More listed companies issue profit warnings

More listed companies issue profit warnings

By Jessica Cheam

THE deepening recession has brought on another spate of profit warnings from Singapore-listed companies.
Oil and gas firm Interra Resources, Chinese silk maker Asia Silk Holdings and property firm Japan Land all warned of weaker bottom lines in statements to the Singapore Exchange yesterday.

Catalist-listed Interra said that, as an ‘unhedged producer of oil’, it has seen its profitability significantly affected by the drastic decline in oil prices, which have fallen from a high of US$147 a barrel in July last year to US$40 recently.

The company expects to have incurred a net loss for the fourth quarter of last year, but still expects to have been profitable for the full year.

It said it was in a ’sound financial position and has no debt’.

The global decline in demand has affected not only oil prices but also prices for some goods and services.

Asia Silk Holdings, also listed on Catalist, said demand for its silk products has weakened, especially in major export markets such as the United States and Europe.

It noted that selling prices have also taken a beating while operating costs are set to remain at current levels.

It said it expects losses for the year ended Dec 31 to be higher than in the previous year.

It added that it would be making provisions for impairment losses given the adverse operating environment and that the impact would be material.

The company is reviewing its business segments to find ways to enhance efficiencies, it said. Its results for the year ended Dec 31 will be announced on Feb 27.

In further grim tidings, directors of mainboard-listed Japan Land warned that the group is expected to report a loss for the first half of the financial year ending May 31.

The firm attributed this to its share of losses from associated companies, increased taxes because of a gain resulting from the partial disposal of a unit and an increase in general expenses.

Mainboard-listed steelmaker Delong Holdings announced on Wednesday that it would report a loss for the full year ended Dec 31.

Demand for and prices of steel products in China have fallen significantly because of the global economic crisis, said the company.

It had scaled down production at four of its smaller blast furnaces to cut costs, but it recently resumed operations at two of them because of a ‘gradual recovery’ in demand this month.

However, high raw material prices and inventory write-downs have led to losses for the group. Still, the board said it remained ‘confident about the long-term potential’ of China’s steel industry.

Source : Straits Times - 09 Jan 2009

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SMEs feel pinch of rising rents

SMEs feel pinch of rising rents

Some petition landlords for reductions; others seek help over disputes

By Francis Chan

SOARING rents for some industrial properties are becoming a hot issue among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with flashpoints opening up on a couple of fronts.
Worried tenants at Toa Payoh Industrial Estate have petitioned their landlord, Mapletree Investments, to reduce their rents by 20 per cent.

And the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) has helped to mediate bitter stand-offs between owners and tenants in recent weeks over rental demands.

The most serious dispute involved a landlord who tripled the rent for a local medical firm employing 75 staff.

The SBF said the firm will not renew its lease ‘and the business will have to be shut down because the owner cannot afford the rise in rent’.

Tenants at Mapletree’s estate in Toa Payoh North fear the same situation and have demanded a 20 per cent rent reduction.

One SME boss, who did not want to be identified, said: ‘I understand that about 80 per cent of the tenants here have signed the petition and Mapletree has said it is now reviewing our request for the rent cut.’

The director of a graphic design firm, located at Block 970 Toa Payoh North, said his three-year contract will need to be renewed soon.

‘My business volume has gone down by some 20 per cent but yet I have heard from my neighbours that Mapletree has increased rents by some 30 per cent - that is not a good sign for us,’ he said.

While there have been some delayed payments by tenants, Mapletree said the arrears situation at its properties is ‘well under control’.

‘There has been no perceptible trend increase in the monthly arrears from July 2008 to December 2008,’ said a Mapletree spokesman.

‘For tenants who are facing genuine difficulties in paying rent, we will sit down with them to work out solutions.’

The SBF acknowledged yesterday that landlords have a case for increasing rents, but it said the timing of rate hikes is a bugbear for firms already feeling the pinch.

The federation said five local firms, each employing between 20 and 100 staff, have asked for help over rental issues.

‘They said that they are seeing rental adjustments of between 20 and 100 per cent, and in some isolated cases, even higher,’ said SBF chief executive Teng Theng Dar.

‘In one particular case…the adjustment came up to about 2.5 to three times the old rate.’

