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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 10, 1999, Vol. 2, No. 219

                                  Headlines


* C H I N A  &  H O N G  K O N G *

BURLINGAME INT'L: Posts annual loss
CHEUNG TAI HONG: Posts six-month loss
DRAGON HILL SERVICES: Facing winding up petition
PACIFIC PALISADES FUNDING: S&P puts notes on credit watch
SIMSEN INT'L CORP.: Annual loss widens
YINMY FOOTWEAR GROUP: Facing winding up petition


* K O R E A *

DAEWOO GROUP: Overseas units have negative net worth,too
DAEWOO GROUP: Employees urge quicker action on workout
LG ELECTRONICS: Bankruptcy sends Zenith into its arms


* M A L A Y S I A *

NATIONAL STEEL CORP.: Shuts down Philippines operations


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

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES: US Eximbank finally approves rehab
PHILIPPINE AIRLINES: BOI considering fiscal incentives
VICTORIAS MILLING CO.: To seek time to find white knight


* T H A I L A N D *

BANGKOK TRANSIT SYSTEM CO.: Appoints debt advisor
BAYER THAI CO.: Restructuring includes plant shutdown
CROWN SEAL: Increases capital for debt payment,cash flow
NAMHENG STEEL CO.: Pulls out of restructuring merger
SCB MUNKHONG 5 FUND: Posts nine-month loss
SIAM STEEL INT'L: Divests its stake in Siam Hi-Tech
SINO THAI ENG.& CONST.: Agmt in principle reached on debts
THAI OLEFINS CO.: PTT seeking strategic partners for


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

BURLINGAME INT'L: Posts annual loss
-----------------------------------
Property investment and securities trading firm Burlingame
International dived into the red for the financial year
ended 31 March, reporting a net loss of $1 billion.

This is the second consecutive year the cash-strapped
company has reported losses.  In the 1998 financial year,
Burlingame recorded a net loss of $165 million.  Company
officials could not be reached for comment last night.
Burlingame's exceptional gain of $57.74 million, arising
from disposal of subsidiaries, was quickly offset by its
substantial exceptional loss amounting to $766.18 million
for the last financial year.

The exceptional loss was mainly attributed to write-offs of
premiums on acquisition of interest in an associated
company amounting to $208.77 million, the company said.
Other exceptional loss items included a deficit arising on
revaluation of investment properties amounting to $176.08
million, provision against amounts due from associated
companies amounting to $100.99 million, and provision for
deposit paid for acquisition of an investment amounting to
$90.6 million.

Burlingame's turnover plunged 86 per cent to $214.23
million in 1999 from $1.1 billion in 1998.  The operating
loss was $104.59 million in this year, compared with the
operating profit of $1.5 million in 1998.  Loss per share
was $2.36 in the financial year 1999 compared with 39 cents
loss per share in 1998.  The company declared no final
dividend for the year.

Burlingame shares suspended trading yesterday pending an
announcement in relation to the restructuring proposal of
the company.  Shares of the company closed at 15.4 cents on
5 November.  As of 30 September, Burlingame, which faces
winding-up, has total debt of $1.01 billion, which was owed
by the company to seven Hong Kong bank creditors.

A hearing of a petition to wind up the company has been
adjourned to after 1 November for the court to consider a
restructuring proposal.  The company announced last month
that six of its creditors agreed to a debt restructuring
scheme for $899.4 million, which represents 89 per cent of
its total debt or 90.3 per cent of its total bank
indebtedness.  (Hong Kong Standard  09-Nov-1999)

CHEUNG TAI HONG: Posts six-month loss
-------------------------------------
Consumer product importer Cheung Tai Hong has reported a
$11.09M loss for the six months to Sept. 30.  Nevertheless,
it is an improvement from last year's loss of $72.35M for
the same period.  But, turnover fell sharply to $25.87M
from $156.38M.  Loss per share is 0.6 cents, down from loss
of 5.6 cents.

