PRESS DIGEST - Singapore newspapers - Mar 20
SINGAPORE, March 20 (Reuters) - The following are stories from Singapore newspapers on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories.
THE STRAITS TIMES
- Allco Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust ALCR.SI, which took unprecedented legal action against global ratings agency Moody's to try to avoid a credit downgrade, felt that a S$620 million ($446.7 million) bank refinancing deal could be jeopardised by a downgrade, court documents showed.
- Asia Pacific is expected to draw 500 million tourists, generating $4.6 trillion of tourist revenue by 2010, the Pacific Asia Travel Association said.
THE BUSINESS TIMES
- Olam International (OLAM.SI), a global integrated supply chain manager of agricultural products and food ingredients, has dismissed market talk that it would suffer heavy losses because of its link to commodities broker MF Global (MF.N), whose shares have plummeted over liquidity problems.
- The price of steel has almost doubled since January 2007 and this could come in the way of the construction industry's efforts to cut its dependence on concrete amid tight sand supply. - Templeton Asset Management wants more details on AsiaPharm Group's ASPH.SI latest results, just as the buyout offer for the Chinese pharmaceutical firm nears its deadline.
- The premiums for car ownership certificates kept rising ahead of next month's quota reduction. Ownership certificates for cars below 1,600cc rose $1,038 to $15,389, while certificates for cars above 1,600cc jumped $1,001 to $19,001.