Mr Teng said ‘there’s nothing wrong from a commercial standpoint’ as landlords are just adjusting rents to market levels, which are referenced to 2007 rates.

‘However, the economic slowdown and poor business sentiment make it extremely difficult for companies to manage when they are suddenly slapped with a spike in rent,’ he added.

SMEs already grappling with tighter credit markets have few options when it comes to rent hikes.

They could either relocate their operations, which involves considerable cost; grin and bear the higher rents and hope to struggle on; or, in the worst-case scenario, be forced to shut down.

While the situation may appear dire for some firms, the SBF said it is not critical yet and rents may still moderate.

In fact, new figures from DTZ Research show that rents of private conventional industrial space declined in the fourth quarter of last year - the first time since the third quarter of 2003.

Rents for first-storey and upper-storey private industrial space have also dipped by 2.1 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively.

And rents for high-tech industrial property slipped 4.4 per cent in the last three months of last year compared with the same period in 2007 - the first fall since the second quarter of 2004.

The Straits Times polled 30 tenants in JTC Corporation and Mapletree properties, and found that those that renewed contracts within the last quarter of last year either did not have a rent increase or paid an additional 5 to 10 per cent.

Yet rent is a potent issue in a business community already battling a decline in orders.

All the SMEs that The Straits Times spoke to said they were hoping for rental rebates in the Budget later this month.

The SBF has raised the issue with the Government and hopes for some respite over rents, but it also cautioned against overreacting.

‘We have provided feedback to the Government that this is an issue we are concerned about, but we still need more facts, so we are now watching the situation very closely,’ said Mr Teng.

‘The global economic crisis is unprecedented and its scale and depth are something we are trying to understand, so we need to avoid speculating and just focus on getting ready for the worst-case scenario.’

Leading industrial landlords JTC, Mapletree and HDB have assured tenants that any rent adjustments will not be made without factoring in the economic conditions.

Source : Straits Times - 09 Jan 2009

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Make online content free, says Web expert

Make online content free, says Web expert

Speaker’s advice to media businesses: Adapt or you will go bust fast

By Chua Hian Hou

In the Internet age, musicians and writers have to find new ways to make money. Singers George Michael (left) and Prince, for instance, charge for live concerts. — PHOTOS: ASSOCIATED PRESS, REUTERS

INTERNET entrepreneur Andrew Keen has made a radical suggestion to entertainment media companies: Give content away for free online.
Mr Keen, the keynote speaker at the Global Forum on Intellectual Property held at Raffles City Convention Centre yesterday, said the industry’s current business model - selling physical media like CDs and books - is ‘essentially dead’ due to online piracy.

The Internet, he said, has triggered an ‘economic and cultural rebellion’ by consumers who are growing increasingly reluctant to pay for content when they can download it for free. And companies that try to hang on, he warned, could find themselves ‘out of business’ within 10 years.

But reactions were mixed.

Local band AstroNinja, for example, said the ‘free’ model was not the way to go. The band, said spokesman Levan Wee, is aware of the problems the music industry is facing. It has gone for a ‘hybrid’ approach, putting two songs on its website as a free download and charging US$8 (S$12) for the album on CD.

This has worked out well, said Mr Wee, noting that the band has sold more than 10,000 albums - many to overseas fans - since it launched its CD a month ago.

Others, like the European Commission’s head of copyright, Mr Tilman Lueder, were ambivalent about Mr Keen’s suggestion.

Mr Lueder agreed on one thing, though: ‘Businesses need to adapt, to be more entrepreneurial.’

Mr Keen also took issue with the way companies enforce copyright - lawsuits against consumers do not work, he said. He pointed out even the Record Industry Association of America, the most aggressive industry group using this strategy, has recently abandoned this form of defence.

But many companies are continuing in this vein.

For instance, a number of Japanese studios have launched lawsuits against users in Singapore. In one case, four people here were sued for allegedly downloading pirated anime or animated cartoons.

Mr Keen also took aim at copy-protection technologies, which he said had ‘failed…Don’t believe anyone who says your content can be protected’.

The only way to survive, said Mr Keen, is to find new ways to make money.

Musicians and writers could consider other ways of making money, including seeking ‘patronage’ from companies and wealthy individuals.

