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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

                 Friday, January 12, 2001, Vol. 4., No. 9

                                Headlines


* A U S T R A L I A *

I-TEL: Sells Billing Systems Assets to Hansen
KGRIND: Creditors Order Liquidation

* C H I N A  &  H O N G  K O N G *

LEGEND HOLDINGS: Files $3.7 Mil Suit Against Hong Kong Stock
SINO LAND: HK$1.17B Share Placement, Down 8.9 Percent
TIANJIN CORP.: Bankers Becoming Nervous About Loan Repayments

* I N D O N E S I A *

BANK BALI: Central Bank Governor Trial Set Starts Jan. 17
PT ANEKA TAMBANG: Privatization on This Year's Agenda
PT INDOFARMA: Plans Outlined for Privatization IPO This Quarter

* J A P A N *

CHIYODA LIFE: Files 7 Billion Yen Lawsuit Against Executives
DAIEI INC.: Retailer Realigns Corporate Management

* K O R E A *

HYUNDAI ELECTRONICS: Banks Agree to Increase D/A Buying Ceiling
HYUNDAI GROUP: Withdraws Casino License Application
HYUNDAI MERCHANT: KDB Provides Rescue Funds

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

UNIWIDE: Streamlines Operation & Freezes Salary Increases
VICTORIAS MILLING: Investment Offer Unrealistic, Company Says

* T H A I L A N D *

BANGCHAK PETROLEUM: Posts Bt1.7 Billion Loss
THAI PETROCHEMICAL: Creditors Want Founder's Brother



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


I-TEL: Sells Billing Systems Assets to Hansen
---------------------------------------------
Hansen Technologies Limited disclosed that its subsidiary,
Hansen Corporation Pty Limited, has acquired certain billing
systems assets from I-Tel Pty Limited.  The purchase price was
not disclosed.  

I-Tel, which is based in Sydney, has been a provider of billing
systems to the telecommunications industry since 1996. The
Company's suite of billing products includes an entry level
billing system targeted at telecommunications resellers, and an
on-line bill management system for corporate customers. I-Tel
was placed into voluntary administration on 5 December 2000.

Hansen also acquired all the intellectual property associated
with I-Tel's billing systems, and has also acquired a local
number portability product developed by I-Tel.

Commenting on the acquisition, Mr Andrew Hansen, the Managing
Director of Hansen, said, "This acquisition will complement our
HubFM strategy, giving Hansen access to a suite of products
specifically designed for new entrants into the
telecommunications market. The acquisition will also give
Hansen access to a new group of clients, and will allow the
Company to establish a presence in Sydney."


KGRIND: Creditors Order Liquidation
-----------------------------------
Creditors of Kgrind Pty Ltd. ordered the liquidation of the
firm while the investigators are still verifying allegations
that the company trade while insolvent.

Mr Steve Sherman, a partner with corporate insolvency group
Ferrier Hodgson, notes, in a report obtained by the Sydney
Morning Herald, that KGrind "on a prima facie basis . . . may
have been trading whilst insolvent" and could "have been
insolvent from late April 2000 onwards."  The report also
questions KGrind's compliance to keep orderly financial records
as mandated by the Corporations Law.

KGrind directors say that's not true, and have given the
Company's creditors copies of an insolvent trading defence
prepared by its hired law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth and
accounting group Pannell Kerr Foster.  The directors have
shared a copy with Ferrier Hodgson too.  

The report, the Herald relates, also investigates the
transaction involving KGrind debtor Wave Link Communications
and KGrind creditor and Internet service provider Flow
Communications.  The report says that KGrind was owed $337,000
by Wave Link but in turn owed FlowCom $286,000. On November 17,
Wave Link paid $286,000 directly to FlowCom, a company
controlled by KGrind investor Mr Tom Amos.

The Corporations Law gives a liquidator power to recover monies
from certain transactions that have the effect of conferring an
unfair advantage, priority or preference to any creditor.


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


LEGEND HOLDINGS: Files $3.7 Mil Suit Against Hong Kong Stock
------------------------------------------------------------
Legend Holdings has filed a case to the High Court against Hong
Kong Stock over a $3.57 million unsettled debt it said Hong
Kong Stock owed its professional system unit between May and
November 2000.

