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S-Chip

In today's Straits Times, pg B15:

"Most S-chips pass scrutiny: SGX"

 

 

 

How to ensure your picks are part of those 80%?




80% of S-chips’ bank balances verified by auditors: SGX

Written by The Edge Singapore

Tuesday, 23 June 2009 07:33

The bank balances of 80% of S-chips have been verified by auditors, said the Singapore Exchange (SGX). “They [auditors] have extended their audit procedures, including wider sampling of accounts receivable, and more cases of visiting banks to obtain direct source confirmation of bank balances,” said SGX in a note on recent measures taken to uphold listing standards and strengthen corporate governance. The SGX yesterday also said it is looking to tighten corporate governance rules including raising the standards of issue managers, chief financial officers and directors. Newly-listed companies will come under increased scrutiny, it added.

 

S-chip becomes Super cheap now.

 

Huh, it is such a good news to let my entering price around the bottom. It should be "V" shape recovery for such stocks (especially for China related penny stocks) though the global economic experiencing "W" shape recovery.

Alligator      ( Date: 22-May-2009 05:41) Posted: Published May 22, 2009 S-CHIPS Little cheer, few surprises on S-chips' earnings front 95 China-based firms' combined net profits slump 52%; analysts wary of more weakness By LYNETTE KHOO Email this article Print article Feedback SO, the analysts got it right this time, at least with the earnings of S-chips. A bright spot: Yanlord Gardens in Shanghai. Yanlord's net profit more than doubled to $24.27 million for Q1'09 from $9.31 million for the previous corresponding quarter In line with projections of a double-digit slump, the combined net profits for 95 S-chips - China-based companies listed in Singapore - that reported their results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 tumbled 51.8 per cent from a year ago. Analysts are expecting further weakness in the seasonally slower second quarter. The total net profit of these S-chips during the quarter was $436.72 million, more than half the level of $905.26 million in the same quarter last year. It was a mixed bag of results as some went through a rough patch while for others, it was business as usual. A quarter of these companies were in the red, of which 19 were in the black a year ago. About 42 companies posted lower profits. Still holding up are about 25 companies which reported higher earnings from a year ago, among the 69 S-chips that stayed in the black. Given the shortage of bright spots on the earnings front, there hasn't been a major re-rating of S-chips. And where earnings are looking up, analysts are assessing the governance aspect of these companies. CIMB-GK analyst Ho Choon Seng noted that the fall in earnings 'is not unexpected as most companies were hit by the same problems'. Some chemical fibre companies and retail plays sang the same dreary tunes of dwindling sales and depressed selling prices. Among them, China Sky Chemical Fibre Co swung to a net loss of $12.9 million from a net profit of $36.28 million and Sino Techfibre recorded a net loss of $8.06 million compared with a net profit of $26.77 million. China Hongxing's net profit for the first quarter slid 50.9 per cent to $12.44 million, thanks to lower sales and product discounts, while Pine Agritech swung into a net loss of $5.02 million from a net profit of $15.58 million a year ago. Cosco Corp's net profit plummeted 60.5 per cent year on year to $33.15 million dragged by lower charter rates for dry bulk shipping and the lower profit contributions from the ship-repair, shipbuilding and marine engineering business. But defying industry trends, Yangzijiang turned in a 30 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit to 483.3 million yuan (S$103.2 million) on a 23 per cent rise in revenue to 2.09 billion yuan, and kept its gross profit margin above 20 per cent, taking a lift from the construction of larger vessels at the group's new yard. Bolstered by higher selling prices for its high-end projects, Yanlord Land Group's net profit more than doubled to $24.27 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 from $9.31 million for the previous corresponding quarter. Also showing resilience was China Fishery, whose net profit put on 8.2 per cent to US$43.7 million on the back of higher sales. This triggered a 'buy' call from DMG & Partners Securities in anticipation of its long-term growth potential. Alan Lok, director at Sabio Global, noted that S-chips come under two different tiers - those with exposure to overseas markets and those that rely on domestic consumption. Unfortunately, the profiles of the S-chips here mostly fall under the first group, with main export markets being the United States and Europe. The second group of S-chips, however, has held up well but 'the risk is we don't know how long China's consumer market can sustain this kind of results', Mr Lok said. Henderson Global Investors fund manager Andrew Mattock noted that industrial activity in China has picked up and this could benefit mid-caps with domestic exposure. There are also tentative signs that the Chinese residential property market may be bottoming out, as transaction volumes in major cities continue to increase. But he is wary of some export-driven industries, which are dependent on a pick-up in global demand. Given the shortage of bright spots on the earnings front, there hasn't been a major re-rating of S-chips. And where earnings are looking up, analysts are assessing the governance aspect of these companies. CIMB-GK research head Kenneth Ng has, for instance, noted that China Sky could return to marginal profitability in the second quarter. But 'the weak environment, the cash burn and a share overhang from the revelation that CEO Huang Zhong Xuan has pledged his 19 per cent stake in the company are reasons for a negative position on the stock', he said, cutting his rating from 'neutral' to 'underperform'. Kim Eng analyst James Koh said he expects earnings per share of S-chips to be flat, compared with last year. While some economic indicators in China seem to suggest that things are picking up, fundamental positive developments 'should likely still be industry and company specific rather than broad-based', he added.