Better-known acts can also make money from charging for live concerts, he said. Some well-known performers already doing this include Prince and George Michael.

Younger bands, or those just starting out, which cannot afford to tour internationally to make money, can look to generating income from websites like MySpace or YouTube.

Intellectual property lawyer Lam Chung Nian disagreed with Mr Keen about the ineffectiveness of anti-piracy technologies.

New technologies like those which can identify infringing material online will help copyright owners stop or at least slow down the distribution of pirated movies and music.

Other systems, like network shaping technologies, can be used to give priority to certain online activities over others.

For instance, an Internet service provider could give priority to a user trying to check his e-mail over someone trying to download a movie.

This could slow down movie downloads, making them less attractive to users.

Currently, people can download DVD quality movies in 3 hours. But with the new priority software, illegal downloads could take longer, say 30 hours.

The two-day Global Forum on Intellectual Property was opened by guest of honour Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs.

Speakers, including Supreme Court judges, regulators, lawyers and human rights activists, discussed issues like Internet piracy, the counterfeit trade and fair competition with 400 participants from around the world.

Source : Straits Times - 09 Jan 2009

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Bargain hunting starts in tepid property market

Bargain hunting starts in tepid property market

Four recent sub-sales have been transacted at 20% below launch prices

By ARTHUR SIM

THE hunting season seems have begun in the property market, with at least four buyers making a killing.

A UBS report says that according to URA data, four recent sub-sales have been transacted at 20 per cent below launch prices.

Two units at Ardmore II were sub-sold for $2,000 per sq ft, compared with the last-transacted price of $2,400 psf. One unit at Scotts Square was sold at $3,050 psf, compared with the last-transacted price of $3,850 psf in the second quarter of last year.

And one unit at Sky @ Eleven was sold at $880 psf, compared with the last transacted price of $1,270 psf in Q2 2007.

‘Prior to this, we believe there has not been a single sub-sale transaction more than 11 per cent below the new sale price for the same unit,’ said UBS analyst Regina Lim.

UBS believes that the sharply lower sub-sale prices signal a major change in buyers’ risk appetite and the outlook for Singapore residential property.

It noted that some projects sold in 2006 and expected to be completed by Q4 this year could be the subject of defaults by buyers if sub-sale prices fall 30 per cent below launch prices.

‘This is especially as 40 per cent of buyers of new apartments above $1.5 million were foreigners or companies in 2006 and 2007, and it may be difficult not to repudiate the sale-and-purchase agreements for these buyers if they default,’ UBS said.

Cushman and Wakefield managing director Donald Han said that he does not expect many sub-sales to be transacted at big losses because developments that will receive their temporary occupation permit (TOP) this year - and hence, requiring loan draw-downs - are likely to have been launched in 2006 before prices peaked.

But he added: ‘People that bought in 2007 and 2008 will want to get out of the market.’

Knight Frank director (research and consultancy) Nicholas Mak said that ‘not all sub-sales lose money’. Some recent sub-sales showed price increases, he noted.

Still, prime properties are likely see the biggest drop in prices, as these rose the most in the past few years, he said.

In its report, UBS says that prices in the primary market have also been cut.

Among new launches, the 104-unit Newton Edge, priced at $1,201 psf, is some 23 per cent cheaper than Viva, where 15 units were sold in Q3 last year for around $1,550 psf. And at RV Suites in River Valley Road, 19 units have been sold at $1,350 psf, which is 15 per cent below Wharf Residences at $1,600 psf and 38 per cent below Martin 38.

Source : Business Times - 09 Jan 2009

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Huge US deficit a bitter pill, say economists - WASHINGTON

Huge US deficit a bitter pill, say economists - WASHINGTON

Big public spending deemed essential for severe recessions

(WASHINGTON) It is a painful dilemma. The expected growth of the US government budget deficit to US$1.2 trillion this year could swamp future generations with a tidal wave of debt. But failure to spend huge piles of money on stimuli could capsize an already foundering economy.

The deficit projected by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday is an unprecedented number of dollars. As a percentage of the US economy, it would be the largest since World War II.

And the US$1.2 trillion deficit is just for the budget year that began on last Oct 1. The proposed deficit will grow even more if President-elect Barack Obama’s sweeping stimulus package is enacted. That could add nearly another US$1 trillion or more to the red ink over two years.