A member of hkstock.com said that the group has not cleared the
debts because the two companies could not reach a consensus on
the specifications of the supplied computer equipment, CN-
Markets News reported on Wednesday.


SINO LAND: HK$1.17B Share Placement, Down 8.9 Percent
------------------------------------------------------
Sino Land Co. placed 270 million shares for sale to raise
HK$1.17 billion after prices went down 8.9 percent to HK$4.325.  
Turnover was HK$811.5 million.

The stock was suspended from afternoon trading yesterday
pending an announcement on the share placement, Quamnet News
Service reported on Wednesday.

Sino Land to infuse HK1.17 billion into its working capital.
Parent Tsim Sha Tsui Property (0247) will first sell 180
million existing shares in Sino at HK$4.35 each to
institutional investors, and then use the money to subscribe
for the same number of new shares in the Hang Seng Index
constituent. If demand from investors warrants, the size of the
sale will increase by 90 million shares to a total of 270
million shares.


TIANJIN CORP.: Bankers Becoming Nervous About Loan Repayments
-------------------------------------------------------------
Tianjin International Trust and Investment Corp. (Titic) missed
a December 13 coupon payment deadline on a Samurai bond and
only managed to pay bondholders 148 million yen in interest on
December 25, just two days before the end of a 14-day grace
period bankers are closely watching the developments, South
China Morning Post reported on Wednesday.

Titic had an outstanding loan of US$53.91 million as of
December 1999 from four banks - Sakura Bank, Industrial Bank of
Japan, Sumitomo Bank and Asahi Bank, Japanese finance ministry
data showed.

The Samurai bonds were issued in 1996, the 12.5 billion yen,
2.375 per cent, five-year bonds scheduled to mature on December
13. Samurai bonds are yen debt issued in Japan by foreign
entities.

Japanese banks are increasingly pessimistic about Titic'c
ability to pay back their loans. Titic is negotiating with
individual banks for loan waivers.

Bankers said some banks were bracing for the possibility of
being forced to accept loan waivers.

Speaking in Tianjin, a senior Titic official said he was
unaware of any problems regarding loans from Japanese banks.



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


BANK BALI: Central Bank Governor Trial Set Starts Jan. 17
---------------------------------------------------------
Former central bank governor Syahril Sabirin will be charged
for involvement in a multimillion-dollar corruption scandal in
Bank Bali on January 17, the Asian Wall Street Journal reports
this week.  

Mr. Sabirin will be charged in the Central Jakarta District
Court.  He was allegedly involve in illegal transfer of $80
million from the insolvent Bank Bali to a company closely
linked to then-President B.J. Habibie's ruling Golkar Party in
1999.

He was spending a seven months house arrest before being
released on December 6 last year.  He assumed his post at bank
Indonesia.


PT ANEKA TAMBANG: Privatization on This Year's Agenda
-----------------------------------------------------
PT Aneka Tambang, nickel and gold mining firm, will be
privatized this year to help the government raise 6.5 trillion
rupiah.  

The money will be used to finance the deficit of 52.5 trillion
rupiah this yea, according to the Thursday issue of the Jakarta
Post.

Nyoman Tjager, director-general of state enterprises at the
finance ministry, as saying that several, besides Aneka
Tambang, would be privatized.  The firms on the privatization
list are Pharmaceutical firms PT Indofarma and PT Kimia Farma,
airport management services entity PT Angkasa Pura II,
fertilizer firm PT Pupuk Kaltim, coal miner PT Bukit Asam,
chemicals firm PT Petrokimia and either plantation firm PT
Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) III or IV.



PT INDOFARMA: Plans Outlined for Privatization IPO This Quarter
---------------------------------------------------------------
PT Indofarma is ready to be privatized through the initial
public offering (IPO) and will be completed in the first
quarter of this year.

Director General of State Enterprises I Nyoman Tjager said that
Indofarma was one of eight state-owned companies to be
privatized this year in a bid to raise about Rp 6.5 trillion
(US$684.21 million) to help finance the 2001 state budget
deficit, according to the Thursday issue of the Jakarta Post.

