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The Business Times Online Edition - Singapore



Westpac in deal to take over St George Bank (May 13)
(SYDNEY) Westpac Banking Corp and smaller rival St George yesterday agreed to a takeover deal worth A$18.6 billion (S$24 billion) that would create Australia's biggest bank by market capitalisation.


Briefly Asia (May 13)
(KUALA LUMPUR) Malaysia has withdrawn special protection for state-controlled carmaker Proton, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in parliament yesterday.


Reform export controls, says US aerospace body (May 13)
(WASHINGTON) Outdated export controls and long waits for approval of foreign sales are hurting the US aerospace industry and should be reformed before the damage becomes irreversible, an industry association said on Monday.


Qantas names Asian head for strategy, new business (May 13)
(SINGAPORE) Qantas has appointed Patrick Stringer to the new position of group general manager, strategy and new business, Asia, based in Hanoi.


Death toll stands at over 12,000 (May 13)
(DUJIANGYAN, China) China's most devastating earthquake in three decades killed more than 12,000 people with the toll likely to soar after state media said yesterday nearly 19,000 were buried under rubble in one city alone.


SIA Q4 net falls 21% to $528m (May 13)
SINGAPORE Airlines unveiled a 21 per cent drop in fourth-quarter profit to $528 million as its bottom line was weighed down by higher fuel costs and the absence of the previous year's one-off tax reduction.


ComfortDelGro Q1 net profit slips 9.4% (May 13)
RISING fuel costs put the brakes on ComfortDelGro Corp's net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, causing it to fall 9.4 per cent to $50.2 million.


SingTel streaks ahead in prepaid mobile market (May 13)
WITH aggressive marketing, Singapore Telecommunications has trumped the competition in the prepaid mobile phone market, the only growth segment in Singapore's mature telco market.


Wilmar Q1 net hits US$343m (May 13)
PALM oil giant Wilmar International yesterday reported first-quarter earnings of US$343 million - almost seven times the previous corresponding quarter's US$49.7 million - on the back of higher sales volume and better margins and helped by the merger with Kuok Group's palm plantation and related businesses.


UOB-KH's Q1 net profit slips 29.5% (May 13)
BROKERAGE UOB-Kay Hian recorded slimmer takings for the first quarter ended March 31, 2008, as it failed to repeat the stellar performance it put up during the industry boom last year.