear and
NEL's share price keeps rising. I think we retailers are in
a very disadvantaged state. We are kept in the dark and we
believe someone already knows the whole story. Now we are
in an unfair position to trade. When there is any unusual
trading activity, SGX will request companies to make
declarations but this time, the rumour has spread for a
week and SGX and NEL are still quiet."

The two counters have seen their share prices rocket since
Oct 18, fuelled by talk of an imminent sale of NatSteel's
33% stake.  In the past six sessions NatSteel shares have
surged from a 4.5-month low of S$1.66 to S$2.27 at last
week's close. This works out to a hefty 36.7% gain in less
than a week. In the same period, NEL shares have climbed
from S$2.89 to S$4.56, a rise of 57.8% in six hectic
sessions.  (Star Online  01-Nov-2000)


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

ADKINSON SECURITIES: Posts Bt42.35M Q3 net loss
-----------------------------------------------
Adkinson Securities recorded a preliminary net loss of
Bt42.35 million for the third quarter, compared with a
Bt82.97 million net profit for the same period last year.
For the first nine months of the year, the company posted
a net loss of Bt36.03 million. That too was a turnaround
from the Bt252.64 million net profit it recorded for its
first nine months of last year.

ANGEL AIR: Sued by PB Air for Bt17M
-----------------------------------
Privately-owned domestic airline PB Air has filed a lawsuit
against Angel Air, which suspended its service earlier this
year, claiming to be owed some Bt17 million.

Prior to resorting to the courts, PB Air said it had
attempted to negotiate over the debt, but to no avail.
Angel Air was founded by the Benjarongkul family, a major
shareholder of Ucom Group. According to court papers, Angel
originally owed some Bt28 million to PB Air for aircraft
chartering. Angel Air sought to pay the total in six
installments, but its checks were subsequently rejected by
the banks. Angel Air later settled the first and second
installment amounts.

THAI PETROCHEM.INDUS.: Delayed plan vote drops stocks
-----------------------------------------------------
Thai stock prices lost their early gains and ended lower
Monday on profit-taking after a postponement of Thai
Petrochemical Industry (TPI)'s debt-restructuring vote,
traders said. TPI was down 10 percent to THB3.60 and its
unit, TPI Polene, lost 8.2 percent to THB9 on active
volume.

Weakness in most regional bourses was also hurt market
sentiment. The official receiver of the debt plan for the
country's largest corporate debtor decided Monday to
postpone a vote on the $3.7 billion plan until Nov. 16 to
give creditors time to examine a number of requested
amendments. The vote had been scheduled for Monday.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand's SET index ended down 4.00
points, or 1.5 percent, at 270.34, after reaching an
intraday high at 277.67 in the morning. The blue-chip SET
50 index lost 0.32 point, or 1.7 percent, to 18.65.
Decliners led advancers 100 to 47, excluding foreign board
shares. Volume stood at 176.3 million shares worth 2.22
billion baht  ($1=THB43.801), compared with 277.2 million
shares worth THB3.66 billion Friday.

"The delay (of Thai Petrochemical's vote) upset market
sentiment and triggered profit-taking in late trade," said
an analyst at KGI Securities One.

The banking sector was down 2% on losses in Thai
Petrochemical's main creditors. Krung Thai Bank slid 2.3
percent to THB10.75 and Bangkok Bank was down 1.9 percent
to THB25.75. (AsiaGateway  31-Oct-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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