He said that the other companies included another
pharmaceutical firm PT Kimia Farma, fertilizer firm PT Pupuk
Kaltim, publicly-listed general mining firm PT Aneka Tambang,
non-listed coal mining company PT Bukit Asam, chemical firm PT
Petrokimia, airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II, and plantation
firm PTPN III or IV.

Tjager said PT Sucofindo will possibly be included in the
privitization for the year 2001.  Last year there were delays
because of unfavorable market conditions.

Angkasa Pura II, which operates the Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta
international airport, will be privatized through private
placements to strategic partners. Previously the company
intended to sell 50 percent of its stake in the Soekarno-Hatta
international airport to strategic investors including Dutch
Schipol Aiport, French Aeroport de Paris and British Airport
Authority.

Tjager said that the government had yet to decide the
privatization mechanism for the other state-owned enterprises,
but added that an IPO would be desirable if market conditions
were conducive.


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


CHIYODA LIFE: Files 7 Billion Yen Lawsuit Against Executives
------------------------------------------------------------
Chiyoda Mutual Life Insurance Co. filed a 7.136 billion yen
damage suit against former board members because of reckless
approval of loans causing the firms failure, according to the
Thursday issue of the Japan Times On Line.

Former Chairman Yasutaro Kanzaki, 78, who was president from
1982 to 1996 before serving as chairman until January 1999;
former Managing Director Noriyuki Ueda; and former senior
managing directors Ryosuke Kita and Ryo Doi were among the
executives charged.

The Tokyo District Court is expected to decide on the damages
evaluation by the end of March. By that time, the Tokyo-based
life insurer hopes to gain government approval for its
rehabilitation.

Chiyoda Mutual's treasury officers went after high-risk, high-
return deals without properly screening borrowers'
creditworthiness.

The four executives approved Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward
redevelopment project worth 10 billion yen even though the
property prices were rigged, the court documents showed.

Under the Insurance Business Law property price rigging in
lending for a development project is prohibited.  In this case
the collateral was insufficient and damages soured to 1.96
billion yen.

In 1991, according to the documents, the executives authorized
loans to a golf course operator without sufficiently screening
the firm's credit history, causing 4.8 billion yen in damages.
The documents also state that 500 million yen in loans to a
golf course membership broker were approved in 1991, around 360
million yen of which has yet to be repaid.

The committee is considering filing further damages suits
against other former executives and may ask them to return
severance payments the company has extended or sell their
personal assets to pay for the damage the company suffered.

Under the special bankruptcy law, former executives have one
month to file a complaint after the court determines the amount
of damage they are liable for.



DAIEI INC.: Retailer Realigns Corporate Management
--------------------------------------------------
Daiei Inc. will realign its corporate management system and
renovating all 243 of its general merchandise and discount
store by the end of fiscal 2003.

The company will implement a simpler store operation system on
January 30 to increase management efficiency abandoning its
present internal company system to manage stores on a regional
basis and by type.

Stores will have greater operational autonomy while the nine
regional divisions providing the support, according to the
Thursday issue of the Japan Times On Line.

In addition, a grocery business division will be set up to
manage Daiei's 56 grocery stores, company officials said.

Kunio Takagi, a Daiei adviser set to become president Jan. 30,
said Daiei Group's grocery store chains, including Sakae and
Maruetsu Inc. will be reorganized.

The discount stores will be transformed into shopping centers
featuring specialty stores by march 31, 2004 to attract
consumers.

Takaga said a "category value center" will be established where
the company will create its own brands for clothing, fresh fish
and electronic appliances for the new type of store.

The company also said that its Daiei Kiyota store in Sapporo
will be closed March 11 as part of its restructuring plan,
under which 32 loss-making outlets will be shuttered. The
Kiyota store will be the 20th to close down, and the names of
other 12 will be announced by the end of February, he said.



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


HYUNDAI ELECTRONICS: Banks Agree to Increase D/A Buying Ceiling
---------------------------------------------------------------
Creditor banks of Hyundai Electronics have decided to increase
the buying ceiling on the company's D/A (documents against
acceptance) bills to a level of US$1.4 to 1.5 billion.