DRAGON HILL SERVICES: Facing winding up petition
------------------------------------------------
The High Court of Hong Kong SAR has scheduled a hearing for
january 5, 2000 on the petition of Cheng Lap Man for the
winding up of Dragon Hill Services Limited. A notice of
legal appearance must be filed on or before January 4.

PACIFIC PALISADES FUNDING: S&P puts notes on credit watch
---------------------------------------------------------
US rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has placed two
notes issued by Sino Group's unit Pacific Palisades Funding
on credit watch.

A US$98.8 million floating-rate note and œ22.5 million
(about HK$282.8 million) fixed-rate note are rated at BBB
and are due in November 2001.  A spokesman for S&P said the
agency was studying the negative factors and might
downgrade the ratings if the situation deteriorated.

Pacific Palisades Funding launched the two asset-backed
bond issues in November 1996 by securitising the rental
income from the Pacific Palisades residential development
in North Point, which has 425 luxury flats.  The listed
arm, Sino Land, owns a 20 per cent interest in the
development, with the balance owned by the family of Sino
chairman Robert Ng Chee Siong.

The agency said the credit-watch rating was the result of
weaker forecast cash flows from Pacific Palisades.  The
interest coverage has dropped significantly since the
credit raising and cash-flow coverage has been below or
only marginally above the cash trap trigger of 1.45 times
for several quarters.

The property's preferred tenant base - Japanese expatriates
who favour the location for its proximity to Japanese
schools and shops - had shrunk, the agency said.  Rental,
car-park and fee revenues from Pacific Palisades are
expected to drop to meet tough market conditions, which
include moderate new supply in the next two years and a
changing tenant base.  Also, approximately 70 units had
been withdrawn for refurbishment, which had led to higher
vacancies, the agency said.

A source from Sino Group said leasing activity had picked
up  because more units had completed refurbishment.  He
said the vacancy rate had dropped and was expected to
continue falling.  S&P said the refurbishment should
enhance leasing activity in the medium term. The
refurbished units should lease out at higher rents and ease
the pressure of rent reversion.

The rating agency said that with completion of the
refurbishment programme and reductions in vacancies, the
interest coverage should improve gradually from 1.24 times
at present to 1.3.  The next two quarters would be very
important and the agency would review its rating if the
expected improvement was not realised, it said.  (South
China Morning Post  09-Nov-1999)

SIMSEN INT'L CORP.: Annual loss widens
--------------------------------------
Metals trader Simsen International Corp's net loss surged
44% to $270.81M after considerable exceptional loss
incurred by a deficit on revaluation of its properties and
provisions for bad and doubtful debts.

Turnover fell 47.5% to $887.66M for the year to April 30
due to falling metal sales and lower profits from its
securities trading business.  During the year under review,
the company made an exceptional loss of $28.09M, which
includes primarily a $40.19M loss on provision for bad and
doubtful debts and a $13.65M loss from deficit on
revaluation of its properties.

The disposal on land and buildings incurred an exceptional
loss of $23.67M for the company while the disposal of
investment properties posted an exceptional loss of
$23.58M.  Loss per share for the company was 22.2 cents, up
from last year's 21.1 cents.  The firm will pay no
dividend.

YINMY FOOTWEAR GROUP: Facing winding up petition
------------------------------------------------
The High Court of Hong Kong SAR has scheduled a hearing for
December 22 on the petition of Lucky Sky International
Limited for the winding up of Yinmy Footwear Group Limited.
A notice of legal appearance must be filed on or before
December 21.


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

DAEWOO GROUP: Overseas units have negative net worth,too
--------------------------------------------------------
The 146 overseas subsidiaries of Daewoo Corp., the
financing and construction arm of the ailing Daewoo Group,
possess debts that surpassed their assets by 2.1 trillion
won, according to the latest audit by the Samil Accounting
firm. The audit revealed that the overseas units of Daewoo
Corp. held assets totaling 8.82 trillion won, compared to
debts amounting to 10.93 trillion won.  Samil plans to
issue a final report after it completes its audit of the
overseas units by year-end.  (Korea Herald  10-Nov-1999,
Digital ChosunIlbo  09-Nov-1999)

DAEWOO GROUP: Employees urge quicker action on workout
------------------------------------------------------
Daewoo Corp.'s staff held a rally yesterday, urging banks
and the government to quickly come up with a definite
workout plan for their company.