 

Just paste this for follow-up Today 19 May 09.

 

 

True...S Cheat companies have to come up with better gimmicks to draw investors...

 

Published May 22, 2009

S-CHIPS

Little cheer, few surprises on S-chips' earnings front 95 China-based firms' combined net profits slump 52%; analysts wary of more weakness By LYNETTE KHOO Email this article Print article Feedback SO, the analysts got it right this time, at least with the earnings of S-chips. A bright spot: Yanlord Gardens in Shanghai. Yanlord's net profit more than doubled to $24.27 million for Q1'09 from $9.31 million for the previous corresponding quarter In line with projections of a double-digit slump, the combined net profits for 95 S-chips - China-based companies listed in Singapore - that reported their results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 tumbled 51.8 per cent from a year ago. Analysts are expecting further weakness in the seasonally slower second quarter. The total net profit of these S-chips during the quarter was $436.72 million, more than half the level of $905.26 million in the same quarter last year. It was a mixed bag of results as some went through a rough patch while for others, it was business as usual. A quarter of these companies were in the red, of which 19 were in the black a year ago. About 42 companies posted lower profits. Still holding up are about 25 companies which reported higher earnings from a year ago, among the 69 S-chips that stayed in the black. Given the shortage of bright spots on the earnings front, there hasn't been a major re-rating of S-chips. And where earnings are looking up, analysts are assessing the governance aspect of these companies. CIMB-GK analyst Ho Choon Seng noted that the fall in earnings 'is not unexpected as most companies were hit by the same problems'. Some chemical fibre companies and retail plays sang the same dreary tunes of dwindling sales and depressed selling prices. Among them, China Sky Chemical Fibre Co swung to a net loss of $12.9 million from a net profit of $36.28 million and Sino Techfibre recorded a net loss of $8.06 million compared with a net profit of $26.77 million. China Hongxing's net profit for the first quarter slid 50.9 per cent to $12.44 million, thanks to lower sales and product discounts, while Pine Agritech swung into a net loss of $5.02 million from a net profit of $15.58 million a year ago. Cosco Corp's net profit plummeted 60.5 per cent year on year to $33.15 million dragged by lower charter rates for dry bulk shipping and the lower profit contributions from the ship-repair, shipbuilding and marine engineering business. But defying industry trends, Yangzijiang turned in a 30 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit to 483.3 million yuan (S$103.2 million) on a 23 per cent rise in revenue to 2.09 billion yuan, and kept its gross profit margin above 20 per cent, taking a lift from the construction of larger vessels at the group's new yard. Bolstered by higher selling prices for its high-end projects, Yanlord Land Group's net profit more than doubled to $24.27 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 from $9.31 million for the previous corresponding quarter. Also showing resilience was China Fishery, whose net profit put on 8.2 per cent to US$43.7 million on the back of higher sales. This triggered a 'buy' call from DMG & Partners Securities in anticipation of its long-term growth potential. Alan Lok, director at Sabio Global, noted that S-chips come under two different tiers - those with exposure to overseas markets and those that rely on domestic consumption. Unfortunately, the profiles of the S-chips here mostly fall under the first group, with main export markets being the United States and Europe. The second group of S-chips, however, has held up well but 'the risk is we don't know how long China's consumer market can sustain this kind of results', Mr Lok said. Henderson Global Investors fund manager Andrew Mattock noted that industrial activity in China has picked up and this could benefit mid-caps with domestic exposure. There are also tentative signs that the Chinese residential property market may be bottoming out, as transaction volumes in major cities continue to increase. But he is wary of some export-driven industries, which are dependent on a pick-up in global demand. Given the shortage of bright spots on the earnings front, there hasn't been a major re-rating of S-chips. And where earnings are looking up, analysts are assessing the governance aspect of these companies. CIMB-GK research head Kenneth Ng has, for instance, noted that China Sky could return to marginal profitability in the second quarter. But 'the weak environment, the cash burn and a share overhang from the revelation that CEO Huang Zhong Xuan has pledged his 19 per cent stake in the company are reasons for a negative position on the stock', he said, cutting his rating from 'neutral' to 'underperform'. Kim Eng analyst James Koh said he expects earnings per share of S-chips to be flat, compared with last year. While some economic indicators in China seem to suggest that things are picking up, fundamental positive developments 'should likely still be industry and company specific rather than broad-based', he added.

