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He allegedly paid $247k to executive of US conglomerate involved in building part of complex

The former chief executive officer of a Singapore ventilation firm was charged yesterday with seven counts of bribing an executive of American conglomerate Honeywell.

Tommy Oh Boon Hua, 39, who used to work for Linair Technologies, is accused of having made illegal payoffs of more than $247,000 in 2003 and 2004 in order to secure a Singapore contract from the US-based giant.

He is also charged with two counts of conspiring to cheat Honeywell into paying $133,426 for equipment that was never delivered.

Oh, who was freed on $150,000 bail, will have to return to court on May 16. In the meantime, he will be allowed to visit China on business.

Oh resigned early last year as director of Linair’s North Asia operations. He had stepped down as chief executive of the listed company in June 2005.

Founded in 1998, the company provides exhaust and ventilation systems to semiconductor, wastewater treatment, pharmaceutical and biotechnological firms. It was listed on the SGX-Sesdaq in February 2005, according to its website.

Oh is accused of giving bribes worth US$156,000 (S$212,400) and S$35,000 to Lim Niann Tsyr, who was then the operations manager of Honeywell. The allegations date between August 2003 and October 2004.

At the time, Honeywell was involved in building part of the biomedical research and development Biopolis complex in North Buona Vista Road. The bribes were meant to ensure that Linair and another company, Integrated Solutions Engineering, were hired to deliver and test a laboratory control system, the authorities alleged. The value of the contract was not stated in the charges.

Lim, 40, was jailed for 10 months for corruption and cheating in April last year. Anthony Lim, 34, an intermediary in the bribery plot, was jailed for six months in February.

If convicted, Oh could be jailed for up to five years and fined up to $100,000 for corruption and cheating.

Source : Straits Times - 1 May 2008

Export sales and inventory growth help stave off economic slump

WASHINGTON - A BUILD-UP in inventories kept the United States economy afloat in the first quarter despite the weakest consumer spending since 2001 and the biggest drop in homebuilding in more than 26 years, a government report showed yesterday.

The Commerce Department said gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at a 0.6 per cent annual rate in the first quarter, matching the fourth quarter’s advance and handily topping a forecast for 0.2 per cent growth in an advance poll of economists.

An improvement in trade continued to contribute to economic growth.

Some economists said the report suggested the US economy was on a bit firmer ground than had been thought, but others were still bracing themselves for worse times ahead as businesses ratchet back production further to try to sell-off inventories.

‘We expect that the coming inventory correction will send growth into negative territory, save a truly heroic effort by the US consumer to spend their way out of the current malaise with their US$600 (S$817) rebates,’ said Mr Joseph Brusuelas, US chief economist at IDEAglobal in New York.

Tax rebate cheques that are part of a government economic stimulus programme began to flow this week to upwards of 100 million Americans.

Separately, ADP Employer Services said US private-sector employers added 10,000 jobs last month, another surprise on the upside since forecasts had been for 60,000 jobs to be lost.

The reports were issued just before Federal Reserve policymakers began a second day of deliberations that is expected to result in a decision to trim official interest rates another quarter percentage point to try to keep expansion going.

Analysts said they still expected a rate reduction.

GDP is the broadest measure of total economic activity within US borders and, despite a better-than-expected first-quarter performance, details of the report reflect widespread weakening that many analysts fear will lead to a recession.

The GDP figures are an initial measure of first-quarter performance and will be revised twice in coming months.

Consumer spending that fuels two-thirds of economic activity through consumption of goods and services, grew at the weakest rate since the second quarter of 2001, when the economy was last in recession.

It rose at a 1 per cent rate after growing 2.3 per cent in the fourth quarter.

The weakening in an already distressed housing sector was even more striking.

Spending on residential construction plunged at a 26.7 per cent rate - a ninth straight quarterly decline and the biggest for any three months since the end of 1981.

A build-up in business inventories, which bolsters growth in the period in which it occurs, helped the economy keep growing in the first quarter.

Stocks of unsold goods rose at a US$1.8 billion annual rate in the first quarter after shrinking at an US$18.3 billion rate in the final quarter of last year.

There was a slight moderation in the rate of price rises.

Personal consumption expenditures excluding food and energy items - a key gauge of core inflation that is favoured by the Fed - rose at a 2.2 per cent rate after increasing 2.5 per cent in the fourth quarter. - REUTERS

Source : Straits Times - 1 May 2008

Singapore’s softening property market has started to show up in company balance sheets.

Property giant CapitaLand reported yesterday a 59 per cent year-on-year drop in its net profit to $247.5 million in the three months ended March 31.

This was due to slower home sales and a one-off valuation gain from last year.

CapitaLand booked an unusually large $426.8 million gain in the first quarter of last year from the revaluation of the former Temasek Tower, 8 Shenton Way.

The group’s total revenue remained stable, however. Higher revenue from office and retail properties was offset by lower sales of Singapore homes, CapitaLand said.

Revenue in the first quarter fell slightly to $631.3 million from $637 million year-on-year.

Excluding the one-off gain of $426.8 million, CapitaLand’s net profit actually rose 37 percent.

CapitaLand joins rival Keppel Land in reporting declining profits, as demand for homes cools due to a change in sentiment resulting from the sub-prime crisis in the United States and removal of the local deferred payment scheme.

The company has been trying to reduce its reliance on the Singapore market, as it diversifies overseas.

Its overseas revenue in the first quarter was up 58.6 per cent at $443.8 million from a year earlier, accounting for 70.3 per cent of the group’s total revenue.

Net asset value per share rose to $3.62 as at March 31 from $3.54 as at Dec 31.

Earnings per share dropped to 8.8 cents this quarter from 21.8 cents in the previous corresponding quarter.

‘Since the turn of the year, the financial markets and global economic environment have weakened,’ chairman Richard Hu said in a statement.

‘The continuing global credit crunch would have, as expected, caused uncertainty in the general economic and business environment in Asia.’

He added that the group, however, had strengthened its financial footing and was well-positioned to ‘capitalise on any opportunities that may arise’.

CapitaLand shares closed 18 cents down at $6.79 yesterday.

Source : Straits Times - 1 May 2008

The Urban Redevelopment Authority has closed the tender for the transitional office site at Scotts and Anthony Roads.

It was launched for sale on 28 February on a 15-year lease.

The land parcel attracted four bids with Sun Venture Investments putting it the highest at S$32.9 million.

Scotts Development was next with a S$32 million offer.

Centurion Scotts tendered for the site at S$24.8 million and Hersing Corporation at S$22.8 million. - CNA/vm

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 1 May 2008