SingTel    Last:3.79    +0.03

Thailand Problems

Singtel doing well today.

However, the TA charts show that its on a downtrend now. So be cautious....

 

Wondering why, when, how, where, and what has happen to Temasek got into all this mess of all Thai problems?. Temasek/Shin problem  heard over radi-o been pass down or up to policeman to handle.

 

Thaksin lots of problems!! oso Thai problems and oso Temasek have problems, so who they going to Thai court to see the problems, a he or a she??.

 

Temasek no problems, Thaksin lots of problems!!

 

I wonder what they will do if they conclude that Temasek's deal has problems.

 

Monday October 2, 8:22 PM
Thai probe turns up heat on Temasek's Shin deal By Khettiya Jittapong

BANGKOK, Oct 2 (Reuters) - A Thai Commerce Ministry probe has found that Singapore state investment arm Temasek's [TEM.UL] purchase of Thailand's biggest telecoms firm might have broken foreign ownership laws, and the case was now in the hands of the police, an official said on Monday.



The investigation centred on Kularb Kaew, a holding company set up as part of Temasek's $3.8 billion purchase of Shin Corp from the family of now-deposed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in January.



Non-Thais have in the past been able to control Thai affiliates through chains of holding companies, but the tax-free nature of the Shin sale -- and then the coup against Thaksin -- forced unprecedented scrutiny of the deal.



At the heart of the matter lies the question of whether Kularb Kaew, which is controlled by a Malaysia-based Thai who was a partner in the Shin deal, is a Thai company or a Temasek proxy.



"We have found some evidence, especially the way Kularb Kaew transferred money to buy Shin Corp, which might go against Clause 36 of the Alien Business Law," Dusit Uchupong, deputy director general at the ministry's Business Development Department, told reporters.



Given that the Commerce Ministry has no legal jurisdiction, the panel's findings have been forwarded to the police, he added.



"The ball is in hands of the police. Our department has no authority to decide whether the laws were violated or not," he said.



A spokesperson for Kularb Kaew said it had not received formal notification of the Ministry's review.



"We've complied fully with all the laws and regulations in Thailand and will continue to cooperate fully with the Thai authorities, as we have been doing," the spokesperson said.



COMPLEX DEAL

Thai nationals are prohibited from "holding shares for" or assisting foreign nationals in ways that would enable foreign nationals to circumvent the laws.



Under Thai law, proxies of foreign firms face a three-year jail term and/or a fine of up to 1 million baht ($27,000) if found guilty of owning more than 49 percent of a Thai company.



A preliminary Commerce Ministry inquest has already ruled Kularb Kaew a non-Thai firm.



Shin Corp, which has major interests in Advanced Info Services , Thailand's largest mobile phone firm, was acquired through several affiliates of Temasek.



Under the complicated structure of the deal, Shin is 96.29 percent owned by two registered Thai firms, Cedar Holdings, with 54.53 percent, and Aspen Holdings, with 41.76 percent.



Aspen is owned directly by a Temasek subsidiary. Cedar is 49 percent-owned by Cypress Holdings, another Temasek subsidiary.



Unlisted Kularb Kaew owns 45.2 percent of Cedar, and Siam Commercial Bank PCL has 5.8 percent.



Surin Upatkul, the Malaysia-based Thai businessman who owns 68 percent of Kularb Kaew and who is now a Shin Corp director, has denied acting on behalf of Temasek.



Thai officials have not yet said what they would do if Kularb Kaew is found to be a Temasek proxy, though chief telecoms regulator Choochart Promphrasid said in August AIS would face legal action. ($1 = 37.59 Baht)

 

Should be able to recover soon, as all doubts have been cleared.  The King has stated his stand and the Singtel has also announced the CEO.

 

CMIB recommendation maintain trading buy, with a some-of-the- parts target price of $2.77.

Ms Chua Sock Koong (CFO) is oso CEO of Int'l Division, which spear heads strategic investments oversea & handles oversea associates. SingTel will likely maintain its strategy of investing in Asia. Bloomberg reported that Ms Chua expected to make "sensible investment" oversea, including developing market, building on LSY strategy.   

 

Bad investment. Lose money, sell before it goes down.

 

Dealers said that, with the coup having triggered a sell-off of the baht and with the Thai stockmarket closed today, investors were hedging against the possibility of AIS's share price weakening as a result of the political situation in Thailand.



"The outlook for AIS does look uncertain until the political situation clears up," said Macquarie analyst Ramakrishna Maruvada.



He estimates that AIS accounts for $0.16 of SingTel's share valuation. Macquarie estimates that AIS will account for about 6% of SingTel's earnings in the year ending next March.

 

Fell to a three-month low on fears that the military coup in Bangkok will hurt earnings of its 20%-owned Advanced Info Service (AIS)  -- Thailand's top mobile firm.



But, one dealer said SingTel's selldown was just a "knee-jerk reaction. The big picture still holds, SingTel is still profitable and making money overseas," the dealer said. "Thailand will ultimately recover."



AIS is majority owned by Shin Corp, ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's company which is now controlled by Temasek Holdings.

 

So die la ! After the Optus loss and now Sharkfin's share also liao la !

 

Singtel fell today on high volume... i guess its affected by the political situation there? It has a heavy stake in Thaksin's telco there.