If you add in what the federal government still owes from past years, the total national debt now stands at US$10.64 trillion.

That’s roughly US$37,000 for every man, woman and child in the US. And with spending rising and tax revenues falling, the total debt is expected to approach US$12 trillion by year’s end.

Yet there is a consensus, shared by Democrats and many Republicans, that some form of major stimulus - either new spending, tax cuts or a mix - is needed to tame what is already the worst recession in a generation. Republicans generally argue for larger tax cuts as part of the stimulus.

‘I’ve never seen harder days to be a deficit hawk,’ said Robert Bixby, the executive director of the Concord Coalition, a non-partisan group that advocates fiscal restraint. Still, he said, ‘a credible case can be made that you need some stimulus’, so long as it is short-term.

It is hard to believe that just eight years ago there was a projected US$5.6 trillion ten-year budget surplus. Both President Bill Clinton and President George Bush talked of using part of it to retire the national debt by the end of the decade. That would be the end of next year.

Instead, the bursting of the technology bubble, big Bush tax cuts, the Sept 11 attacks, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and increased spending on homeland security led to a mild recession in 2001 and the heavy one now.

Heavy public spending is a traditional antidote for healing severe recessions, regardless of the impact on deficits. The big-spending government programmes of the 1930s are often held up as an example.

Many economists note that when President Franklin Roosevelt turned cautious in 1937, cutting spending and raising taxes in an attempt to get the deficit under control, it backfired and touched off a new sharp downturn that lasted through 1938.

‘The prevailing opinion is that, if we have to increase the deficit, let’s increase the deficit. We’ll fix it later,’ said former congressional budget analyst Stanley Collender.

Some conservative economists argue that major spending on public works projects in Japan in the 1990s did little to shorten that nation’s decade-long recession.

Mr Obama mentioned the new gloomy Congressional Budget Office deficit projection at his news conference on Wednesday. ‘We know that our recovery and reinvestment plan will necessarily add more,’ he conceded.

But ‘unless we take decisive action, even after our economy pulls out of its slide, trillion-dollar deficits will be a reality for years to come’, he said. ‘Our problem is not just a deficit of dollars, it’s a deficit of accountability and a deficit of trust.’ - AP

Source : Business Times - 09 Jan 2009

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Unexpected fall in new US jobless claims - WASHINGTON

Unexpected fall in new US jobless claims - WASHINGTON

(WASHINGTON) The number of US workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell unexpectedly by 24,000 last week, government data showed yesterday, but the number of people remaining on jobless rolls rose to a fresh 26-year high.

Analysts reckoned the decline was likely caused by people putting off filing their applications because of the holidays.

‘It covers a holiday period, so people were delaying filing their claims. There is going to be a surge next week,’ said David Watt, a senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets, in Toronto.

‘So I don’t think this is indicative of the trend, and if anything, I’m surprised the consensus call was so high.’

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 467,000 in the week ended Jan 3 from a slightly downwardly revised 491,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said.

It was the lowest reading for initial claims since the week ending Oct 11 last year, when the figure was at 463,000.

Analysts are saying that the job situation is likely to worsen with the US probably suffering a net loss of 2.4 million jobs last year. They predict that the pain is likely to stretch well into 2009 and possibly beyond.

Already the New Year has gotten off to a rough start, and more bad news is expected when the government releases data on December unemployment today.

Just days into 2009, data storage company EMC Corp, managed care provider Cigna Corp, aluminium producer Alcoa Inc and computer products designer Logitech International were among those announcing big layoffs as companies scramble to cut costs even deeper. The flurry of layoffs suggest the employment picture will remain grim this year.

‘There is absolutely no reason to believe the economy is going to be creating jobs any time soon. There are just no reasons for companies to flick on the hiring switch,’ said Richard Yamarone, economist at Argus Research.

On Wall Street, investors worried about the jobs outlook contributed to a sharp decline in stocks. The Dow Jones Industrials lost 245 points to 8,769.70 on Wednesday. — Reuters, AP

Source : Business Times - 09 Jan 2009

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Spend big, spend fast or it will be ugly: Obama

Spend big, spend fast or it will be ugly: Obama

New president sets tone for evolving US$800b stimulus as inauguration nears

(WASHINGTON) President- elect Barack Obama warned yesterday that the deepening American recession could stretch years into the future if Congress fails to act quickly on his call to pump hundreds of billions of federal dollars into the nation’s economy.