They said that the men and women of Daewoo Corp. are
committed to the recovery of their company, so long as
creditors and financial authorities provide final recovery
plans without further delay.  The staff also urged the
government to help them maintain company resources for a
new start in the next millennium by injecting additional
capital.

Daewoo Corp. staff say their firm has served the country as
a trailblazer in the field of international trade for the
last 30 years and that the technical know-how and
experience accumulated over these years will be wasted if
creditors do not come through with a financial bailout for
the company.

Daewoo Corp., a major trading arm of the group, has been
worst hit by the recent liquidity crisis, due to its nature
as a financing unit for other affiliates.  The preliminary
due diligence report stated that Daewoo Corp.'s total bank
liabilities amount to $25 billion, 50 percent of the
group's $50 billion in debts.

The creditors decided to convert $15 billion worth of
Daewoo Corp.'s debts into stocks and convertible bonds.
For the remainder, local banks agreed to freeze repayment
until the end of 2004, while reducing the interest rates.
With a loss ratio confirmed at 75 percent, financial
authorities are considering placing Daewoo Corp. under
court receivership.  (Korea Times, Digital ChosunIlbo  09-
Nov-1999)

LG ELECTRONICS: Bankruptcy sends Zenith into its arms
-----------------------------------------------------
LG Electronics said Tuesday that U.S. home appliance
company Zenith has been handed a bail-out scheduled by
American courts. LG Electronics took over 57.7% of Zenith
for US$355 million back in 1995, but the U.S. firm has been
suffering losses due to poor adaptation to the changing
American business environment.

The total net losses posted by the overseas LG subsidiary
for a three-year period ending at the close of 1998 amount
to US$754 million. LG said it expects the eventual total
amount of losses to be more than US$1 billion. The decision
by the U.S. court will see Zenith delisted from U.S. stock
markets and turned into a fully-owned subsidiary of LG
Electronics.  (Digital ChosunIlbo  09-Nov-1999)


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

NATIONAL STEEL CORP.: Shuts down Philippines operations
-------------------------------------------------------
A Malaysian-owned steel company in the Philippines finally
shut down yesterday after failing to secure fresh
injections of capital to bail itself out of its 15 billion
pesos (RM1.5bil) in debts.

However, the Philippines' Central Bank governor, Rafael
Buenaventura, said the closure of National Steel Corp
(NSC), the country's largest steel firm, would not create
ripples in the local banking sector.  Buenaventura said
NSC's debts would add only an insignificant one percentage
point to the banking industry's non-performing loans.

NSC's shutdown was spurred by moves by its 14 creditor-
banks to foreclose the various assets it had used as
collateral in securing loans over the past years. Among
NSC's biggest lenders were two state-run banks--the
Philippine National Bank (5 billion pesos), and Land Bank
of the Philippines (1.2 billion pesos).

NSC's financial woes were sparked by last year's Asian
currency crisis which triggered the rise in loan interest
rate coupled with slumping sales of its steel products due
to economic recession.

"NSC's creditors will take a hit once they take over the
NSC, but I'm sure they can absorb any losses without
affecting their viability," Buenaventura said, citing the
strong capital base the banks had built up over the years.

He said it would have been a different story had NSC
defaulted on its loans at the height of the regional
foreign exchange crisis.  Buenaventura said most of the
problem loans had already been restructured and it was only
NSC's that had yet to be resolved.  He added that the banks
could still recover their loans from NSC because some of
the company's production lines were still profitable.

"There are many companies keen on buying some manufacturing
parts of NSC," said Buenaventura, citing plants turning out
steel bars, flat products and tinplates.  (Star Online  09-
Nov-1999)


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

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES: US Eximbank finally approves rehab
-------------------------------------------------------
Key lender US Export-Import Bank (Eximbank) has given its
approval to a revival plan for Philippine Airlines (PAL)
after holding out for months against the deal, the carrier
said yesterday.