 

Published May 22, 2009

S-CHIPS

Governance: S-chips not inferior to small caps By LYNETTE KHOO Email this article Print article Feedback S-CHIPS have been the epicentre of recent corporate scandals but they are not inferior to other small caps when it comes to corporate governance, a study shows. Prof Mak: To build trust and confidence, S-chips may need to do more than what other small firms do They had similar scores on governance and transparency to non-Chinese listings with a market cap of less than $50 million or below $300 million. But S-chips are more likely to have busy directors sitting on their boards. These facts emerged after a more in-depth study by NUS Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting Centre (CGFRC) on the Governance and Transparency Index (GTI). The GTI database contains 136 S-chips as some companies may not have released an updated annual report at the time of scoring. Each firm can score up to 100 points in the core corporate governance (CG) index. The mean CG score for 136 S-chips was 36.89, close to the mean score of 36.52 among 300 non-Chinese listings with a market cap of less than $50 million, and not far away from the mean score of 37.26 among 453 non-Chinese listings with a market cap below $300 million. All three categories of companies have the same median score of 37. Similarly, there were no major statistical differences on how S-chips scored on board matters compared to small non-Chinese listings with a market cap of less than $50 million or those below $300 million. Under board matters, S-chips have a mean score of 13.52 versus 13.43 for non-Chinese listings below $50 million in market cap, and 13.8 for those below market cap of $300 million. In areas of 'remuneration' and 'accountability and audit', S-chips also scored similarly as the typical small caps, with the same median score of 5 and 11 respectively. S-chips scored a higher mean of 7.79 for transparency and investor relationships, compared to non-Chinese small caps with market values below $50 million that scored a mean of 7.76, but still lower than the mean of 8.12 among non-Chinese stocks with a market cap below $300 million. But in most categories of the GTI, the maximum scores of S-chips tend to be lower than other small caps. The GTI scores do not capture the robustness of the business model, the governance and management 'culture', ethics, and of course the economic conditions. Some 47.8 per cent of S-chips have at least one busy director (holding at least six directorships), while the proportion of other small caps with such board profile is about 37 per cent. Those with 'busy' directors include China Aviation Oil, China Essence, China Sky, China Yongsheng and Ocean International. 'To build trust and confidence, particularly amidst the problems involving a disproportionate number of S-chips, S-chips may need to do more - not just do as much as the other smaller companies,' said Mak Yuen Teen, co-director of CGFRC and regional research director for Asia-Pacific at Watson Wyatt. Prof Mak noted that the biggest change needed may be a mindset change on the part of controlling shareholders to set the tone from the top and to welcome good independent directors (IDs) who are truly able to contribute and challenge their thinking. 'I think trying to get one very good ID would be a good start, and this ID should be given an instrumental role . . . to try to bring about culture change and improvements in those other areas,' he added. 'But the reality is that better directors will need convincing to sit on S-chip boards.' Market talk has it that some S-chips that have fallen into negative spotlight have difficulties in getting new directors on board. A case in point is Zhonghui Holdings, which defaulted on a loan and where special accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers found an advance payment of 50 million yuan (S$10.7 million) for an acquisition made without board approval. Its last ID quit last month, citing difficulty in discharging his duty due to a lack of accurate, timely and complete information from management. No replacements have been appointed so far. 'Companies need to examine who are the members of the audit committee and whether they have the time to make that commitment because they need the time and effort to continually educate the companies on corporate governance,' said Robson Lee, partner at Shook Lin & Bok LLP. But Mr Lee, who sits on board seven listed companies including Youcan and Qian Hu as an ID, noted that 'busy' is a relative thing. It is more important that companies bring in directors with the experience of dealing with Chinese companies and an understanding of their culture and way of doing things, instead of a novice who may not add value to the company, he said.

