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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, September 25, 1998, Vol. 1, No. 151

                    Headlines


* C H I N A   &   H O N G   K O N G *

CAPETRONICS INTERNATIONAL: Results announcement
CELESTIAL ASIA SECURITIES: Results announcement
CENTRAL CHINA: Results announcement
CHI CHEUNG: Results announcement
CHINA EVERBRIGHT: Results announcement

CHUN FAI INTERNATIONAL: Winding-up petition
INTERFORM CERAMICS: Two creditors make claims on subsidiary
JOYCE BOUTIQUE: Results announcement
NAM FONG INTERNATIONAL: Results announcement
PACIFIC PORTS: Results announcement

SING TAO HOLDINGS: Talks with Tang on Culturecom suspended


* I N D O N E S I A *

PT ASTRA: Defends decision to lay off 25,000 employees
SALIM GROUP: Uses stake in First Pacific to clear debts


* J A P A N *

LONG TERM CREDIT: Tokyo fights to save crucial LTCB deal


* K O R E A *

HANSEUNG CONSTRUCTION: Completes creditor reconciliation
HANWHA ENERGY: $874 million power plant deal falls through
KIA MOTORS: Second auction canceled, no debt write-down


* M A L A Y S I A *

AFFIN HOLDINGS: Results announcement
DULCINEA SDN BHD: Winding-up petition
EDARAN POSITIF (M) SDN BHD: Winding-up petition
HOI YAU HING MARINE PRODUCTS SDN BHD: Winding-up petition
HONG LEONG BANK: Results announcement

HONG LEONG CREDIT: Results announcement
PANGLOBAL BHD: Obtains court restraining order
PERAK BUMI-REL SHIPPING AGENCY: Voluntary winding up
SOUTHERN EMPIRE SDN BHD: Voluntary winding up
SUN SPORTS (M) SDN BHD: Voluntary winding up

TOP DIRECTION (M) SDN BHD: Winding-up petition


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

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES: Last-minute efforts don't save PAL


* S I N G A P O R E *

L & M INVESTMENTS: Results announcement
SM SUMMIT: Results announcement
SUPER COFFEEMIX: Results announcement


* T H A I L A N D *

KRISDAMAHANAKORN PCL: Results announcement
KRUNG THAI BANK: Capital increase announcement
PIZZA PCL: SET allows trading


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

CAPETRONICS INTERNATIONAL: Results announcement
-----------------------------------------------
Capetronics International, the television and
communications equipment maker, posted an interim net loss
of $16.31 million for the six-month period ended June 30
compared to a $31.42 million loss in the same period last
year. Turnover shrank to $480.56 million compared to $2.21
billion in the same period last year.


CELESTIAL ASIA SECURITIES: Results announcement
-----------------------------------------------
Celestial Asia Securities Holdings slumped into a $62.13
million loss in the first six months of this year from a
$63.5 million profit in the corresponding period last year.
The company was hit by a $35.5 million exceptional loss
largely on provisions for bad debt. The slump in the stock
market also saw the company's operating loss stand at
$26.63 million against a $76.31 million operating profit
previously.


CENTRAL CHINA: Results announcement
-----------------------------------
The video cassette manufacturer, Central China posted a
massive interim loss of $233.56 million for the six-month
period ended June 30. The loss is largely due to an
exceptional loss of $241.69 million on provision against
interest in associated companies. The company did not
declare a dividend.


CHI CHEUNG: Results announcement
--------------------------------
Chi Cheung, a Hong Kong property developer, which saw its
shares collapse 87.6% last Friday, has revealed cash-flow
problems arising from the property slump.

It said yesterday controlling shareholder Paliburg Holdings
had pledged its 74.06% stake to a financial institution for
a loan, but not a single share had been sold yet. It
maintained Paliburg Holdings, through subsidiary Rapid
Growth, was not in default and that no Chi Cheung directors
or substantial shareholders dealt in the shares on Friday.

It emerged that a group of brokers complained to the police
claiming to have been victims of an alleged scam involving
trading in Chi Cheung shares last week. They claimed an
unknown investor failed to settle payment for the shares.  

