Daily news - 7 Oct

SPH to sell stake in Hong Kong publisher
Singapore Press Holdings – Said yesterday it will sell most of its stake in a Hong Kong publisher. Through its wholly owned indirect subsidiary Magazines Incorporated, SPH will sell 80% of its stake in MI Publishing (MIHK) to Sing Tao Holdings (BVI). Magazines Inc is a wholly owned subsidiary of SPH Magazines. SPH did not say how much it will be paid for the stake. SPH said the consideration will be 80% of the net asset value of the entire share capital and will be determined in the completion accounts to be finalised on or around Nov 15. The shares will be transferred to Sing Tao Holdings, which owns media company Sing Tao News Corp, when conditions under a sale-and-purchase agreement are fulfilled, SPH said. MIHK will no longer be a subsidiary of SPH but will remain an associate. After completion of the transaction, MIHK will continue to publish The Peak Hong Kong under a publishing licence arrangement with SPH Magazines, SPH said. The divestment is not expected to have a material impact on SPH's earnings or net tangible assets per share for the financial year ending Aug 31, 2009.

S'pore banks' financial profile strong: Fitch
Singapore Banks – Fitch Ratings said yesterday that while extreme financial market turmoil and the recent failure of some large Western banks has resulted in a crisis of confidence among banks globally, the financial profile of Singapore banks still remains sufficiently strong to maintain their high credit ratings. While liquidity is the key issue plaguing most banks in the current market environment, Singapore banks are relatively safe in this regard with a strong diversified funding base, and with sticky retail deposits constituting a large proportion of their funding sources. Besides the banks' healthy financial conditions, the strong regulatory environment gives further comfort to depositors, and historically renewal rates on customer deposits have been high, Fitch said.

Swiber seals US$7.3m tug charter contract
Swiber Holdings – Has sealed a charter contract, worth about US$7.3m, for one of its tugs in Vietnam. The contract starts in mid-October for six months and includes options for two additional six-month extensions.

Source: Kim Eng