 

Published May 22, 2009

S-chips gain weight as market powers ahead Fewer margin calls now but the trick is to separate winners from black sheep By LYNETTE KHOO Email this article Print article Feedback (SINGAPORE) S-chips or Chinese listings have seen their market values increase, but analysts are holding back their re-ratings of these stocks as they have largely been driven by the broader market momentum - with uncertainties in the sector still persisting. 'Investors need to be vigilant still, though the general upturn of the market should reduce the margin calls from pledged shares,' said CIMB-GK analyst Ho Choon Seng. Year-to-date, the combined market caps of 149 S-chips grew 19.8 per cent to $29.14 billion. The Prime Partners China Index surged 25 per cent from the start of this year to 77.1 points yesterday and the FTSE ST China Index put on 17.7 per cent to 218.9 points. This compares to a 25 per cent jump in the benchmark Straits Times Index year-to-date. UOB KayHian dealing director Chan Tuck Sing noted that the surge in S-chips was largely a result of investors seeking out underperforming stocks to play catch-up with the broad market rally. 'S-chips are generally considered higher beta stocks, so they have rebounded sharply along with the market,' added Kim Eng analyst James Koh. Analysts feel that perhaps more could be done to assure investors that good companies do exist among S-chips. Most are still trading at undemanding valuations of below 5 times historical price-to-earnings ratio and less than one time price-to-book (P/B). Guangzhou Investment Co remains the biggest S-chip by market cap at $3.71 billion, while the rest played musical chairs. Yanlord moves up two places to be runner-up, nudging Cosco Corp off to fourth place. Epure got into the top 10, while China Hongxing fell off the league. Since the beginning of this year, Yanlord's market cap has doubled from $1.63 billion to $3.23 billion and Yangzijiang's market cap surged 62.6 per cent to $2.7 billion. Interestingly, Yanlord is also well placed in the Governance and Transparency Index (GTI), an index launched by The Business Times and NUS Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting Centre (CGFRC); of the 676 companies reviewed, it came in 111th. Midas, ranked 61st on the GTI, enjoyed an 11.2 per cent growth in Q1 earnings and saw its market value jump 24.7 per cent year- to-date to $511.4 million. The same story could be told for some other S-chips as well, suggesting that investors tend to reward companies for good governance. But recent scandals in S-chips have caused investors to turn the other way and paint the whole sector with the same broad brush. Mr Chan of UOB KayHian noted that many fund managers got their fingers burnt by S-chips such as FerroChina and Fibrechem. 'These sorts of memories may cause them to avoid such stocks,' he said. A more significant reason for these stocks falling off the radar of fund managers, however, is that many S-chips - Beauty China, China Energy, China XLX, Delong, Fibrechem and China Sky - have now been reduced to penny stocks. China Aviation, China Fishery, Cosco Corp and Yanlord are among the handful in the sector that trade above a dollar. CIMB-GK analyst Ho Choon Seng noted that the free-float in many cases is also quite low since a large chunk of shares are held by insiders. Some brokerages have slowly shrunk their coverage of these stocks. Westcomb Securities, for instance, has dropped its coverage of S-chips, except for those that come under the SGX Research Incentive Scheme, which is a paid scheme under the Exchange. CIMB-GK has also dropped seven S-chips from its coverage this year while Kim Eng has stopped covering one or two S-chips. 'The market has certainly lost some interest in S-chips, after corporate governance issues with the likes of Fibrechem and China Sun,' said Mr Koh of Kim Eng. 'Also, some management 'guidance' in terms of plans and profits has proved quite misguided.' Analysts feel that perhaps more could be done to assure investors that good companies do exist among S-chips. 'While there are black sheep among them, if the communication issue had been dealt with in a more mature manner, we would not have this kind of depressed valuation,' said Alan Lok, director at Sabio Global. In assessing the valuation of S-chips using the P/B ratio, there is a concern that the accounting book 'may not be the actual book' given the credibility issues clouding the sector, Mr Lok said. 'If we factor in the corporate governance issue, a P/B ratio of 0.5-0.7 times would be a good target.' There is also the opaque issue of pledged shares. But don't write off S-chips just yet, analysts say. Henderson Global Investors fund manager Andrew Mattock said he sees 'exceptional value in some of the Chinese property stocks' and favours mid-caps with domestic exposure. Mr Lok suggests that investors look into S-chips whose earnings have not been badly hit by the crisis - those with a sound business model, good branding and reasonably low valuation. 'I would go into the mid-caps that are on the way to becoming blue chips,' he said.