Chi Cheung announced a sharp decline in attributable profit
for the first six months, a loss of $316.3 million from
$32.4 million profit the previous year. Hit by a $163.8
million deficit from revaluation of investment properties,
losses per share were 102 cents on last year's 11-cent
earning.


CHINA EVERBRIGHT: Results announcement
--------------------------------------
China Everbright, the red chip company, announced a net
loss of $425.87 million for the six months to June 30,
helped by huge exceptional losses from its disastrous
investments in retail operations in Hong Kong and Singapore
as well as high interest costs for its expensive holding of
a small China Telecom stake.

The loss of nearly half a billion dollars consisted of
mainly provisions for its 19.93% stake in local retailer
Theme International Holdings and 44% interest in the now
defunct Emporium Group in Singapore, which amounted to
$397.6 million.

The firm also incurred interest expenses of $46.13 million
from its $1.1 billion loan used to buy a 1.5% stake in
China Telecom. It said it was seeking to restructure the
loan to reduce interest expenses in the near future. The
company's loss per share was 34.84 cents against earnings
per share of 10.07 cents in the year-earlier period.


CHUN FAI INTERNATIONAL: Winding-up petition
-------------------------------------------
Notice is hereby given that a petition for the winding-up
of Chun Fai International Transportation Limited by the
High Court of Hong Kong was, on the 9th day of September,
1998, presented to the said Court by Man Wing On and the
petition is heard on 14th of October, 1998. Other creditors
who support or oppose the making of the order may appear at
the time of the hearing.  


INTERFORM CERAMICS: Two creditors make claims on subsidiary
-----------------------------------------------------------
A 71.7% owned subsidiary of Interform Ceramics Technologies
Limited received two writs dated 17 September 1998 and 18
September 1998 respectively from two of  its creditors for
repayment of debts. The creditors of the company and its
subsidiaries are still considering the standstill  
agreement. If the standstill agreement cannot be reached,
the cashflow position of the group will be affected.

Further to the announcement dated 2 September 1998, the
Group received two writs issued in Shenzhen dated 17
September 1998 from Foshan Shiwan Lichong Ceramics
Machinery Equipment Factory and 18 September 1998 from
Nanyang Commercial Bank, Ltd., Shenzhen Branch, two of its  
creditors, claiming for the repayment of debts in the
amount of approximately HK$1.6 million and HK$13.4 million
respectively due from the Group.

In the meantime, steps have been taken by the Company to
negotiate with all of its lending banks to reschedule the  
repayment of their debts. As at the date of this
announcement, no formal standstill agreement has been
reached yet.


JOYCE BOUTIQUE: Results announcement
------------------------------------
The SCMP reports retailer Joyce Boutique Holdings suffered
a $207.23 million net loss in the year to March against a  
$30.2 million net profit the previous year.

The loss stemmed from a combination of domestic sales
downturn and over-expansion in the region, chairman Walter
Ma King-wah said. He said the company made a "slight
profit" in the three months to June, but remained concerned
about its performance last month.

The company's restaurants, which incurred an operating loss
of almost $20 million last year, were likely to be loss-
making this year amid the spending slump, he said.

As part of the company's cost restructuring aimed at saving
up to $110 million expenses annually, he said the executive
directors had volunteered to cut their salaries by 10 per
cent this year.

Director Adrienne Marie Ma said Joyce had improved its debt
ratio to less than 30 per cent from the peak of about 70
per cent in November last year.


NAM FONG INTERNATIONAL: Results announcement
--------------------------------------------
Nam Fong International Holdings saw attributable earnings
in the first six months turned to a loss of $29.8 million
from a profit of $107.1 million in the same period last
year. The property investor said that despite a slowdown in
retailing activity in Guangzhou, the group had stepped up
its marketing efforts to look for more tenants to fill its
commercial properties in the mainland. Loss per share was
2.19 cents compared with earnings per share of 7.88 cents
last year.  