The Korea Exchange Bank, the main creditor of Hyundai
Electronics, announced on January 9 that Hyundai Electronics
suffers liquidity shortages as a result of a low D/A purchase
ceiling and that creditor banks had agreed to increase the
ceiling to last year's end of June level of $1.4~$1.5 billion.

The D/A ceiling was pegged at $840 million at the end of
December last year, and the increase in ceiling is expected to
help Hyundai Motor roll-over its debt which Korea Development
Bank may underwrite this week.

Hyundai Electronics has also secured a syndicate loan of 800
billion won through Citibank to ease its financial
difficulties.  


HYUNDAI GROUP: Withdraws Casino License Application
---------------------------------------------------
Hyundai Group withdrew its license application to operate a
casino near the scenic Mount Kumgang, in a bid to ease the
heavy losses on the tour business.  But it will still continue
with the cruise tours to Mount Kumgang even though it had
become a white elephant for Hyundai.

"We withdrew the application for casino licenses as the
government has not had enough time to study them," a spokesman
for Hyundai Merchant Marine said, according to the Wednesday
edition of the South China Morning Post.

The cruise tour to Mount Kumgang was launched in 1998 with
payment of US$1 billion to the North Korean government and
investments in various facilities.  From 1998 to end of last
year, expenditure amounted to US$612 million, while earnings
totalled a mere US$233 million.

Hyundai Asan is the Hyundai unit operating in North Korea Mount
Kumgang operations but attracted only 180,000 tourist a year a
far cry from projected half a million tourists a year.

Asan had to issue rights worth 450 billion won to increase its
capital base but most of the money went to the North Korean
government and investments in facilities.

Hyundai Asan has agreed to pay the North a total of US$942
million between November 1998 and February 2005 in a lump sum
contract, regardless of the number of visitors.

It had paid US$342 million in "entrance fees" to the North by
the end of last year.

Hyundai Asan also spent US$126 million to build port
facilities, a spa and a theatre and plans to invest another
US$214 million to complete a hotel, a golf course and a ski
slope.

Separately it had to hand over US$156 million to Malaysian and
Singaporean shipping companies to charter four cruise ships for
the tours.

Hyundai officials said the casinos would be crucial in the
company's plan to reduce the deficit.

Kim Choong-shik, the president of Hyundai Merchant Marine, said
the casinos and duty-free shops were attraction for the
visitors.

"The casino and duty-free shops will not turn the operation
around overnight but they will definitely help cut our losses,"
he said.

He said Hyundai Group was considering giving up the Mount
Kumgang tours because of the cost and is seeking concession
from the North Korean government by reducing the fees.


HYUNDAI MERCHANT: KDB Provides Rescue Funds
-------------------------------------------
The Korea Development Bank on January 9 purchased 40 billion
won of one-year corporate bonds due on the same day from
Hyundai Merchant Marine Co.

Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. subsequently issued 40 billion won
in new bonds to refinance the maturing bond. The bonds were
issued at 10.44%, 40 basis points above the outstanding bond's
closing yield on January 8.

The purchase represents 80% of the total 50 billion Hyundai
Merchant Marine Co. had to repay. Hyundai Merchant Marine Co.
paid the remaining 10 billion on its won.

This measure is in line with the government's program to buy
80% of bonds from companies undergoing temporary liquidity
problems to help them pay off outstanding debts.

Hyundai Merchants submitted documents for the issuance of new
corporate bonds at the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) on
December 28, as previously reported in the Troubled Company
Reporter Asia Pacific.  At that time, HMMC suggested that the
funds from these new bonds would be use to pay-off W100 billion
of outstanding debt maturing on January 9 and 19.



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


UNIWIDE: Streamlines Operation & Freezes Salary Increases
---------------------------------------------------------
Uniwide Group of Companies will streamline its operations and
work on a tighter budget by reducing the working days and
freezing salary increases to save cost.

The group still has P620 million in cash from sales and at
least P80 million from the sale of First Paragon Corp,
BusinessWorld reported on Monday.

"The residual amount of our sales will be used for operations
and we will be asking the approval of the Securities and
Exchange to release the money from the sale of First Paragon
that is now in escrow," the company official added.

Meanwhile the debt-for-asset arrangement entered into with the
banks will push through despite the termination of the Casino
deal.

