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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, February 11, 1998, Vol. 1, No. 3

                        Headlines

C H I N A

THEME INTERNATIONAL: Feeling Weight of US$250 Million Debt

H O N G   K O N G  

WHARF HOLDINGS: Lessors Protest for Rent Reductions

I N D O N E S I A

PT BAHANA: Involuntarily Refinances US$20 Million of Debt

J A P A N  

GOLDWIN INC.: Continues Downsizing to Restore Profitability
SANYO SECURITIES: Unable to Find Buyer
SETTSU CORP.: To be Acquired in Rescure by Rengo Co.
TOHO MUTUAL: Surprises May Face GE Capital

K O R E A

HALLA GROUP: Selling California Hotels to Sunstone
HALLA GROUP: Bowater Negotiating to Buy Newsprint Mill
HALLA GROUP: Shipyard Struggling & Ready to Deal
HANWAH GROUP: Stepping-Up Pace of Restructuring Efforts
LG GROUP: Implements Structural Reforms & Selling Assets
SAMSUNG GROUP: To Sell Unprofitable Units & Cut Debts

P H I L I P P I N E S

PHIL-ASIA LENDING: Unlicensed Operations Ordered to Halt

S I N G A P O R E

T H A I L A N D

BANGKOK BANK: Central Bank Taking Control
FIRST BANGKOK: Ordered to Decrease Capital by Millions
FIRST BANGKOK: Citibank Deal Crucial to Recapitalization
SIAM CITY BANK: Asking Foreign Creditors to Roll Over Debt
SIAM CITY BANK: German Creditors Roll Over Debts



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C H I N A
=========



THEME INTERNATIONAL: Feeling Weight of US$250 Million Debt
----------------------------------------------------------
Fashion retailer Theme International Holdings has debts of
about $250 million and needs at least $100 million to stay
in business, reports the South China Morning Post.  

After a meeting with 10 creditor banks yesterday, Theme said
it was considering fund raising options to recapitalise the
company.  The group's financial difficulties were heightened
last month when two banks withdrew loan facilities in all
listed retail companies including Theme.  

To pave the way for a debt restructuring, two non-executive
directors, Raymond Tsang Hing-ning and Poon Kai-tik would
resign, sources said.  They said Theme would bring in a
former senior HSBC corporate finance executive as a non-
executive director to advise it on the restructuring.  The
company was contemplating various ways to raise funds
including off-loading properties, selling its associate
Fitlady Group or a cash infusion by the chairman and largest
shareholder, Kenneth Lai Hin-fung, they said.  The Post's
sources said the prospects of securing a helping hand from
mainland-backed shareholder China Everbright-IHD Pacific
were uncertain.  It is understood the parties had approached
the company to buy its 40% stake in hosiery-maker Fitlady
"from time to time", but no decision had been made.  Fitlady
saw its profit contribution to Theme rise 18 per cent to $18
million on $127 million turnover.

Post sources added that Theme expected a net loss of "tens
of millions" for the year to March as its second-half
performance was very unlikely to offset the losses
in the first-half.  It slipped into a $19.8 million net loss
in the six months ended last September, compared with a
$51.03 million net profit in the same period in 1996.  
(South China Morning Post 07-Feb-1998)



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H O N G   K O N G  
=================



WHARF HOLDINGS: Lessors Protest for Rent Reductions
---------------------------------------------------
Shopkeepers leasing retail space from Wharf (Holdings) Ltd.
protested in an effort to obtain 40% reductions to their
rent payments as retail sales tumble in Hong Kong.  Wharf
management listened to the retailers concerns, declined to
reduce rents at this time, and noted that leases generally
run for 3-year periods.  (The Wall Street Journal 11-Feb-
1998)



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



PT BAHANA: Involuntarily Refinances US$20 Million of Debt
---------------------------------------------------------
PT Bahana Pembiaan Usaha Indonesia elected to pay US$20
million of debt due in August 1997 by delivering 10 cents-
on-the-dollar in cash and a fresh promissory note for the
balance.  The payment and note were accompanied by a letter
from management saying, "recent events in financial markets
in Indonesia have led to the recognition of a need for a
temporary pause in debt service to permit Indonesian
companies to regularize their financial arrangements [with
creditors]."  Bahana is a commercial unit of Indonesia's
central bank.  (The Wall Street Journal 11-Feb-1998)



