Daily news - 20 Mar

A routine clause and not a cash call: Sembcorp
SembCorp Industries' seeking of a share issue mandate at its upcoming annual general meeting (AGM) is an annual affair not to be interpreted as a disclosure that the company is currently embarking on a rights issue. The Temasek-linked company said this yesterday in a swift response to a report that it was seeking a cash call. The response also came on a day when Sembcorp shares took a hard knock. 'With reference to the Dow Jones report this morning that the company is seeking a rights issue at its upcoming annual general meeting, the company would like to clarify that every year at its AGM, it seeks shareholders' approval for a share issue mandate as permitted by the Companies Act and the SGX Listing Rules. In this year's notice of the 11th Annual General Meeting, the company has similarly included a resolution on the matter,' Sembcorp said in a morning announcement to the Singapore Exchange (SGX) after halting trading in its shares from 1040am to 1130am yesterday.

Parkway settles suit with ex-employee
Parkway Holdings has settled a lawsuit with an ex-employee, who was suing the firm for about $2.1 million. Qwek Koo, a former senior marketing manager, had alleged that the company owed him incentive payments for referring patients from the Middle East to its hospitals. He claimed that under the terms of his contract, he was entitled to 3 per cent of the bills of in-patient and day-surgery patients referred by him. He alleged that he was paid four times from October 2005 to May 2006 - which totalled $26,700 - but was not paid for the months leading up to March 2007 when Parkway halted the scheme. Mr Qwek also claimed that part of his marketing work was to identify and promote the company's stem-cell transport services to United Arab Emirates (UAE) residents with a blood disease known as thalassemia major. This was in addition to health exhibitions and presentations to UAE health authorities, he alleged. These warranted the incentive payment that formed a clause in his contract, he said.

Source: Kim Eng