Eximbank withdrew its opposition to the plan in a motion
filed with the Philippine Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) on October 28, PAL said.  The US bank
relented after getting assurances that the rehabilitation
plan would be undertaken in a transparent manner and that
creditors would be represented in the process, a PAL
statement said.

Eximbank in August withdrew a motion it had filed in a US
bankruptcy court to seize PAL assets. The bank, along with
a group of European export credit agencies, account for
nearly two-thirds of PAL's US$2.2 billion debt.  PAL began
implementing its revival plan in June and the carrier said
that it had achieved modest gains since, stressing that for
the first five months of the current fiscal year to March
2000, its net income hit 174.6 million pesos ($4.36
million), reversing years of losses.

"PAL's performance under rehabilitation was instrumental in
convincing Eximbank that we are capable of turning this
airline around," PAL president Avelino Zapanta said in the
statement.  "The support of Eximbank and our other
creditors is crucial to the success of our recovery
process."

PAL, Asia's oldest airline, temporarily shut down last year
after defaulting on its debts.  (Business Day  09-Nov-1999)

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES: BOI considering fiscal incentives
------------------------------------------------------
The Board of Investments (BoI) is studying the possibility
of extending fiscal incentives to the businesses of
Philippine Airlines, Inc. (PAL) president Lucio Tan that
cater to PAL's non-core business. This is part of the
rehabilitation package for the troubled airline.

Trade and Industry Secretary Jose T. Pardo told reporters
yesterday that Mr. Tan "came over" to the offices of the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to find out if he
can register said these businesses with BoI.

"I think they want to attract investors. An investor
doesn't want to invest in PAL per se," Mr. Pardo said,
noting the Filipino-Chinese business tycoon will need
fiscal perks for his businesses in light of plans to enter
into joint ventures with prospective partners for non-core
PAL businesses like catering, maintenance and engineering,
and cargo and groundhandling services.

Mr. Pardo said the government is extending assistance for
Mr. Tan to spin off "non-allied lines ... so that hopefully
what will stay is just a lean PAL that is viable."

PAL's financial troubles worsened following a labor unrest
that led to a temporary closure of the airline. Mr. Tan
holds a controlling interest in the flag carrier.  The
airline's debts have ballooned to about 90 billion
Philippine pesos (US$2.2 billion at PhP40.095:US$1) partly
due to a refleeting program. The government had to
intervene in addressing the company's woes due to the many
local banks and financial institutions with exposure to the
firm.

"There could be a way where the BoI can provide incentives
to service contracting because they hope to get clients
from abroad that will come here for maintenance," said Mr.
Pardo.

He added there is a need to look closely at the "intrinsic
viability of PAL in an open market... Once you have that
viability, any imposition by government that will affect
the viability, it will be unfair to PAL." This in relation
to continuing government efforts to help resolve the air
policy row with Taiwan.  (Business World  09-Nov-1999)

VICTORIAS MILLING CO.: To seek time to find white knight
--------------------------------------------------------
The management of sugar miller Victorias Milling Co. (VMC)
may soon ask creditor-banks for more lead time to scout for
an investor that will help the company raise 567 million
Philippine pesos (US$14 million at PhP40.095:US$1) in fresh
capital.

A VMC official said management might request the management
committee (Mancom) to allow the company to bring in a new
investor which will help raise the needed PhP567 million
amount despite the lapse of the deadline set under the
rehabilitation plan.  The mancom, made up mostly of VMC's
creditor banks, gave shareholders until last Friday to
raise the needed PhP567 million amount for the purchase of
567 million new shares as required by the rehabilitation
plan.

The VMC official said management hope to discuss the matter
with their creditor banks during the next mancom meeting on
November 15.  In that meeting, the VMC management is
expected to report on efforts to raise the needed cash.
The official said management will still bring the proposal
to the attention of their creditor banks even while they do
not feel confident of securing the banks' approval.