‘For every day we wait or point fingers or drag our feet, more Americans will lose their jobs. More families will lose their savings. More dreams will be deferred and denied.’
- Mr Obama
The speech at George Mason University in Virginia, outside the US capital, marked the fourth day running that Mr Obama has urged fast action on huge spending in response to the worst US economic slide since the 1930s Great Depression. It was his first appearance directly aimed at taxpayers and the highest- profile pitch for the giant spending plan.

‘I don’t believe it’s too late to change course, but it will be if we don’t take dramatic action as soon as possible,’ Mr Obama said.

‘A bad situation could become dramatically worse,’ he added, warning of an ugly future that could include double-digit unemployment and US$1 trillion in lost economic activity if the government fails to act at once.

Mr Obama, while refusing to weigh in on foreign policy, has increasingly assumed a presidential air as he challenges Congress to move rapidly in the light of increasing signs that the US economy is declining rapidly. Eleven days remain until his inauguration.

Consumers have drawn into their shells and companies are failing as the recession deepens under the collapse of the housing market, the nearly frozen global credit situation and trillions of dollars that vanished on the stock market. The recession, which started in December 2007, already is the longest in a quarter-century.

In the latest sign of gloom, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world’s largest retailer, said fourth-quarter profit will miss its forecast. The fact that Intel has had to revise its fourth-quarter guidance twice indicates how deeply the economic meltdown has damaged the semiconductor industry. It also predicted that January revenue may be little changed as customers curb spending globally.

Sales from US stores open at least a year increased 1.7 per cent last month - below analysts’ estimates. For January, revenue will be 0-2 per cent higher, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company said in a statement yesterday.

Q4 profit from continuing operations will be 91-94 cents a share - down from a November projection of US$1.03-$1.07, it said.

‘For every day we wait or point fingers or drag our feet, more Americans will lose their jobs,’ Mr Obama said. ‘More families will lose their savings. More dreams will be deferred and denied. And our nation will sink deeper into a crisis that, at some point, we may not be able to reverse.’

A day after the release of a stunning new estimate - that the federal budget deficit will reach an unprecedented US$1.2 trillion this year, nearly three times last year’s record - Mr Obama acknowledged the new stimulus spending will ‘certainly add to the budget deficit’.

He also acknowledged some sympathy with those who ‘might be sceptical of this plan’ because so much federal money has already been spent or committed in an attempt - largely unsuccessful so far - to get credit, the lifeblood of the American economy, flowing freely once again.

Mr Obama made broader arguments, too, saying that the private sector, typically the answer, cannot do what is needed now.

‘At this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe,’ he said.

Mr Obama’s transition team and Democratic congressional leaders are working daily to hammer out the still-evolving package, expected to total nearly US$800 billion. The initial hope had been to have a new stimulus package approved by Congress in time for Mr Obama to sign it upon taking office on Jan 20. That timeline has slipped considerably, into at least mid-February, if not later.

The package is expected to include tax cuts for businesses and middle-class workers, money to help cash-starved states and a huge share for infrastructure building, investments in energy efficiency and a rebuilding of the information technology system for healthcare.

Much of the latter portions of the plan are aimed at what Mr Obama likes to talk about as the need for ‘reinvestment’ and not just ‘recovery’.

‘It’s not just another public works programme,’ he said in his speech. — AP, Bloomberg

Source : Business Times - 09 Jan 2009

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Satyam in turmoil as Raju ducks out of sight

Satyam in turmoil as Raju ducks out of sight

Liquidity crunch looms, CFO resigns, lawsuits filed against company while founder drops off radar

By AMIT ROY CHOUDHURY

(SINGAPORE) The scandal that has enveloped Satyam Computer Services now threatens to spiral out of control with a liquidity crisis looming and confusion spreading over the where- abouts of its disgraced founder and former chairman B Ramalinga Raju.

