Daily news - 29 Jul

F&N sells China property unit for $201m
Fraser and Neave (F&N) said yesterday that it has sold a unit that is developing a hotel and residential villas in China. Subsidiary Frasers Centrepoint sold its full interest in Hong Kong-incorporated Metro Charm Holdings for about $201 million. Metro Charm holds all of the equity in a development company based in Hainan. This unnamed company is working on a hotel and villa project with a book value of $128 million. F&N said that the sale is in line with its focus on property development in selected key cities in China. Payment will be in cash and in two tranches, it said. The sale is not expected to have a material effect on the group's net tangible assets per share in the current financial year. F&N reported a net profit of $64.3 million for the second quarter ended March 31, down 33.5 per cent from a year ago.

ST Engg unit bags another rail project in Guangzhou
Singapore Technologies Engineering's subsidiary ST Electronics has won another mass rapid transit project in Guangzhou, China, taking the tally to six. It will supply platform screen doors for the Guangzhou-Foshan Line (GFL) that will run 32.3km from Kuiqi Station in Foshan to Lijiao station in Guangdong province. ST Electronics will design and supply equipment and software, and install, test and commission 42 sets of doors spanning 21 stations. The doors are a safety barrier to the tracks and synchronise with the opening of train doors. The contract, awarded by Guangzhou Metro Corporation and Foshan Metro Corporation, is worth 53.6 million yuan (S$11.3 million). Work is expected to be completed by the second half of 2010. 'ST Electronics is delighted to be awarded another project in Guangzhou,' said company president Seah Moon Ming. 'It reflects our customers' confidence in the quality, safety and cost-effectiveness of our rail electronics solutions.' ST Electronics was recently awarded contracts to supply an automatic fare collection system for Bangkok's Mass Transit System's Silom Line extension and a train communications system for Hong Kong's Mass Transit Railway (MTR).

STATS ChipPAC's Q2 net dives 90%
STATS ChipPAC yesterday reported a near 90 per cent year-on-year drop in second-quarter net profit to US$2.2 million. But business conditions are now on the mend, it says. For the corresponding second quarter last year, the group - which is majority owned by Singapore investment company Temasek Holdings - raked in a net profit of US$22.1 million before the onset of the US-led downturn crimped demand for electronics and computer products. STATS ChipPAC's revenue for the April-June quarter slid to US$320.7 million, down 26.1 per cent from US$434.1 million in 2008. Q2 earnings per share was flat, compared with one US cent a year earlier. On a sequential basis, Q2's revenue increased 45.4 per cent from the first quarter. 'Our second quarter revenue reflected improved business conditions as we benefited from the rebound in demand for our services from the restocking of inventories by our customers and the launch of new products,' said Tan Lay Koon, president and chief executive of STATS ChipPAC. The US continues to be the group's revenue lynchpin, accounting for 76.2 per cent of Q2 sales. Asia contributed 19.9 per cent while Europe accounted for the remaining 3.9 per cent.

Source: Kim Eng