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J A P A N  
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GOLDWIN INC.: Continues Downsizing to Restore Profitability
-----------------------------------------------------------
Shares in Goldwin Inc. fell 2 yen in trading Tuesday to 158.
The Tokyo-based sportswear maker said it will cut 300 staff
by the end of March 2000, mostly through early retirement
and reduced recruitment.  The cuts, almost 17% of 1,800
workers at the company and its subsidiaries, are part of a
three-year restructuring plan to regain profitability by
March 2000, the company said.  (Bloomberg 10-Feb-1998)


SANYO SECURITIES: Unable to Find Buyer
--------------------------------------
Sanyo Securities Co., a Tokyo-based second-tier brokerage
house, which sought protection for its creditors in November
1997, is reportedly unable, despite months of searching, to
find buyers for its retail network or staff.  (South China
Morning Star 09-Feb-1998)


SETTSU CORP.: To be Acquired in Rescure by Rengo Co.
----------------------------------------------------
Shares in Rengo Co. and Settsu Corp. were suspended from
trading Mnday after the Nihon Keizai newspaper reported that
Rengo, a Japanese maker of paperboard based in Osaka, will
acquire financially troubled Settsu, another paper maker, to
become the largest maker of paperboard in Japan.  (Bloomberg
09-Feb-1998)


TOHO MUTUAL: Surprises May Face GE Capital
------------------------------------------
As previoulsy reported, Toho Mutual Life Insurance Co.
announced that it will establish capital ties with GE
Capital Services.

Takakazu Nakamori at Teikoku Data Bank told the South China
Morning Post that he thinks the Toho deal might fall through
because "that company has lots of links with gangsters.  I
don't think these foreigners know what they are getting into
with many of these companies.  Their bad debt is likely to
be far greater than their accounts show and many have
gangster problems." (South China Morning Post 09-Feb-1998)

"Toho has a lot of bank shares in its portfolio, and there
was concern in the market that it might have to sell,"
Tadaaki Tano, deputy general manager of Daiwa Securities
Co.'s equity futures and options department, told the
Jerusalem Post.  "With the GE investment, it looks like that
won't happen."  

Toho's individual policies reportedly dropped almost 10% in
value in the six months to September 30 on concern it had
extended 106.8 billion yen in loans to bankrupt or
restructured companies.  (Jerusalem Post 06-Feb-1998)



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



HALLA GROUP: Selling California Hotels to Sunstone
--------------------------------------------------
South Korea's bankrupt Halla conglomerate said Saturday that
it has signed a US$16.5 million deal to sell its two
California hotels to Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc.  

In the deal, San Clemente, California-based Sunstone takes
over Residence Inn and Fairfield Inn outside Los Angles from
Halla Engineering and Construction USA Inc., a U.S.
subsidiary of the South Korean conglomerate.  Halla has
built and operated the two Marriott hotels since February
1997, company officials said.  

Halla is South Korea's 12th largest conglomerate, engaged in
shipbuilding, auto parts, construction and cement.  It went
bankrupt in December and has since been trying to unload
some of its assets at home and abroad to improve its cash
flow.  (Associated Press)


HALLA GROUP: Bowater Negotiating to Buy Newsprint Mill
------------------------------------------------------
Bowater Inc., the largest U.S. newsprint maker, is
negotiating to buy part of a South Korean newsprint mill
owned by Halla.  (Associated Press)


HALLA GROUP: Shipyard Struggling & Ready to Deal
------------------------------------------------
South Korea's insolvent Halla shipyard is struggling to
remain afloat in partnership with foreigners as other
shipbuilders look to a strong 1998 performance boosted by
the weak won, shipping companies said Tuesday.

"We will be born again as a professional shipbuilding firm
by aggressively seeking foreign partners to save our
business.  We are ready to sell off even some of our sister
firms to remain afloat," a Halla Engineering and Heavy
Industries Ltd. spokesman said.  A Singapore state agency is
"very interested in a partnership with us," the spokesperson
added.