PACIFIC PORTS: Results announcement
-----------------------------------
Pacific Ports, a Hong Kong port operator was hit by a $135
million exceptional loss mostly linked to former chairman
John Chan incurring a $173.43 million net loss in the six
months ended in June. The net loss compared with a $7.06
million net profit in the same period last year. The
exceptional loss included a $110 million provision against
amounts due from Mr Chan. In March, Mr Chan was charged
with allegedly stealing $81.1 million in three cheques from
Pacific Ports, but the charges were dropped in June.


SING TAO HOLDINGS: Talks with Tang on Culturecom suspended
----------------------------------------------------------
Discussions for the sale by Sing Tao Holdings Limited of
shares in Culturecom Holdings Limited to Mr. Tang Lap Yan,
an executive director of the company, have been suspended.

On 1st August, 1998, the company announced that it was
having discussions, which were at an advanced stage, with
Mr. Tang regarding the sale of part of its 43% shareholding
interest in Culturecom, a company listed on the Stock
Exchange. The company has been informed today that Mr. Tang
has suspended these discussions and the company will
ascertain Mr. Tang's intention in this regard. The company
is also presently holding discussions at a preliminary
stage with an independent third party which may lead to the
sale of part or all of the company's shareholding interest
in Culturecom. However, there is no assurance that the
discussions will lead to the conclusion of any agreement.
If and when an agreement is reached, a further announcement
will be made in due course.

The directors of the company confirm that there are no
negotiations or agreements relating to intended
acquisitions or realisations which are discloseable under
paragraph 3 of the Listing Agreement and they are not aware
of any matter discloseable under the general obligation
imposed by paragraph 2 of the Listing Agreement, which is
or may be of a price-sensitive nature.


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

PT ASTRA: Defends decision to lay off 25,000 employees
------------------------------------------------------
Singapore BusinessTimes reports PT Astra International
president Rini Suwandi said the management's decision to
lay off 25,000 employees was part of efforts to restructure
debt. "As part of debt restructuring, the Astra Group did
not extend contracts of 20,000 workers and approved
applications for early retirement of 5,000 employees," Mr
Suwandi said in a statement to the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

In response to the exchange's query on whether some of
Astra's major shareholders had surrendered their stakes as
collateral to the Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency,
Mr Suwandi said none of the shareholders had informed
management about such transactions.


SALIM GROUP: Uses stake in First Pacific to clear debts
-------------------------------------------------------
According to the SCMP, Indonesia's biggest company, the
Salim Group, has transferred 5 percent of its stake in
First Pacific to the Indonesian Government as part of a 48
trillion rupiah settlement to clear a mountain of debts
owed by its troubled banking arm.

The Indonesian government has agreed to accept assets,
including the First Pacific shares from Salim Group, to
cover debts owed by its Bank Central Asia (BCA), formerly
Indonesia's largest private lender.

The Salim family, whose stake in First Pacific is cut to 26
percent from 31 percent, and associates still have a
combined 49 percent stake in the company after the
transfer.

The Salims and their associates now have six seats on the
13-member board. According to Robert Sherbin, First Pacific
vice-president of corporate communications, the change in
shareholding would not necessarily imply an alteration to
the composition of First Pacific's board, although that
would be an issue for discussion at a future date.

The Indonesian finance ministry said these agreements have
secured the recovery of 48 trillion rupiah from the Salim
Group in relation to BCA's obligation to the government at
35 trillion rupiah and the group's inter-company loans from
BCA of 13 trillion rupiah. He added that ownership of
shares will be transferred from substantially all group
companies to IBRA the Indonesian Bank Restructuring
Agency), along with cash and property.

BCA was one of 14 problem banks closed or taken over by
IBRA. Finance Minister Bambang Subianto yesterday said two
key Salim Group subsidiaries - Indoceent Tunggal Prakarsa
and Indofood Sukses Makmur - were included among the
surrendered companies. First Pacific has been considering
buying Indofood - Indonesia's largest noodle-maker - and Mr
Sherbin said this news did not change what First Pacific
may or may not be looking at.


