---

            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

               Thursday, January 18, 2001, Vol. 4, No. 14

                              Headlines


A U S T R A L I A

ENTERPRISE VERSACE:  Creditors Receive Nothing
GOODMAN FIELDER:  May Divest Gelatin Division


C H I N A  &  H O N G  K O N G

139 HOLDINGS:  Dilutes Share Price
FOURSEAS.COM:  Seeks Capital Injection
NEW INFRASTRUCTURE:  Sells Beijing Datang to Pay Debts
POWERPHONE:  INFA Group Buys Pay Phone Provider for HK$62.5M
PRESTIGE PROPERTIES:  Disposes of $498M in Non-Core Properties


I N D O N E S I A

BANK INDONESIA:  Capital Ratio Plunges
PT TIMOR NUSA:  Oil and Gas Firm Fails to Pay Banks


J A P A N

IZUMIYA:  Closes 9 Stores


K O R E A

HYUNDAI ELECTRONICS:  Repays 500 won Bonds
REGENT MERCHANT:  Declared Viable Following Audit


M A L A Y S I A

HO WAH GENTING:  Sells Two Business Units to Regateam


P H I L I P P I N E S

ASB GROUP:  Investor Offers Cash & Asset Swap
PHIL. NATIONAL BANK:  Surrenders Assets for P15B Debt


S I N G A P O R E

ZOOMSPORTS:  Shuts Down Operations


T H A I L A N D

NAKORNTHAI:  Creditors Reject Rehabilitation Plan
THONBURI:  Creditors' Meeting Postponed
THAI PETROCHEMICAL:  Founder Asks Creditors to Sell Loans


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

ENTERPRISE VERSACE:  Creditors Receive Nothing
----------------------------------------------
Creditors of the Enterprise Versace exhibition in Sydney and
Melbourne have been unable to collect as much as $1.7 million,
according to the Wednesday issue of the Daily Telegraph.

The exhibition was a display of designs by the late Gianni
Versace during the Sydney Games 2000. There was a surplus of
$4,850.60 but creditors left with nothing because of the related
expenses. Some 100 creditors have been left unpaid, with the
Versace family blaming the exhibition's Sydney promoter, Jeremy
Bayard. They insisted that he be ousted.

Kirby Marketing, owned by Mr. Bayard, has already been placed in
receivership.


GOODMAN FIELDER:  May Divest Gelatin Division
---------------------------------------------
Goodman Fielder, Australia's largest food company, may divest
first from GF Ingredients, the gelatin division, for $300
million. The move comes ahead of the release of the strategic
review that might include a possible divestment, according to the
Wednesday issue of the Sydney Morning Herald.

Possible buyers are Danone, SKW Trostberg and Hercules. This
started speculation that Goodman Fielder might exit or
restructure its ingredient group, which was hit by a 10-year low
in gelatin prices.

Division sales up to June of last year were $398.2 million, which
is 3 percent short of expectations. Earnings before interest and
tax dropped 31.6 percent to $23.8 million.

Analysts believe that with the spot price of gelatin improving
for the past nine months, the sale will most likely push through.


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

139 HOLDINGS:  Dilutes Share Price
----------------------------------
139 Holdings, which manufactures and sells garments, will offer
to existing stockholders a share price diluted by 16.66 percent,
raising $19.3 million for 997 million shares at a price of $0.02
per share to raise funds.

In 1999, the company showed a net loss of $3.1 million. For the
six months to September 30, 2000, the loss widened to $37.3
million despite a 20.2 percent increase in turnover, caused by
unallocated corporate expenses of $43.2 million. In addition, for
the year ended March 31, 2000, the company reported a gross loss
of $9 million. The $126 million turnover could not cover the $135
million in costs of sales.

The company issued 647.62 million new shares in August 1999 and
made a 2-for-1 rights issue resulting in $322.5 million in new
funding. Market capitalization was $114.7 million and investors
have been urged not to buy the company's shares as the company
has not given any indication of improvement, Quam Research
reported on Monday.


FOURSEAS.COM:  Seeks Capital Injection
--------------------------------------
Fourseas.com, an online travel agent, will negotiate with an
independent third party for a possible takeover through a capital
infusion. Shares fell 4.5 percent to 2.1 HK cents after an
increase of 29.4 percent last Friday.

At present Universal Yield Ltd. owns 44.5 percent of Fourseas.com
but discussions are ongoing, Quamnet News Service reported
Tuesday.