The Halla shipyard, one of the country's big five, came nder
court receivership when its parent Halla Group, formerly the
country's 12th largest conglomerate, collapsed in December
under debts estimated at seven trillion won (4.37 billion
dollars).

Like other South Korean builders such as Hanjin, Daewoo,
Samsung and Hyundai, Halla borrowed heavily to expand its
shipyard despite widespread concern about a glut at home and
abroad.  (Agence France Presse 10-Feb-1998)


HANWAH GROUP: Stepping-Up Pace of Restructuring Efforts
-------------------------------------------------------
Leaders of South Korea's giant industrial conglomerates are
stepping up the pace of implementing structural reforms.  
Hanwha, the ninth largest such conglomerate, will pare its
30 group companies to a handful and specialize in chemicals.  
Already, Hanwha has withdrawn from the 50-50 polyurethane
joint venture formed last December between Hanwha Chemical
Corp. -- South  Korea's largest chlor-alkali maker -- and
BASF (Germany), and sold its stock shares in the venture to
the German partner.  Theconglomerate recently has decided to
sell off oil refiner and  power generation company Hanwha
Energy to Caltex of the U.S.

The Hanwha group reportedly will specialize in areas related  
to medicine and information and communications, and in the  
process essentially dismantle itself.  While profits from
the  sale of various businesses should swiftly improve its
790% debt ratio (as of December 1996), at the same time
group sales and asset scope will shrink drastically.  *Japan
Chemical Week 09-Feb-1998)


LG GROUP: Implements Structural Reforms & Selling Assets
--------------------------------------------------------
The LG group, South Korea's third-ranking conglomerate,  
recently announced a management structural reform plan that  
includes liquidating some 90 of its low-profitability
businesses by 1999.  The specific businesses targeted under
the plan as yet  have not been revealed.  In addition the LG
group will terminate  by the end of 1999 its debt repayment
guarantees for LG affiliated companies, tightening demands
on each firm for independent profit and loss accountability.
(Japan Checmical Week 09-Feb-1998)


SAMSUNG GROUP: To Sell Unprofitable Units & Cut Debts
-----------------------------------------------------
Samsung Group is reportedly deploying a plan providing that
it will sell off unprofitable units and cut its debt.  The
South Korean firm will also receive a donation of more than
$74 million from its chairman.  Samsung, one of South
Korea's largest conglomerates, plans to reduce its
debts to 150 percent of its equity from 270 percent in part
through sales of real estate valued at about $300 million.
(Pacific Business News Honolulu 09-Feb-1998)



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


PHIL-ASIA LENDING: Unlicensed Operations Ordered to Halt
--------------------------------------------------------
The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a cease
and desist order (CDO) against Cebu-based Phil-Asia Lending
Investors, Inc., barring the firm from soliciting and
accepting investments.  SEC investigations showed the firm
was "illegally doing the business of quasi-banking and/or
dealing in securities without the necessary permit or
license" from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank
of the Philippines) and the SEC.

The SEC is studying whether to appoint a receiver to oversee
the company's operations while it determines how to settle
the firm's liabilities and obligations.  The SEC said it
will conduct an audit to ascertain the firm's financial
standing. The CDO also prevents the firm from making any
disbursements without prior approval.  The SEC also barred
the firm from "encumbering, selling, disposing, conveying
and transferring in any manner any and all its properties,"
while the case remains pending.  (Business World)



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S I N G A P O R E
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T H A I L A N D
===============



BANGKOK BANK: Central Bank Taking Control
-----------------------------------------
Bangkok Bank of Commerce was ordered by the central bank to
reduce its capital in order to write off losses of 33.7
billion baht, by cutting the nominal value of the shares
from 10 baht to 0.50.  BBOC will then recapitalise by
issuing 10 billion baht in stock to the Financial
Institutions Development Fund.  BBOC said the main purpose
of the order was to enable the bank to meet central bank
regulatory requirements and added that compliance is
required within 20 days. (Agence France Presse 09--Feb-1998)