"We'll see on November 15 (Monday) what will happen. They
still might change their mind. The chances may be very slim
but it still is a possibility," the official told
BusinessWorld in a telephone interview yesterday.

The source said VMC's creditor banks may still stick to the
rehabilitation plan which requires that the whole block of
567 million shares be auctioned off to interested investors
if existing shareholders fail to cough up new capital.  The
source said VMC shareholders were only able to raise PhP25
million ($623,500), not PhP22 million ($550,000) as earlier
reported. This amount is PhP542 million ($13.5 million)
short of the required PhP567 million.   However, the
official said they are still talking to prospective
investors who may yet be able to help shareholders raise
the total amount.

"Actually, raising the whole PhP567 million is not really a
problem for us. There are some things we are working on
now. We're still talking to some prospective investors but
all these are exploratory," the official said.

The source partly attributed the failure of shareholders to
raise the needed capital to the refusal of some to raise
money in protest over the rehabilitation plan. Other
shareholders, the official added, simply had no money to
contribute.

"We knew that a lot of them will not be able to subscribe
to all the (567 million) shares. Some of them may not have
the money while the others felt that the terms and
conditions of the rehab plan were not acceptable to them,"
the official said.

BusinessWorld reported yesterday that some shareholders
deliberately refused to raise money. This is in protest to
the VMC management's consent to a provision in the
rehabilitation plan which provides for an "all-or-nothing"
arrangement on the purchase of the 567 million shares.
Industry sources said the VMC management agreed to a
provision which prevents existing VMC stockholders from
exercising their "preemptive rights," a portion of the
rehab plan which the shareholders had stiffly opposed.

Shareholders are able to exercise their preemptive rights
when they are allowed to purchase new shares without having
to buy a whole block of shares offered by a company.  The
exercise of such rights enables shareholders to keep their
present stake from being diluted.  Under the approved
rehabilitation plan, the present shareholders should be
able to raise PhP567 million by purchasing 567 million new
shares.  If they are unable to do so, the mancom will
auction off the entire block to interested investors.  If
this remains unsuccessful, the VMC official said, the
mancom will prepare an alternative rehabilitation plan for
VMC, considered the country's largest sugar mill.

"The consensus is to go on with the bidding. If it fails,
then we will look for other options," the source said. The
official said a new rehabilitation plan will incorporate
the comments of interested investors.  (Business World  09-
Nov-1999)


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

BANGKOK TRANSIT SYSTEM CO.: Appoints debt advisor
-------------------------------------------------
Keeree Kanjanapas, the embattled founding shareholder of
Bangkok Transit System Co (BTSC), has appointed Salomon
Smith Barney as chief adviser to solve his debt problem in
the Bangkok skytrain company, according to people close to
BTSC.

One of Keeree's creditors won last Friday's auction for 265
million BTSC shares.  The sources said Salomon Smith Barney
will arrange financing for Keeree's Tanayong Plc to pay
back Bt4 billion, which is backed by another 248 million
BTSC shares, it owes to CS First Boston.  CS First Boston
won last Friday's auction for the first tranche of 265
million shares and is scheduled to hold another auction for
the second tranche of 248 million shares on Dec 7.

Through the first batch of shares, the creditor bank has
already got hold of 22-23 per cent of BTSC. The second
batch accounts for another 20 per cent of the skytrain
company.  Currently, Tanayong owns 51 per cent of BTSC.
When the first batch of shares is transferred, its holding
will be reduced to 29-30 per cent.  Tanayong yesterday
closed at Bt8.2, down Bt1.60 or 16.33 per cent from the
last close.  The value of the Tanayong stock depends on the
BTSC project since it still has the 29-30 per cent stake.

The Tanayong price also shows that investors might not be
confident that the property firm would be able to find the
money on time to pay back the Bt4 billion it owes to CS
First Boston.  If the debt is not settled before Dec 7,
Tanayong risks losing another 20 per cent of BTSC.
Ekamol Boonyaviroj of Dherakupt Execution Office Co, the
auctioneer of BTSC shares, said if Tanayong paid back the
debt before Dec 7, the auction will be cancelled
automatically.