Taking flak: Interim CEO Ram Mynampati, at a stormy press conference yesterday, insisted that Satyam’s other top officials had no knowledge of the scam
A day after confessing that books had been cooked as part of the US$1 billion fraud and that he was ready to face the law of the land, Mr Raju dropped out of sight. His lawyer claimed he was still in India but the Indian media variously quoted sources as saying that he had flown to Texas or even Dubai. The man who had been one of India’s most high-profile tycoons was nowhere to be seen yesterday.

To the management stuck with keeping the day-to-day operations going, Mr Raju’s whereabouts were the least of the problems. Apart from facing a slew of lawsuits trying to hold on to its customers (who include more than a third of all Fortune 500 companies), it confessed facing a liquidity crunch.

At a press conference in Hyderabad yesterday, interim CEO Ram Mynampati noted that even though money for December salaries as well as payment for vendors had been arranged, there was ‘no clarity’ at the moment on where the money would come from for January.

‘As of today, I do not know but I will hopefully know within a few days,’ Mr Mynampati told reporters at what was a very stormy press conference.

According to some analysts, the monthly wage bill for Satyam’s 53,000 employees would amount to around 6-7 billion rupees (S$180-210 million). And taking other operating expenses into account, it would need a cash kitty of around 10 billion rupees to tide over operating expenses in January.

‘It remains to be seen as to whether they have that kind of cash in hand, given their liquidity crisis,’ analysts said.

Mr Mynampati noted that the company would take steps to ensure cash flow from its customers. However, analysts wondered whether, given the tight financial conditions across the globe, this would be feasible.

At the press conference, Mr Mynampati announced that the company’s chief financial officer, Srinivas Vadlamani, had sent in his resignation yesterday morning. His resignation is yet to be accepted and will be considered at the Satyam board meeting slated for tomorrow though it was generally accepted that it would deal a further blow to the company’s efforts to stagger back to its feet.

Mr Vadlamani joins Mr Raju and Satyam managing director Rama Raju in resigning from the company.

Mr Mynampati said that neither he nor any member of the committee now running Satyam had any idea about the whereabouts of Mr Ramalinga Raju.

The committee now in charge consists of the top 10 leaders of the company. It has launched an immediate action plan to ensure business continuity and leadership transition.

Among the leaders is Singapore-based Virendra Aggarwal, the company’s senior VP in charge of Asia Pacific, Middle East, India and Africa (MEIA).

Speaking at the press conference, Mr Aggarwal noted that the moment the news broke Satyam reached out to its customers.

‘Our customers have shown that they are willing to stand by us, as have our employees,’ Mr Aggarwal said.

Mr Mynampati noted that the company will have to announce the third-quarter results by the end of this month. It is likely that the Q3 results could be finalised after the board meeting tomorrow .

He added that the company will relook the Q2 results and is likely to restate the accounts for that quarter.

Mr Ramalinga Raju in his letter on Wednesday had stated that the operating margin of the company in the quarter was 3 per cent instead of 24 per cent, as stated in the balance sheet.

Mr Mynampati said that the company was reaching out to all its customers (among others, it is the official IT partner to the FIFA 2010 football World Cup) as well as its employees to assure them that business would continue and that it would try to save jobs.

The company was also trying to ascertain its actual cash position - including a possible independent audit - and was also assessing the role of its auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), to find out how the irregularities in accounts went undetected for so long.

‘We will also take a decision on whether we need to change auditors,’ said Mr Mynampati.

Indian authorities, including the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), have meanwhile started their own probe. Some company officials were questioned yesterday while the company’s stock was struck off the benchmark share index, Sensex.

Mr Mynampati insisted that the company’s other top officials had no knowledge of the scam - a claim that came under fire from the Indian media.

Meanwhile, lawsuits have been filed against Satyam - which is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) - on behalf of American investors. The lawsuits charge the company with fooling investors, infringing securities laws and manipulating books of accounts.

As the company battles its fires, there is speculation that it could become a takeover target.

Meanwhile, the Asian unit of UK fund manager Aberdeen Asset Management - once Satyam Computer Services’ largest shareholder with a 9.2 per cent stake - said yesterday it no longer held any shares in the beleaguered Indian IT outsourcing firm.

NYSE has, in the meantime, halted trading in Satyam shares.

Source : Business Times - 09 Jan 2009

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