=========
J A P A N  
=========

LONG TERM CREDIT: Tokyo fights to save crucial LTCB deal
--------------------------------------------------------
According to the Hong Kong Standard, Japan's ruling party
secretary general Yoshiro Mori said on Tuesday that the
LTCB would be dealt with under the new bill after deciding
quickly on a new framework to put the bank under special
state control. He said the present framework 13-trillion-
yen pool of public funds would remain in force until the
new legislation was passed. He said that the ruling party
had been misunderstood and did not mean to deal with LTCB
with the existing 13 trillion yen pool.


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

HANSEUNG CONSTRUCTION: Completes creditor reconciliation
--------------------------------------------------------
The Seoul District Court advertised that the Hanseung
Construction Company completed its creditor reconciliation.
The company's address is 379 Seongnae-dong, Kangdong-gu,
Seoul and the president is Mr. Park Young-jae.


HANWHA ENERGY: $874 million power plant deal falls through
----------------------------------------------------------
The Korea Herald reported that Hanwha Energy Company's deal
to sell its power generation business to AES Company of the
United States has been canceled. Last May 28, an agreement
had been reached in principle for AES to buy Hanwha's
energy operations for $874 million. However, according to
Hanwha officials, the deal was scrapped over additional
requests related to financing. Specifically at issue were
Korean government guarantees in case the Korea Electric
Power Corporation (Korea's state run electric monopoly) did
not pay for power generated by the power plant purchased by
AES.

In a related story appearing in the Asian Wall Street
Journal, a Hanwha spokesman was cited as saying that the
company was confident that it could find other buyers, and
that it had already sold other units to European companies.  

Earlier this month, the Korea Herald reported that the
Hanwha Energy Company had a debt to equity ratio of
33,296.4 percent, and that the parent Hanwha Group had an
overall debt to equity ratio of 508.4 percent.


KIA MOTORS: Second auction canceled, no debt write-down
-------------------------------------------------------
The Korea Herald reported that creditor banks of Kia Motors
Company and its sister bus and truck maker, Asia Motors
Company, have decided to again cancel a second
international auction of these companies. All three tenders
submitted (by Hyundai, Daewoo, and Samsung) in this latest
auction have been disqualified for demanding additional
debt write-offs.  

Before the first auction that ended in failure last month,
the Korea Development Bank (KDB) and other creditors
offered only longer loan repayment periods and lower
interest rates on loans, rather than writing off any debts.  
The creditors felt that the rescheduling of debt would
effectively reduce the debt burden by 6.5 trillion won.  
However, all of the four companies (Samsung, Hyundai,
Daewoo, and Ford) that bid in the initial aborted auction
demanded that at least part of Kia's debts be written off.  
These demands were viewed as a breech of the auction rules,
and hence led to the first auction being canceled.

Kia creditors then agreed to the writing off of 2.92
trillion won of the automotive makers' debt in order to
attract potential buyers for the second international
auction. In addition, the creditors agreed to trim
debt service burdens on the two bankrupt auto makers by
2.76 trillion won, and cut debt guarantees by 2.16 trillion
won. However, such steps were inadequate in making the
acquisition of Kia viable in the eyes of prospective
buyers, as all bidders insisted on additional debt
reduction.

A similar report in the Korea Times stated that creditors
are planning to go ahead with a third round of bidding,
although a clear decision on this is still a few days away.  

The Korea Herald also reports that the failure of this
second auction could affect the fate of Samsung Motors
Inc., which started up earlier this year. The paper reports
speculation that Samsung may now have to exit the
automotive business.

The KDB has earlier stated that Kia Motors' debts amounted
to 9.48 trillion won at the end of June, and its total
assets stood at 6.17 trillion won.  Asia Motors had 3.36
trillion won worth of debt and assets values at 1.5
trillion won.

Kia Motors became insolvent last July.  Kia Motors and Asia
Motors were granted protection from creditors under court
receivership in October 1997.


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

AFFIN HOLDINGS: Results announcement
------------------------------------
Singapore BusinessTimes reports Affin Holdings recorded a
group consolidated pre-tax operating profit of 55.7 million
Malaysian ringgit (S$25 million) for the first half, down
from RM234.3 million achieved a year ago. The company said
the poorer performance was due to an increase in loan
provisioning. Group turnover was up 55 per cent to RM1.2
billion.