NEW INFRASTRUCTURE:  Sells Beijing Datang to Pay Debts
------------------------------------------------------
New World Infrastructure (NWI) will sell its 9.54 percent stake
in Beijing Datang at $2.25 per share to CLP Holdings if it can
improve its cash flow situation.

When Beijing Dating was acquired in early 1997 its share price
was $2.52 per share. If the sale succeeds, NWI will lose $361.5
million. NWI could still recover $1.109 billion to repay bank
loans or use for general working capital, according to the
Tuesday issue of Quamnet Research News.

Beijing Datang is currently trading at $2.075 per share. The
offer price is at a premium of 9.2 percent to its current price
and is at a premium of 7.7 percent over Beijing Datang's NAV of
$2.09 per share at the end of 1999.


POWERPHONE:  INFA Group Buys Pay Phone Provider for HK$62.5M
------------------------------------------------------------  
INFA Group, a telecom service provider, bought PowerPhone System,
an interactive multimedia pay phone solutions provider of New
World CyberBase, with an investment of HK$62.5 million, Quamnet
News Service reported on Monday.

New World had already declared a HK$119.38 million loss for the
first six months ended September 30 of last year and is seeking
an entry into e-commerce.

INFA has been operating in Hong Kong and China for the past 26
years. Combining with PowerPhone's hardware and on-screen
operations, it can introduce new features like Chinese character
input, e-ticketing, voice e-mail and online banking.


PRESTIGE PROPERTIES:  Disposes of $498M in Non-Core Properties
--------------------------------------------------------------
Prestige Properties Holdings Ltd. will sell non-core properties
on the mainland and Hong Kong worth $498 million to Playmates
Interactive Entertainment in order to reduce its debts.

Dickie Wong, managing director of Prestige Properties Holdings
Ltd., made the announcement to shareholders after the sale of the
property at No. 100 Canton Road, according to the Monday edition
of CN-Market News.

Executive director Yuen Wing-shing said last year the group
incurred losses of $960 million and made $70 million in interest
income last year. The group is burdened with interest and plans
to reduce its debts.


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

BANK INDONESIA:  Capital Ratio Plunges
--------------------------------------
The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) has denied that
the capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of Bank International Indonesia
(BII) plunged to below the minimum level of 4 percent, Asia Pulse
reported on Monday.

Edwin Gerungan, IBRA chairman, insists that the capital adequacy
ratio of BII is still above 4 percent and that the bank is still
healthy. But at the end of the year the minimum level will
increase to 8 percent.

BII is one of the banks that are being recapitalized by the
Indonesian government.


PT TIMOR NUSA:  Oil and Gas Firm Fails to Pay Banks
---------------------------------------------------
PT Timor Nusa Adipermata, an oil and gas exploration contractor,
failed to pay a bank syndicate a debt of US$10.1 million on
January 12 and is requesting that the Jakarta court declare it as
bankrupt. The syndicate consists of Bank IFI, Bank Indovest, Bank
Merincorp, Bank Ficorinvest, Bank Haga and Bank BCA.

The debt was used to finance the construction of a special port,
Timor Supply Logistic Base, in Kupang in 1998. The port was 76
percent complete in May 1998 when the Asian crisis hit the
country, forcing banks to discontinue giving addition loans.

The company's lawyer said PT Timor Nusa Adipermata had to quit
the oil and gas exploration project in the Timor Gap in September
1999.

The company is partly owned by Bob Hasan, an associate of former
President Suharto, Asia Pulse reported on Monday.


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

IZUMIYA Co.:  Closes 9 Stores
------------------------------  
Izumiya Co., a mid-size supermarket operator, will close nine
stores and lay off 400 employees by offering an early retirement
program by the end of February 2003, Japan Times reported on
Wednesday. The nine stores will be closed on a staggered basis,
four in fiscal 2001 and five in fiscal 2002.

The company declared losses for the first time since listing on
the Tokyo Stock Exchange in September 1973 with a consolidated
net loss of 14.3 billion yen even though sales were 365 billion
yen.

The company hopes the planned revitalization scheme will reduce
costs by 11.3 billion yen in fiscal 2001, then achieve 365
billion yen in sales in fiscal 2002 and 1.3 billion yen in net
profits.

Norio Hayashi, Izumiya vice president, said: "We will pick the
nine that will be most difficult to make profitable".