"Most of the properties are mortgaged so the dacion en pago
will proceed as planned with the banks. These are mostly
residential properties and not retail so it will not affect our
sales," the source said.


VICTORIAS MILLING: Investment Offer Unrealistic, Company Says
-------------------------------------------------------------
Victorias Milling Co. (VMC) considers prospective investor Kest
Quartermain Venture Capital Partners Ltd. (KQVCPL)
rehabilitation plan as unrealistic and prejudicial to the sugar
miller's creditors, BusinessWorld Reported on Thursday.

The creditors representing 82.8 percent of the firm's P5.73
billion outstanding debt questioned the plan. VMC mancom vice-
chairman and East West Banking Corp. executive vice-president
Gerardo Anonas said "GE Capital- (KQVCPL) parent company- will
not invest in the Philippines nor in VMC. The fact is GE
Capital is willing to grant VMC a loan provided the existing
creditors of VMC will issue their respective standby LCs
equivalent to 108.5% of their VMC exposure".

The KQVCPL proposal will require the beneficiary banks to issue
a standby letter-of-credit (SLBC) in favor of GE Capital,
equivalent to 108.5% of the former's total claims. The banks
contingent liability for the SBLC will be secured by the
sinking fund to be provided by VMC and mortgage trust indenture
(MTI) on all the assets of VMC.

The standby LCs to be issued by the banks, will then guarantee
the loan of GE Capital. In addition to the LCs, GE Capital is
also requiring the confirmation of said LCs by five or six
foreign banks.

Mr. Anonas charged that GE Capital misrepresented with regards
to its exposure.  The KQVCPL does not reduce VMC's debt but
merely converts them to dollars.



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


BANGCHAK PETROLEUM: Posts Bt1.7 Billion Loss
--------------------------------------------
Bangchak Petroleum (BP) expects to post losses of Bt1.7 billion
for year 2000 mainly because of oil price fluctuation and tying
its retail gasoline prices to the Singapore market.

Sirichai Sakornratanakul, a company spokesman, said that in
2000, BP had suffered from global instability in oil prices,
especially mid-year when OPEC limited production, according to
the Thursday issue of the Business Day.

BP also had losses because Thailand adapted a policy pegging
its gasoline prices to the Singapore market instead of letting
prices float within the domestic market mechanism, he said.

He also said the exchange rate fluctuations had an effect
because BP took bath loans to repay dollar debt.

BP expects the revenue of Bt60 billion this year compared to
Bt52.4 billion last year.

"We expect global oil prices to fluctuate less than last year
because they have remained stable since December," Sirichai
said.

BP's business strategy this year was to invest 100 million baht
to upgrade retail station service and merchandise.

The plan includes adding laundry, Internet and video rental
services to its gasoline stations as well as promoting sales of
merchandise in convenience stores.

BP is 47.9 percent owned by Finance Industry, 24.3 percent by
the Petroleum Authority of Thailand, 20 percent by the general
public and 7.8 percent by Krung Thai Bank.


THAI PETROCHEMICAL: Creditors Want Founder's Brother
----------------------------------------------------
Pramual Leophairatana, brother of Thai Petrochemical Industry
(TPI) founder was the most likely candidate to be endorsed by
creditor banks. He is currently a director of TPI, the largest
corporate debtor in Thailand, according to the Thursday issue
of the Business Day.

TPI creditors had already endorsed a debt restructuring plan
proposed by the Effective Planners company on November 27,
2000.

Meanwhile, Anthony Norman, interim CEO of TPI, said that the
reorganization plan is on the right track and had made a Bt600
million debt repayment for January.

Last week, securities company ABN AMRO recommended investors
sell shares in TPI because it had doubts over the success of
the company's debt restructuring plan.

It also said that the debt plan may be delayed.

The TPI share price dropped by 0.19 baht to 3.60 baht
yesterday.



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

Troubled Company Reporter -- Asia Pacific is a daily
newsletter co-published by Bankruptcy Creditors' Service,
Inc., Trenton, NJ USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington,
DC USA. Lexy Mueller, Managing Editor, James Philip P.
Jover and Maria Vyrna Nineza, Editors.

Copyright 2001.  All rights reserved.  ISSN: 1520-9482.

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                 *** End of Transmission ***