However, if there are conditions attached, instead of full
payment, it will depend on the creditor whether to accept
the deal.  The auction date will not be moved earlier from
Dec 7, he said.  According to the master plan on the mass
transit system, BTSC has a first right of refusal for
future expansion of the current 23.5 km system. The
extension plan is for a network of 33 km of track.  At this
stage, it remains uncertain if Keeree will still have the
credit to raise the Bt4 billion.

Earlier, he was able to gather about $10 million in hope of
avoiding the Nov 5 auction of the first batch of shares but
the auction still went ahead as Schroder International
Merchant Bank, acting on behalf of the 12 creditors, turned
down Tanayong's proposed partial debt settlement.  After
winning the first batch of 265 million shares, CS First
Boston also announced that the MTR Corporation of Hong
Kong, which had run the subway successfully there for 20
years, will advise on the operation of the Bangkok
skytrain, which is due to open on Dec 5.

Earlier, Keeree tried to delay debt payment until after the
opening date so that the value of BTSC stock will carry a
premium and that he could sell part of his holdings to
cover the repayment.  Until the BTS system starts
operation, some creditors might prefer to sell the stock at
a discount because uncertainties remain. Market sources
said once the BTS starts operating, the stock will likely
carry a premium at Bt25-Bt30, even in the over-the-counter
market, prior to listing on the stock exchange.  (The
Nation  09-Nov-1999)

BAYER THAI CO.: Restructuring includes plant shutdown
-----------------------------------------------------
Bayer Thai Co, a subsidiary of German giant Bayer Group,
yesterday revealed a major restructuring plan which
included permanently shutting down one of its factories and
moving to cancel local production of all pharmaceutical and
over-the-counter consumer-care products.

Bayer's Phrapradaeng plant, built in 1963 for producing
pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter medication such as
Aspirin and animal health products, will be closed down
permanently.  Bayer Thai managing director Alex Foellmer
said the company would import the pharmaceutical products,
while the animal health products manufactured at the
Phrapradaeng facility would be shifted to the other plant
in Bang Pu.

Foellmer said the restructuring programme was part of
Bayer's global strategy to operate fewer manufacturing
sites and focus on greater economy-of-scale production.
During the press conference yesterday, Bayer did not
mention government policy as one reason for its decision to
discontinue its pharmaceutical production in Thailand.
Earlier, however, the company and some other foreign firms
selling pharmaceutical products had complained that they
witnessed a sharp drop in sales following a change in local
regulations concerning procurement of medicines by state-
owned hospitals.

For the animal health business, in particular, the
restructuring is to boost competitiveness in the Thai
market. Foellmer said Bayer's performance in this market
was still lagging behind the global average.  Diethelm
Trading will be awarded contracts to manage warehousing and
physical distribution, as well production of some products
for Bayer's animal health division.

Before the change, Bayer's Phrapradaeng plant produced a
line of medicated premixes, vitamin/mineral products and
feed additives.  According to Foellmer, the Phrapradaeng
plant employed a staff of 25 for animal health production
lines and another 45-48 employees in over-the-counter
product and pharmaceutical activities. Some employees there
had been retired or transferred to Bang Pu. He said Bayer
would now sell the Phrapradaeng assets and talks have
already started with some potential buyers.

Klaus Kowollik, Bayer Thai's manager for the animal health
business group, said the company would begin local
production of insecticides and hygiene products at the Bang
Pu plant from January.  Though Bayer was among the top
three players in the global animal health business with
total sales of US$1 billion in 1998, Foellmer said the
company had underperformed in the Thai market where
competition had been very tough.

Because of the restructuring, Bayer Thai aims to double its
market share here over the next 4-5 years to reach 10 per
cent, the same level that its parent firm has on a
worldwide basis.  Bayer Thai's animal health business
expects its sale turnover to increase from Bt250 million
this year to Bt300 million in the year 2000, and grow by at
least 8 per cent per annum over the next five years.