 

tink 4d better.

 

Fortune favor the Brave... (Out of all the S-Chip might have 1 or 2 star winning) although most will go down... Like 4D hit first prize on small if not kena eaten by S pool..

 

scary

 

scary.

 

It is too scarry and transparent to be true. Despite any noices I keep heavily buying selected S-Chip as it is simply overshooted under normal intrinsic value!!!

Alligator      ( Date: 19-May-2009 15:20) Posted: Updated list:  BT 19 May Queried by SGX ASA Group Holdings Bright Orient (Holding) Bright World Precision Machinery Centraland Limited China Bearing (Singapore) China Great Land Holdings China Sky Chemical Fibre Company Eagle Brand Holdings KXD Digital Entertainment Lizhong Wheel Group Sino Construction Sinopipe Holdings Sunpower Group Sunshine Holdings Synear Food Holdings Youcan Foods International Zhonghui Holdings Emphasis of Matter ASA Group Holdings Asia Environment Holdings Bright Orient (Holding) Celestial NutriFoods China New Town Development Delong Holdings KXD Digital Entertainment Star Pharmaceutical Sunshine Holdings Yong Xin International Holdings Auditor’s Opinion affected China Fashion Holdings CHT (Holdings) Reyphon Agriceutical Sino-Environment Technology Group Zhonghui Holdings Suspended from Trading Beauty China Holdings China Enersave China Printing and Dyeing Holding China Sun Bio-chem Technology Group Ferrochina FibreChem Technologies Gu angzhao Industrial Forest Biotechnology Group Memory Devices Oriental Century

 

Alli, tks for d efforts n sharing. AK hv Yngzi, but dumpped half yesterday due to panic selling. But no regret loh. Who very sure that last nite DJ chiong, despite DJ future in red n EU market red as well.

Now, still marketing for good vege, when weather not that hot, at later state.

