Keppel Posts Lower Profits
The Singaporean offshore and marine conglomerate Keppel Corporation reported a net profit of S$203 million (USD 150mln) for the first three months of 2019, 40% below that of S$337 million for 1Q 2018.In 1Q 2018, the Group benefitted from a S$289 million gain arising from the en-bloc sale of Keppel Cove in Zhongshan, China as compared to gains of S$174 million in the current period from the divestment of a 70% interest in Dong Nai Waterfront City, Vietnam and the re-measurement of previously held interests in M1 Limited (M1) at acquisition date.The Group achieved revenue of S$1,531 million for 1Q 2019, which was $61 million or 4% higher than that of 1Q 2018.
Analysis: South China Sea Stand-off Led to Mob Violence
As a thousand Vietnamese rioters stormed his factory on Tuesday night, smashing windows and ripping down Chinese-language signs, Taiwanese executive Henry Yeh hid with a colleague in the back of a fire truck, clutching the only weapon he could find: a golf club. "With that many people surrounding us, it was useless. I was afraid they would kill us," said Yeh, 27, who works for a Taiwan textile company at an industrial park in the suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City. Yeh and his colleague eventually escaped unscathed. Others were not so fortunate. What started as heated but peaceful nationwide protests against Chinese oil-drilling in a patch of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam exploded into two days of rioting that left hundreds of Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean factories damaged or destroyed.
Vietnam Mobs Burn Factories in Anti-China Protests
Thousands of Vietnamese set fire to factories and rampaged in industrial zones in the south of the country after protests against Chinese oil drilling in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam, officials said on Wednesday. The brunt appears to have been borne by Taiwanese companies in the zones in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces as rioters mistook the firms to be Chinese-owned. Vietnamese officials gave few details, but said gates to factories were smashed and windows were broken. Police said they were investigating. A Singapore foreign ministry spokesman said the premises of a number of foreign companies were broken into and set on fire in the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Parks (VSIP) I and II in Binh Duong.