DULCINEA SDN BHD: Winding-up petition
-------------------------------------
Bank Utana (Malaysia) Bhd on 27/7/98 petitioned for the
winding-up of Dulcinea Sdn Bhd. The petition is directed to
be heard on 30/10/98.


EDARAN POSITIF (M) SDN BHD: Winding-up petition
-----------------------------------------------
Destine Technology Sdn Bhd on 18/6/98 petitioned for the
winding-up of Edaran Positif (M) Sdn Bhd. The petition is
directed to be heard on 6/10/98.


HOI YAU HING MARINE PRODUCTS SDN BHD: Winding-up petition
---------------------------------------------------------
Public Bank Bhd on 7/8/98 petitioned for the winding-up of
Hoi Yau Hing Marine Products Sdn Bhd. The petition is
directed to be heard on 13/11/98.


HONG LEONG BANK: Results announcement
-------------------------------------
Singapore BusinessTimes reports Hong Leong Bank posted a 89
per cent plunge in profit for the year ended June 30 to
10.5 million Malaysian ringgit (S$4.8 million).

Earnings per share fell to 7 sen a share from 39 sen. The
earnings were provided electronically by the Kuala Lumpur
Stock Exchange.

The bank said it expects a challenging operating
environment in the current year.

Sales totalled RM2.1 billion against RM1.5 billion
previously. It said increased general and specific
provisions resulted in the lower profits. Total group
specific and general provisions charged for the year
amounted to RM371 million.


HONG LEONG CREDIT: Results announcement
---------------------------------------
Singapore BusinessTimes reports Hong Leong Credit, a
finance and brokerage company, said it swung to a loss of
RM162.8 million for the year ended June 30. It recorded a
profit of RM281.7 million a year ago. It lost 36 sen a
share compared with earnings per share of 40 sen
previously. Sales stood at RM2.6 billion compared with
RM2.1 billion.


PANGLOBAL BHD: Obtains court restraining order
----------------------------------------------
Panglobal Bhd, listed on the KLSE, and four of its wholly-
owned subsidiaries have been granted a court order under
S.176 of the Companies Act restraining their creditors from
instituting any action against them for 6 months, in order
for the group to undertake a restructuring exercise.


PERAK BUMI-REL SHIPPING AGENCY: Voluntary winding up
----------------------------------------------------
The members  of Perak Bumi-Rel Shipping Agency Sdn Bhd
resolved to wind up the company voluntarily on 19/9/98.


SOUTHERN EMPIRE SDN BHD: Voluntary winding up
---------------------------------------------
The members of Southern Empire Sdn Bhd on 19/9/98 resolved
to wind up the company voluntarily. Creditors are requested
to submit their claims before 23/10/98.


SUN SPORTS (M) SDN BHD: Voluntary winding up
--------------------------------------------
The members of Sun Sports (M) Sdn Bhd on 18/9/98 resolved
to wind up the company voluntarily. Creditors of the
company are requested to submit their claims before
26/10/98.


TOP DIRECTION (M) SDN BHD: Winding-up petition
----------------------------------------------
Lindeteves-Jacoberg (Malaya) Sdn Bhd on 12/8/98 petitioned
for the winding-up of Top Direction (M) Sdn Bhd. The
petition is directed to be heard on 17/11/98.


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

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES: Last-minute efforts don't save PAL
-------------------------------------------------------
The Asian Wall Street Journal reported that the chief
financial officer of the Philippine Airlines (PAL), James
Bautista, said that "The Philippine Airlines has ceased to
operate" after last minute negotiations with its labor
union failed.

This closer comes after the rejection last week by the PAL
Employees Association of an offer from the PAL chairman
which would have given workers three board seats and 20
percent of the company's equity in exchange for a 10-year
suspension of their collective-bargain agreement.

Following this rejection, the airline announced that
without fresh capital, it could not operate viably.  

Although it was reported that the airline's assets were
enough to cover its debts, an aviation expert cited by the
Asian Wall Street Journal questioned this assertion based
on the fact that there is not a very big market for jumbo
jets at the moment.  