FIRST BANGKOK: Ordered to Decrease Capital by Millions
------------------------------------------------------
The Bank of Thailand ordered First Bangkok City Bank to
decrease its issued capital by 9.90 billion baht (206
million dollars) from 10 billion, a statement to the stock
exchange said.  After that FBCB will issue 3.2 billion new
shares to the Finance Institutions Development Fund -- the
central bank rescue fund -- in exchange for debt, giving it
paid-up capital of 32 billion baht. (Agence France Presse
09--Feb-1998)


FIRST BANGKOK: Citibank Deal Crucial to Recapitalization
--------------------------------------------------------
First Bangkok City Bank Plc may need a second debt-for-
equity swap by the central Bank of Thailand if US giant
Citibank declines to take a stake, a report said Tuesday.  
The bank's president, Siriwut Siempakdi, said the FBCB would
need a further capital boost if the central bank sought to
raise its capital-to-risk assets ratio, the Bangkok Post
reported.

The takeover of the bank by the BoT Friday involved a
massive write-off of bad debts, and a debt-for-equity swap
from the central bank's Financial Institutions Development
Fund.  The move, once complete, will bring the bank's
capital-to-risk assets ratio up to 10%, above the BoT
minimum requirement of 8.5%, a standard set by the Bank for
International Settlements.

But Siriwut said if the BoT sought to raise the ratio
further to 12.5%, in order to strenghten the bank's
position, it would be necessary to increase capital again.  
Siriwut said that if negotiations with Citibank, which is
currently carrying out a detailed audit of the FBCB,
collapsed it would likely be forced to turn to the FIDF
again.  Siriwut recalled that the bank had borrowed 70
billion baht (1.45 billion US dollars) from the FIDF.

Citibank last year announced it was considering taking a
majority holding in the bank, and is due to reveal whether
it will do so later this month.  However, Siriwut said he
was confident that the central bank's move to take over the
ailing FBCB had made it more attractive to foreign
investors, the newspaper reported.  "Since the central bank
announced the capital writedown, the image of the bank has
improved, and it should help negotiations with Citibank to
proceed well," Siriwut said. (Agence France Presse 10-Feb-
1998)


SIAM CITY BANK: Asking Foreign Creditors to Roll Over Debt
----------------------------------------------------------
Thailand's crippled Siam City Bank plc is to ask foreign
creditors to roll over its massive debt, the bank's chief
said Monday just three days after it was taken over by the
central bank.  President Sompoch Intranukul said the bank's
foreign debt stood at 700 million dollars of which 300
million dollars is due this year, with the balance becoming
due for repayment in 1999 and 2000.  The bank is facing
tight liquidity due to the higher cost of funds resulting
from a decline in deposits and repeated rating downgrades of
the banking sector.

"The bank will cease new lending for one year and in the
meantime will work to boost deposits which I expect will
improve within six months," Sompoch said.  

The central bank's rescue fund, has already committed to
swapping debt for equity in a move that will bring Siam Bank
under state control.  The authorities ordered Siam City Bank
to reduce its paid-up capital by 5.5 billion baht (114.6
million dollars) to 616 million baht, in order to write off
its huge bad debts. (Agence France Presse 09--Feb-1998)


SIAM CITY BANK: German Creditors Roll Over Debts
------------------------------------------------
Siam City Bank plc (SCIB) president Sompoch Intranukul said
Tuesday that the bank's German creditors have rolled over
debts worth eight million dollars.  Sompoch said the bank,
which was taken over by the central Bank of Thailand
on Friday, would continue to ask other foreign creditors to
roll over debts worth about 700 million dollars.

The bank has 300 million dollars in debts due for repayment
this year, with a further 400 million dollars coming due
before 2000.

Sompoch said the bank Monday repaid 200 million baht (4.3
million dollars) to the central bank's Financial
Institutions Development Fund, but still owes 50 billion
baht.  Sompoch indicated that the bank would take a roadshow
to Europe, the United States and Japan, aimed at persuading
foreign creditors to roll over their loans.

Meanwhile,the Stock Exchange of Thailand said trading in the
bank would remain suspended.  (Agence France Presse 10-Feb-
1998)



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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