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In times like this, it is that there is little or no trade - since most are long-term investors in the business.
SINGAPORE, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Singapore's Asiatic Group (ATIC.SI: Quote, Profile, Research) is in talks with up to five parties to build small scale renewable power plants in Southeast Asia, and sees opportunities amid the economic downturn to acquire cheap assets.
"I foresee that Asiatic will be going regional -- we're looking at countries like Malaysia, even Singapore where there is potential -- if there are opportunities we will come in," Asiatic's managing director George Tan told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.
The engineering and energy firm, which started out as a distributor of pumps and then moved into marine firefighting, now wants to focus on renewable plants in the region where it sees higher demand on rising GDP, population growth and urbanisation.
"Energy consumption across Asia has had tremendous growth. In the frontier countries they are all short of power at this stage and there is a lot of calling for investors into these countries," Tan said.
Asiatic won a $475 million contract to supply power to an economic zone in Cambodia in late June for a 99-year period and also secured a joint contract to build and operate a 44 megawatt hydroelectric plant in Vietnam in July.
Due to the long-term nature of these projects, Tan said financial market turmoil was unlikely to hurt Asiatic due to the recurring revenue. In fact, he said, the economic downturn could even provide acquisition opportunites.
If there's a good plant we might gain from this financial crisis by acquiring them and take advantage of this sort of opportunities. It makes sense to acquire these projects."
The group has completed the construction of two heavy fuel power plants in Cambodia but wants to build more hydropower, wind or biomass plants. Its energy division now provides 56 percent of revenue, up from about nine percent in 2006.
Tan said Asiatic, which has a market cap of $21 million, has a bright profit outlook, but he declined to give figures.
Shares in Asiatic, which listed in 2003, were unchanged by 0828 GMT, against a 2.3 percent fall in the benchmark Singapore index .FTSTI. Its shares have risen nine percent this year, versus a 31 percent fall in the wider index. (Editing by Neil Chatterjee)
Hi all;
Very little trade done ; (No trade done) this trade not done in the market but on 'marriage deal,' can't even smell the price!!
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2007/09/06/afx4087521.html
Terence, share this article with you. Asiatic proxy to Cambodia stable economic progress...
calm during the week's storm.
Also it is a vote of confidence for the conversion. There is still plenty of room for Asiatic to increase its market capital through growth in NTA and shares holding. 
Terence, Good or bad ?
The Company wishes to announce that D.B. Zwirn Mauritius Trading Limited and D.B. Zwirn Mauritius Trading No. 3 Limited, in accordance with the terms of the Bond Subscription Agreement, has exercised its right to convert S$600,000 (S$400,000 and S$200,000 respectively) in value of the 6th tranche of Bonds with an aggregate value of S$1,000,000, issued by the Company on 1 November 2007 into 6,172,839 (4,115,226 and 2,057,613 respectively) new shares of the Company at the conversion price of $0.0972 for each new share.
The 6,172,839 new shares in the Company, will be listed and quoted on the Catalist. The new shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing shares of the Company in issue.
Following the issue of the 6,172,839 new shares in the Company, the number of issued and paid-up ordinary shares of the Company will be increased to 243,521,542 ordinary shares.
Arising from the issuance of the Converted Shares, the EPS and NTA per ordinary share of the Company, based on the latest announcement on the results for the financial year ended 31 March 2008, would have been 1.45 cents instead of 1.47 cents and 9.72 cents instead of 9.72 cents respectively.
For and on behalf of the Board
Tan Boon Kheng
Managing Director
8 September 2008
something brewing ....
Any good news ? so strong....
Well-said. All the ingredients are there for "accelerated growth" - this year's theme. Sound and deep-rooted management, growing economy with growing demand for energy, delivers results year after year, reward investors, no short-cut in transforming the business....
well, if you look at the AR of asiatic, there isn't much of a worry, except for the convertible bonds thing; hope it isn't one of those death spiral issues. >~< Would anyone be able to give an opinion on that?
o/w, i think the writer either has never been to Cambodia before, or holds some prejudice against the country. His remarks strike me as being rather flippant. Speaking as someone who's backpacked Cambodia (the arc from Siem Reap all the way south to Sihanoukville), this is a young country akin to Singapore in the 1950s-60s. Is it messy? Sure. But there's also tremendous growth and youth and potential there. Why else would Thai businessmen be flocking to the country for deals in hotels, etcetc?
Yea, they may be B grade in investment terms, but their rate of growth is phenomenal. And really, if you look at it globally, countries like the US are rated AAA investment grade, but who's in the doldrums now?
The fact remains that the time now is Asia's. Not the US, not Europe. Asiatic is in the essential infrastructure industry. Which is exactly what growing countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos need. For these countries, the current global slowdown is just temporary. Would anyone say, for instance, that China's growth will stop just because of this and the next year?
Oh and btw, the best carbonara pasta I had was in Phnom Penh.
It came proper with a half-cracked raw egg in the shell. And the service was impeccable: They switched the sides of my sister's cutlery because they noticed that she's left-handed. Even very few five-star hotels here are so observant. This, from a roadside cafe.
It's a country often looked down upon by richer nations, even Singaporeans, since most would not want to visit the country. But if you're there, and you get the sense of possibility in the air, the derring-do of the people, most of whom are so very young, you'll know why, as a businessman, you'd choose to take a risk and put your money there.