The division has also set an export target next year of
about 10-15 per cent of its total output of 5,500 tonnes a
year to Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries.
Bayer operates four main businesses in Thailand --
polymers, health-care products (including pharmaceuticals,
consumer care, diagnostics), agriculture (crop protection
and animal health) and chemicals. As part of its
restructuring since 1997, Bayer Thai has appointed Osotspa
Co to distribute over-the-counter products for its
consumer-care business and Zuellig Pharma to handle
distribution of its pharmaceuticals and diagnostics
products.  (The Nation  09-Nov-1999)

CROWN SEAL: Increases capital for debt payment,cash flow
--------------------------------------------------------
Crown Seal Plc's board has approved an increase in the
company's registered capital from Bt260 million to Bt780
million by issuing 52 million new shares to existing
shareholders.

The shares will be floated into two equal tranches. The
first half will be alloted to shareholders who register in
the book by Jan 17, 2000, on a one-to-one basis at Bt10
apiece. The company's board of directors will later decide
when the other half will be issued.

The company, however, expects that the remaining shares
will be offered to shareholders whose name appear in the
registration book in the last quarter of next year.  The
proceeds from the share allocation will be used for debt
restructuring and cashflow purposes.  The recapitalisation
is subject to shareholders' approval, for which the company
has called a shareholders' meeting on Dec 17.  (The Nation
09-Nov-1999)

NAMHENG STEEL CO.: Pulls out of restructuring merger
----------------------------------------------------
Namheng Steel Co, a subsidiary of Asia Cement Co Ltd, has
pulled out of a plan to integrate its operation with those
of three other steel manufacturers.  "As we have made
little progress on debt restructuring, we decided to pull
out [of the plan]," an executive said.

The other three companies-Cementhai Steel, NTS Steel and
Bangkok Steel Industry-said the exit of Namheng would not
affect them.  Wirach Krittapol, Cementhai Steel's managing
director, said the companies remaining aimed to restructure
combined debts of 10 billion baht. They hope to reduce
their overall costs as steel production in Thailand is more
expensive than in other countries.

Each company would make specific products, while all three
would pool resources to get better deals on raw materials
and export contracts.  The three companies now produce
800,000 tons of steel products a year.  (Bangkok Post  09-
Nov-1999)

SCB MUNKHONG 5 FUND: Posts nine-month loss
------------------------------------------
SCB Munkhong 5 Fund posted nine-month losses of 30.8m baht,
compared with losses of 212.17m last year. Q3 losses were
22.6m baht, down from 110.67m last year. Results are
reviewed. (Bangkok Post  09-Nov-1999)

SIAM STEEL INT'L: Divests its stake in Siam Hi-Tech
---------------------------------------------------
Siam Steel International Plc, which is rehabilitating its
businesses under the bankruptcy law, said that the company
has disposed 20 per cent shareholding in Siam Hi-Tech Ltd
for Bt24 million. The transaction was executed on Oct 20.
The sale would benefit SSI because it has avoided the
possible burden of injecting additional capital into Siam
Hi-Tech.  (The Nation  09-Nov-1999)

SINO THAI ENG.& CONST.: Agmt in principle reached on debts
----------------------------------------------------------
SINO-Thai Engineering and Construction Plc's creditors have
agreed in principle to the company's Bt2.7 billion debt
restructuring plan, featuring equity and asset swaps as
well as issuance of debentures.

In a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand, it said
restructuring conditions for the remaining Bt1.7 billion
debts had yet to be settled.  Under the agreement, around
30 per cent of the company's outstanding debts would be
converted into equity. The company will repay Bt1.18
billion through assets swap and the issuance of debentures
worth Bt350 million.

Stecon's debt negotiations with creditors took place under
the supervision of the Corporate Debt Restructuring
Advisory Committee.  The statement did not disclose further
details regarding recapitalisation, such as the amount of
capital to be raised and the size of stake to be taken by
its creditors through equity swap.  Stecon will today
convene a press conference on details of the plan.

