Fannie-Freddie Rescue Plan & Oil Drop Boost US Stocks
US stocks rose for a second day as oil retreated, lawmakers moved closer to shoring up the mortgage industry and earnings reports from AT&T and Pfizer eased concern that the profit slump will worsen. AT&T, the carrier for Apple’s iPhone, sent telephone stocks to the steepest gain since January after adding more wireless customers than analysts predicted. The almost US$4-a-barrel drop in oil boosted 28 out of 29 retailers in the S&P 500 Index. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac jumped more than 11% each after lawmakers reached a deal to bail out the largest providers of money for US home loans.

Thai Village Enters RTO Deal With China Stationery
Thai Village Holdings has entered a $296.36m RTO, which could see the restaurant operator become a Chinese plastic stationery supplier. Thai Village will issue to China Stationery about 1.48b Thai Village shares at $0.20 each. If the proposed deal goes through, China Stationery will hold about 87.7% of Thai Village. The two target companies - Sunwealth Group and Campus Developments - are in the plastic stationery business. On rationale for RTO, Thai Village said operating environment for restaurant business is challenging given rising costs in contrast to bigger potential in China’s recyclable plastic stationery market.

Yongmao Inks JV With Wuxi Jushen
Yongmao through its subsidiary Fushun Yongmao Construction Machinery (Fushun Yongmao) has entered into an 80-20 joint venture (JV) with Wuxi Jushen Crane (Wuxi Jushen), a high-quality crane manufacturer in Eastern China with a 34-year track record. Under terms of the agreement, Fushun Yongmao will contribute Rmb24m cash for an 80% stake in the JV, while Wuxi Jushen will contribute Rmb6m worth of assets for remaining 20%. The JV company, Wuxi Yongmao Towercrane Manufacturing, will produce towercranes, bridge & gantry cranes, and roof top cranes under Yongmao’s brand name.

SP Chemicals’ Net Earnings Rises 31% For 1H08
SP Chemicals reported that net profit for the second quarter ended 30 June 2008 rose 70% to Rmb52.71m. Revenue for the quarter was up 126% at Rmb1.05b. Earnings per share for the second quarter was at Rmb27.8 cents, up from Rmb16.4 cents a year ago. For the first half, net profit rose 31% from a year ago to Rmb220.69m, while turnover rose 95% to Rmb1.73b. The improved performance was partly due to higher selling prices of caustic soda, chlorine and aniline as well as higher production output. The group expects to remain profitable for the year.

CCT Posts 22.7% DPU Increase For 1H08
CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT) has achieved a distributable income of $71.9m for the six months ended 30 June 2008. This translates to a distribution per unit (DPU) of 5.19 cents, outperforming 1H07 DPU of 4.23 cents by 22.7%. The results were underpinned by Singapore’s steady office demand, and exceed the manager’s forecast by 4.2%. The annualised 1H08 DPU of 10.44 cents would provide a distribution yield of 5.5% based on the closing price of $1.91 per unit on 22 July 2008. CCT’s distributable income for 1H08 of $71.9m is $2.9m or 4.3% higher than the forecast distributable income for the same period.