PAL's pilots staged a 22-day strike in June, and its ground
crew walked off the job for a week, which worsened the
problems the airline was seeing due to the Asian currency
crisis. The strike forced PAL to drastically reduce its
operations, including the suspension of both domestic and
international flights. PAL had announced that due to its
labor problems, it is unable to make payments on about $2.1
billion of debt.


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

L & M INVESTMENTS: Results announcement
---------------------------------------
Singapore BusinessTimes reports specialist engineering
contractors L&M Group Investments slipped into the red,
reporting $6.6 million in net losses for the first half of
this year. This compares to $609,000 net profits a year
ago.

The equipment trading business chalked up $2.3 million in
losses from January to June, compared to a $500,000 gain in
the first half of 1997. In property, total provisions of
$5.6 million were made for receivables in Malaysia,
Thailand and Indonesia, as well as for loss in the value of
investment and development projects in Singapore.

L&M, which asked its bankers to extend the period of a $54
million syndicated loan, said it is still awaiting approval
on the terms of the loan restructure.

At end-June, L&M had $34.4 million in secured long-term
loans, $20.3 million in secured short-term loans and $85.2
million in short-term unsecured borrowings.


SM SUMMIT: Results announcement
-------------------------------
Singapore BusinessTimes reports SM Summit saw its interim
earnings fall 55 per cent to $2.05 million from $4.56
million last year as demand for compact discs fell amid the
regional currency crisis.

Turnover for the six months to June 30 fell 12 per cent to
$18.21 million, compared to $20.75 million in the same
period last year.

Earnings per share fell to 0.69 of a cent, from 1.54 cents
previously. Net tangible asset backing per share also
dropped to 21.9 cents from 32.3 cents previously.

SM Summit, which was embroiled in a defamation suit against
Business Software Alliance, saw its pre-tax profit fall by
55 per cent to $2.76 million. The closure of its Hongkong
operations resulted in a charge of some $400,000 to the
bottomline.

The company also took an extraordinary charge of $158,000
on account of its legal suit against BSA.

Like last year, no interim dividend was declared.


SUPER COFFEEMIX: Results announcement
-------------------------------------
Singapore BusinessTimes reports deteriorating margins as a
result of the regional crisis saw Super Coffeemix plunge
into the red with a net loss of $4.19 million for the six
months to June 30. This compares with $5.36 million net
earnings during the same period in 1997.

Provisions for doubtful debts and adjustments for
diminution in value of investments at its subsidiary in
Indonesia resulted in a pre-tax loss of $3.95 million,
compared to a $6.63 million profit last year.

The write-downs included recognition of exchange rate
losses in Indonesia.

As a result, the company recorded a loss per share of 1.22
cents, compared to earnings per share of 1.62 cents last
year.

No interim dividends were declared.


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

KRISDAMAHANAKORN PCL: Results announcement
------------------------------------------
Krisdamahanakorn PCL reports results for the half-year
ending June 30, 1998 as a net loss of Bt1.04 billion, which
compares to a net loss of Bt28 million for the
corresponding 1997 period.


KRUNG THAI BANK: Capital increase announcement
----------------------------------------------
Krung Thai Bank Public Company Limited (KTB) has informed
the SET of an increase in KTB's registered capital by Baht
185,000 million from formerly Baht 34,850 million to Baht
219,850 million by issuing 18,500 million ordinary shares
with par value of Baht 10 per share.

The bank expects to have a capital fund of not less than
the level prescribed by law and will be able to cater for
its business expansion thus enabling it to grow both in
terms of assets and profit.


PIZZA PCL: SET allows trading
-----------------------------
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) allowed The Pizza
Public Company Limited (PIZZA)'s securities to be traded on
the SET after finishing capital increase procedures,
starting from 25 September 1998.


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., Princeton, NJ USA, and Beard Group, Inc., Washington,
DC USA.  Debra Brennan and Lexy Mueller, Editors.

Copyright 1998.  All rights reserved.  ISSN: 1520-9482.  

This material is copyrighted and any commercial use,
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            * * * End of Transmission * * *