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

HYUNDAI ELECTRONICS:  Repays 500 won Bonds
------------------------------------------
Hyundai Electronics Industries Co. (HEI) repaid Korea Development
Bank (KDB) 500 billion won of its matured bonds as part of a bond
purchase plan. For bonds maturing this month, HEI will pay
holders 300 billion won while the balance was paid for bonds that
matured late last year, Asian Wall Street Journal reported on
Monday.

KDB also bought 240 billion won of new bonds issued by Hyundai
Electronics to be used to pay holders of the matured bonds due
this month. Under the plan KDB will refinance 80 percent of the
company's maturing debt if HEI takes care of the remaining 20
percent.

Hyundai Electronics generated funds to pay bonds worth 200
billion won that matured last year.

Korea Development Bank bought the new one-year bonds at a coupon
rate of 10.99 percent and at a total issuance cost of 13.19
percent, a Korea Development Bank spokesman said last week.

Hyundai Electronics sought export credits from banks for its
expansion program, delaying the planned purchase by KDB of HEI
bonds on Monday of last week.


REGENT MERCHANT:  Declared Viable Following Audit
-------------------------------------------------
The Financial Supervisory Service has declared Regent Merchant
Bank viable based on the results of a due diligence audit
conducted by the government. The audit revealed that the bank has
32 billion won in more assets than debt. The bank was suspended
for three months from December after a run on deposits and it
failed to repay 12 billion won in debt, Bloomberg reported on
Wednesday.

But Regent Merchant will still have to present a viable plan to
prevent future cash problems.

Regent Merchant is one of Korea's smallest merchant banks, with a
ratio of capital to risk-weighted assets of 22 percent at the end
of September. Net profit in the first half of 2000 was 7.7
billion won, compared with a 4.4 billion won total in 1999.


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

HO WAH GENTING:  Sells Two Business Units to Regateam
-----------------------------------------------------
Ho Wah Genting Bhd. (HWGB) will sell two business units to
Regateam Holdings Sdn Bhd, a company based in Kota Kinabalu.

HWGB, in a statement to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, said Ho
Wah Genting Transport Sdn Bhd had signed a new sale of shares
agreement with Regateam for the disposal of Ho Wah Genting Tuaran
Transport Sdn Bhd and The Luen Thung Tanjong Aru Transport
Company Sdn Bhd (LTTAT), according to the Wednesday issue of the
Edge Daily.

Regateam is also negotiating with the two subsidiaries and
Kinabalu Transport Company Sdn Bhd, which is 80 percent owned by
LTTAT, to settle a total of RM4.46 million owed to creditors.

HWGB said RM1.46 million had been paid to HWG Transport, while
the balance of RM3 million would be settled in 12 monthly
installments beginning February 15, 2001.


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

ASB GROUP:  Investor Offers Cash & Asset Swap
---------------------------------------------
The ASB Group of companies is negotiating with Hong Kong's
Chevalier group for cash, installment and asset-swap arrangements
to be presented to creditor banks.

Chevalier has offered to pay cash in exchange for the creditors
reducing their demand by 40 percent. An installment scheme will
pay 10 percent up front while the balance would be paid in
installments at an interest rate of 4 percent, Philippine Daily
Inquirer reported on Wednesday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission gave ASB until the first
week of March to look for a "white knight" and resume paying its
debts.

The rehabilitation plan also calls for the release of excess
mortgages on ASB properties so that they can be placed in an
asset pool and earn interest to pay the unsecured creditors.

Unsecured individual creditors had given conditional approval of
the plan while most banks oppose it.


PHIL. NATIONAL BANK:  Surrenders Assets for P15B Debt
-----------------------------------------------------
The Philippine National Bank (PNB) and the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas (BSP) have finalized a dacion en pago arrangement to
settle the P15 billion emergency loan by surrendering real estate
properties to the BSP estimated to be worth P20 billion, Business
World reported on Wednesday.

Dacion en pago is an agreement between the creditor and debtor
for the mode of payment of a loan that is acceptable to both
parties.

The properties to be surrendered include real estate worth up to
PhP20 billion to the Bangko Sentral. The PNB Financial Center in
Pasay City (southern Metropolitan Manila) will be used as payment
for its loan. PNB's Pasay City headquarters have a book value of
PhP4 billion, but was appraised to have a present value of
between PhP8 billion to PhP10 billion, according to a PNB
official. Total properties turnover to the bank is P22 billion.

PNB president and chief executive officer Felipe L. Miranda said
discussions are still ongoing but the BSP will have to decide for
them to comply.

