2008 a big rebound year for handset maker SIM

Mainland handset design house SIM Technology Group Ltd expects to post double-digit revenue growth in 2008 after a dismal 2007, but will watch closely for signs of slowing orders growth in the final quarter.

Chief Financial Officer Richard Chan told Reuters there had been no slowdown in orders from a resilient mainland market up to the third quarter despite a slowing global economy, but the firm would watch for any signs of deceleration in the fourth quarter.

Longer-term, the firm, which designs handsets for the likes of China Mobile, TCL Communications and LG Electronics, is banking on mainland's move to high-speed wireless services to drive growth.

It managed to rack up solid 35 percent growth in revenue in the first half because of a shift to higher-end cellphone design, but that came after a 15.3 percent dive in 2007 sales.

Market forces Renhe to delay share trading

Renhe Commercial Holdings, which is looking to raise as much as $658 million in a Hong Kong IPO, was likely to delay the pricing and trading of its shares by a few days amid a brutal global market for stocks, several people familiar with the deal said yesterday.

The sources said that the listing was still moving forward, and one said that the company was in talks with the Hong Kong stock exchange over several proposals, including a lowered price range. Lowering the range would require stock exchange approval, the person said.

No final decision had been made, several people said.

S&P: Asia less vulnerable but not immune to global crisis

Asia-Pacific nations are in a better position to tackle a financial crisis compared with the last major global market dislocation in 1997 but the region is not fully insulated, a Standard & Poor (S&P)'s report said yesterday.

And although only 3 of the 21 regional sovereign ratings have a negative outlook, those with stable outlooks are exposed to risks such as political uncertainty, growing fiscal deficits and tightening international liquidity.

S&P's ratings on Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam have a negative outlook.

The rating agency said the current year had seen political uncertainties rise sharply in Malaysia, Japan and Thailand.

Goldman Sachs clears confusion over CCS prospect

Goldman Sachs added China Communication Services (CCS) to its conviction buy list, saying its recent share price collapse was due to misconceptions about its exposure to telecom tower construction.

Shares in CCS slumped 32.5 percent on Wednesday on concerns over a reduced market for its telecom infrastructure services after the regulator's announcement on telecom operators' tower-sharing requirements.

"We believe these concerns and the sell-off are overdone as CCS management clarified that its telecom infrastructure services sub-segment of the addressable capex market should be largely unaffected," the investment bank said in a report.

HK dollar rangebound, interbank rates stay high

The Hong Kong dollar nudged higher against the US dollar on Thursday after rangebound trade, while interbank interest rates kept a firm bias as credit risk lingered even after coordinated interest rate cuts by major central banks around the world.

One dealer at a local bank said there had been some selling interest in the US dollar in recent sessions due to tightness in Hong Kong dollar liquidity. He expected the spot rate to move in a 7.7600-7.7720 range in the near term.

Most local interbank rates remained elevated amid the global credit crunch.

Reuters

(HK Edition 10/10/2008 page2)