In a seperate deal, Stecon's subsidiary Shino-Thai
Resources Development Plc (STRD) said its board of
directors had approved the signing of a debt-restructuring
deal with its creditor, Siam Commercial Bank.  After
contract-signing, the bank will grant the company a new
long-term loan worth Bt185.98 million with STRD pledging
its machinery and property as collateral to the bank.
However, STRD did not disclose further details of the plan
or the amount of debts to be restructured.

STRD is a mining company in which Shino-Thai Engineering
holds a major stake of 51 per cent.  The company's board,
meanwhile, has approved a four-year business rehabilitation
plan to improve its financial situation and prevent its
securities from delisting by the stock exchange. STRD faces
possible delisting because of poor financial result.

As part of the plan, its core businesses remain offshore
tin mining and ore drilling. It will concentrate on cost-
reduction, production capacity improvement, customer base
expansion, disposal of its non-core businesses and adding
value to products.  The rehabilitation plan will be
proposed to the company's shareholders on Dec 14.
Stecon share price rose Bt1 to close at Bt14.50 after the
debt-restructuring agreement was released. An analyst at
Philips Securities Co Ltd, however, attributed the rise to
speculation, instead of fundamentals.

Despite the success in debt restructuring, the analyst
recommended that investors should unload Stecon shares
because its business prospects remained dim compared to
Italian-Thai Development Plc and Ch Karnchang Plc.
Besides, Stecon may soon be threatened by the regulator if
it posted continuous losses, said the analyst.  Stecon's
results for the first half-year showed a net loss of
Bt168.02 million, compared to Bt344.36 million in net
profit over the same period last year.  (The Nation,
Business Day  09-Nov-1999)

THAI OLEFINS CO.: PTT seeking strategic partners for
----------------------------------------------------
THE Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) is seeking
strategic partners to get funds to jump-start the stalled
expansion of its petrochemical subsidiary Thai Olefins Co,
its governor said.

PTT governor Viset Choopiban said the state-owned oil and
gas company is concentrating on a plan to restructure Thai
Olefins' debts and the debts of another subsidiary
Aromatics (Thailand) Plc. Thai Olefins wants to expand
through a de-bottlenecking process to achieve economy-of-
scale in production.

Siam Cement Group has been pushing PTT to help strengthen
the domestic petrochemical industry by divesting itself of
Thai Olefins and merging its loss-making olefins operation
with other producers. But the PTT governor said merger and
acquisition is not a major concern of PTT now.  Viset said
PTT would not get a reasonable return if it sold its stake
in the two petrochemical subsidiaries now.

Nevertheless, Viset did not rule out the possibility of PTT
merging its upstream petrochemical operation with Siam
Cement or another group in the future.  PTT is attracted to
the potential growth of the petrochemical business, which
PTT considered not too tough to manage in the long-run. The
petroleum authority is also awaiting results from its
adviser who is reviewing the potential for it to promote
petrochemical as a core businesses, he added.

PTT operates aromatics and olefins plants and natural gas
separation units, and holds stakes in four of Thailand's
six oil refineries. It is considered an important player in
the upstream section of the Thai petrochemical industry,
though most of the units are facing a heavy loss.  Viset
said 15 creditors of Thai Olefins have agreed in principal
to restructure the firm's US$440 million debts which
includes US$40 million in short-term loans.

Under the plan, Thai Olefins would have to raise its
registered capital by US$75 million from Bt7.2 billion at
present.  Aromatics (Thailand)'s negotiations with
creditors led by Sanwa Bank have progressed. Many creditors
agreed to the US$401 million debt restructuring proposal
which include an agreement for the banks to provide
additional loans of US$120 million to aid the company's
operation and its interest payment due next year.

But one major creditor, Korean's export credit agency,
opposes the plan.  Viset said he expects petrochemical
prices to rebound next year.  Last month, Siam Cement Group
and Bangkok Bank's petrochemical group announced separate
plans to restart stalled expansion for their petrochemical
plants. The Siam Cement's Bt7 billion investment plan for
its petrochemical unit, ended to the conglomerate's policy
suspending projects that had been in effect since economic
turmoil began in mid-1997.  (The Nation  09-Nov-1999)


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