 

Updated list:  BT 19 May


Queried by SGX
ASA Group Holdings
Bright Orient (Holding)
Bright World Precision Machinery
Centraland Limited
China Bearing (Singapore)
China Great Land Holdings
China Sky Chemical Fibre Company
Eagle Brand Holdings
KXD Digital Entertainment
Lizhong Wheel Group
Sino Construction
Sinopipe Holdings
Sunpower Group
Sunshine Holdings
Synear Food Holdings
Youcan Foods International
Zhonghui Holdings


Emphasis of Matter
ASA Group Holdings
Asia Environment Holdings
Bright Orient (Holding)
Celestial NutriFoods
China New Town Development
Delong Holdings
KXD Digital Entertainment
Star Pharmaceutical
Sunshine Holdings
Yong Xin International Holdings


Auditor’s Opinion affected
China Fashion Holdings
CHT (Holdings)
Reyphon Agriceutical
Sino-Environment Technology Group
Zhonghui Holdings


Suspended from Trading
Beauty China Holdings
China Enersave
China Printing and Dyeing Holding
China Sun Bio-chem Technology Group
Ferrochina
FibreChem Technologies
Gu angzhao Industrial Forest
Biotechnology Group
Memory Devices
Oriental Century

 

I was quite apprensive when SGX allows so many S-chips to be listed in spore, esp those which cannot be listed in China and HK does not want them. Govt is going the way of the USA to allow self-regulation or regulated by private Co. in many aspects of business etc. These private co main aim is to make money not to ans to the public, so much so that ethics is thrown to the wind. If there is no govt body to go thro every aspect of a listing, what they get is a superficious notion of the listing. When the S-chips can crashing, that will be too late. Look at USA, the whole sub-prime saga. I don't think spore can withstand such huge crisis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'IN all countries, in all jurisdictions, the stock market is an insiders' game versus an outsiders' game,' a friend said. It's the insiders who are in the know, it's the insiders' who make all the money.

Rules and regulations are meant to level the playing field somewhat. But then, there are always questions about how complete the rules are and how strictly they are being enforced.

Obviously, the advantage of the insiders is much more significant in emerging countries like China and India. But even in the most developed market in the world - Wall Street - the insiders have duped the people on Main Street time and again. Think Internet stocks and the numerous structured products.

One only gets onto the insiders' track if one is somehow involved in the business of it all, or someone from the inside decides to spill the beans.

Well, apparently one insider has decided to spill his guts out in an e-mail confession. The writer, who claimed to be a chief executive of an S-chip (Chinese company listed in Singapore), circulated a near 9,000-word confession e-mail to, according to him, 'hundreds of investors, bankers, regulators and journalists'.

The e-mail detailed how his company was privatised, the difficulties of doing business in China, how he was approached by a Singapore 'deal-maker' to list the company, and what the deal-maker suggested they did to inflate sales of the company to make it attractive to investors. It also revealed the psyche and motivations of Chinese entrepreneurs, and how subsequent to the listing, they - tempted by greed - borrowed money against the company's cash to speculate in the Chinese and Singapore stock markets. It also showed how easy it was for these controlling shareholders and managers to dip into the company's cash pile when they faced margin calls on their personal accounts.

Some doubt the authenticity of the 'confessions'. But whether the e-mail is indeed from an S-chip CEO or not is not entirely important. The thing is, a lot of the events described in it do happen in real life. So, there are lessons to be learnt for all investors out there. Said one former research analyst: 'I think it is so spot-on and hence probably genuine. It is a real revelation for outsiders. I lost my virginity a long time ago.'

Said an S-chip investor: 'The e-mail is a de facto warning to investors against being too naive in believing what they see in prospectuses and what they read in the printed form.'

So what are the lessons or insights that one can glean from the e-mail?

One, in recounting the struggles in the earlier phase of the company, the 'CEO' said: 'Good profit margins never last in China. Good demand quickly attracts new entrants into the business as the barrier of entry is relatively low. At the same time, some of the so-called 'obsolete capacities' came back from the grave.'

This would suggest that buying and holding a relatively small China company is not such a good idea. Size is probably a prerequisite for long-term survival in China.

Two, there are millions of entrepreneurs in China that are looking for their big pay day by listing their companies. These private entrepreneurs have long envied their state-owned compatriots that can list in China. 'To us, having a listing status in China is like having the right to print money. One just has to cook up a nice investment story and he could get the Chinese investors to subscribe to the rights issues of a listed company at any price. It was so much more elegant a way to make money, rather than having to toil for a few cents by selling chemical fibres.'

