Briefs, November 22, 2012
Olam takes Muddy Waters to court
Singapore commodities trader Olam International took its battle with short seller Muddy Waters to the courts yesterday as it fought off criticisms of its accounting practices and debt levels that have battered its share and bond prices. Olam, 16 per cent owned by Singapore state investor Temasek, has filed a suit against Muddy Waters and its founder Carson Block in the High Court of Singapore, alleging libel, slander or malicious falsehoods, a company spokeswoman said. She said Olam was seeking damages but gave no details. Reuters
Digital China to launch Sm@rt City projects
Digital China, the country’s largest integrated information-technology services provider, will launch next month the first two of its ambitious series of “Sm@rt City” projects on the mainland after posting an 11.9 per cent rise in net profit for the six months to September. Chairman Guo Wei said the company would initially deploy its advanced online platforms that would help run government operations and services at Fuzhou in Fujian and Foshan in Guangdong. Bien Perez
China Gas shares rally after profit forecast
Piped-gas distributor China Gas’ share price rose 5.8 per cent to HK$4.76 yesterday after the company said it expected to post a “significant increase” in net profit for the six months to September compared with the year-earlier period, when it posted a net profit of 373.6 million yuan (HK$464.8 million) “due to better-than-expected operating performance”. Eric Ng
Swire Properties stock jumps on Opus sales
Shares of Swire Properties rose 1.8 per cent to HK$25.10, a record high since it was spun off from Swire Pacific in January. The rally came a week after data from the Lands Registry showed a buyer on October 17 paid HK$455 million, or HK$68,083 per square foot, to buy a unit at Swire’s Opus at 53 Stubbs Road. Peggy Sito
Baidu raises US$1.5b in debut bond issue
Baidu, the owner of the mainland’s most popular search engine, raised US$1.5 billion of bonds in its debut issue. The firm, which accounted for 78.6 per cent of the country’s search engine market by revenue in the second quarter, sold US$750 million each of 2.25 per cent, five-year debentures. Bloomberg