Before, in the dacion en pago arrangements, the BSP appraised the
value of the surrendered property at 60 to 80 percent. Based on
the 80 percent appraisal, PNB will have surrendered P18.75
billion.

The BSP also wants to compel PNB to repurchase the properties
with interest through a 5-to-10 year "buyback plan" to relieve
the bank of non-earning assets. The buyback would protect the
Bangko Sentral from bad assets. PNB using its assets as leverage
for its cash value.


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

ZOOMSPORTS:  Shuts Down Operations
----------------------------------   
ZoomSports.com, a Singapore-based online sports and information
Web site, has shut down its Singapore operations. The company's
roughly 50 employees have suddenly found themselves jobless with
a month's pay, a source close to the company told Singapore-
CNET.com.

The source said the entire staff had received their termination
letters with their month's pay. No other compensation package was
offered, Channelnewasia reported on Monday.


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

NAKORNTHAI:  Creditors Reject Rehabilitation Plan
-------------------------------------------------
Creditors have rejected Nakornthai Strip Mill's rehabilitation
plan, which has prompted the mill to agree to submit a revised
proposal on January 25. Chase Manhattan group, a holder of
Nakornthai debentures, said the contract signing scheduled for
February 2002 is too far away and would unnecessarily lengthen
the repayment period, according to the Wednesday issue of the
Bangkok Post.

The bank wants the contract signed six months after the creditors
have given their approval.

Nakornthai Strip Mill's total debt amounts to 35 billion baht,
with 32 billion baht owed to financial institutions. Nakornthai
owes the Industrial Finance Corporation of Thailand Bt5 billion.
Chase holds around 52 percent of the debt held by financial
institutions, with the remainder held by various bond investors.

Sawasdi Horrungruang, chairman of Nakornthai Strip Mill, is not
concerned about local creditors, most of whom have agreed to the
plan. He is more concerned about objections raised by foreign
creditors and will continue to negotiate with them at the next
meeting.

The plan calls for the repayment of 48 percent of the extended
loans to creditors. If the company were ordered bankrupt and
liquidated, creditors would likely be repaid only up to 10
percent of total loans.

"I myself would also suffer under the rehabilitation plan," said
Sawasdi. "My shareholding was cut to 51 percent from 100 percent
when the company went public. And now with the plan, my stake
would be reduced to just 3 percent."

Another provision of the plan is partial forgiveness of debt,
rescheduling of debt repayments over 10 years, as well as debt-
equity conversion that will give creditors 90 percent ownership
of the company.


THONBURI:  Creditors' Meeting Postponed
---------------------------------------
Bangkok Bank is still not satisfied with the debt repayment
schedule of Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant and a related
debt-equity conversion but will discuss it with other creditors
at a meeting on January 30, Bangkok Post reported on Wednesday.

Bangkok Bank accounts for 30 percent of the plant's debt of Bt2.5
billion. The plan involves Bt2.8 billion including accrued
interest while Bt4.6 billion in debt will be converted into
equity, giving the creditors a 73 percent stake in the plant.

The remaining Bt17.3 billion will be repaid over the next 10
years.


THAI PETROCHEMICAL:  Founder Asks Creditors to Sell Loans
---------------------------------------------------------
Prachai Leophairatana, founder of Thai Petrochemical Industry
(TPI), has urged the company's creditors to sell their loans to
the national asset-management company (AMC), saying that doing so
could shield them from new rounds of recapitalization, according
to the Wednesday issue of the Nation.

"We have already discussed this with several creditors and most
of them would like to sell the bad loans, including those of
TPI," said Prachai. "On the part of Bangkok Bank, I think it
should no longer shoulder this debt burden. This would then give
me a chance to revise this unfair plan".

The Thai Rak Thai Party is planning to create a national AMC.
Prachai hopes this would allow him to regain control of TPI,
which is at present run by Effective Planners.



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.

This material is copyrighted and any commercial use, resale
or publication in any form (including e-mail forwarding,
electronic re-mailing and photocopying) is strictly
prohibited without prior written permission of the
publishers.  Information contained herein is obtained from
sources believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed.

The TCR -- Asia Pacific subscription rate is $575 for 6
months delivered via e-mail. Additional e-mail
subscriptions for members of the same firm for the term of
the initial subscription or balance thereof are $25 each.
For subscription information, contact Christopher Beard at
301/951-6400.

                      *** End of Transmission ***