So if that's the motivation of most Chinese entrepreneurs for listing their companies - as a big pay-off for their years of toil and a fast ticket to riches - would they still be 100 per cent committed to running and growing the business to the best of their abilities?

Three, deal-makers identify these potential Chinese companies and get their group of buddies in early. And when the companies get listed, they get pay-offs amounting to as much as 50 times their investment. 'These angel investors will see the company through the process from getting 'restructured' to 'listed', rendering their help in one way or another through exerting subtle influences on counterparties, bankers, regulators and other investors.'

Teng Ngiek Lian of Target Asset Management noted the ludicrous compensation for such pre-IPO investors. When I spoke to him early last year, he noted: 'In recent IPOs, it was shown in the prospectus that the pre-IPO investors were given shares at one cent. At IPO, the stock was priced at 60 cents. I asked them, what has changed in such a short time to cause the value of the business to go up by 60 times!'

Four, part of the deal-maker's job is to make the company as attractive to investors as possible. One way is to push new products to customers, offering them more favourable and longer payment terms. They will deal with the receivables later.

'After much financial twisting and engineering, our company looked like a well-funded high-tech textile fibre company on the verge of experiencing explosive sales take-off.'

Indeed, empirical studies have shown that, on average, new listings showed increased sales and profitability in the one or two years leading up to the public offer. But for many, the performance slumps a year or two later. So it is wiser to go for companies with a longer listing track record, and those which have gone through at least one full business cycle.

Five, managers of Chinese companies can get the local banks to lend them money to punt in the stock market by using the listed company's cash as 'invisible lien'. And when the stock market plunged and they faced margin calls, they dipped into the 'honey jugs' of the company. In better times, they were able to cover the shortfall in the company's cash balance by borrowing the sum from some other sources during the audit period.

'In the past, we could have 'arranged' for some cash to be credited into the bank account for a brief period to satisfy the auditors' check. However, there was no such 'temporary cash' to be found at any price as the sub-prime crisis had now developed into a full-blown credit crisis around world.'

Such a practice of borrowing cash to meet the shortfall just for the audit period is common in India too, a friend said.

The e-mail also claimed that 'Chinese banks which had lent him money simply deducted the amount he personally owed from his company accounts two days before their auditors came in, which was of course a few days before our company auditor came in. The rest is history . . .'

The CEO claimed that he'd moved to a seaside town in China with enough money to last his family a lifetime, at least in China. Yes, the unfairness of it all is, many a time, due to limitations of the law, that such acts of dishonesty, lack of integrity and sometimes outright fraud do not have any consequences for the perpetrators.

Perhaps, the bigger lesson is the whole process of bringing foreign firms to Singapore. In the US, almost everyone in the chain had a part to play in causing the crisis which originated from sub-prime loans. As a friend put it: 'So if there is a Singapore analogy, it would be the S-chips failure.'

I leave the last words to the e-mail writer, whoever he is. 'I wonder who will speak on behalf of all the many ordinary people in Singapore who came to believe the investment potential of these S-chips companies after all the beautiful 'packaging' that the deal-makers and entrepreneurs wrapped around them, and went on to invest their life savings in the S-chips, only to find out one day that all these were worthless!

'Yes, I admit I am guilty of being greedy and unscrupulous. But how about those deal-makers who taught us how to cook the books? How about those intermediaries and professionals who were not vigilant enough to protect the interests of the investing public?'

 

"Profit warnings" does not means S-Shares only, most counters even Singapore companies does show profits warnings during this downturn.

If people look beyond the current ecomony down turn,
I guess after the down turn, people may look at some S-Share differently.

 

SGX said bo prawn got shrimp also can ma...

niuyear      ( Date: 30-Apr-2009 10:46) Posted: Past experience (like that of Shouzhou project), should serve as a guide and yet, we seem to have forgotten about it and still allow such a scandal happening here in our stock exchange .This act deserves universal condemnation.