Asia Pacific

Frustration over Vietnamese state-run shipbuilder Vinashin's failure to repay loans it defaulted on last year is intensifying among creditors, potentially jeopardizing Vietnam's plans to draw more investment to improve its infrastructure and reduce the bottlenecks that threaten its growth, The Wall Street Journal reported. The problems at Vinashin point to the risks of investing in what, on the face of it, is one of the world's most attractive emerging markets.

Menswear retail chain Ed Harry has been sold to a management buyout group led by the company's chief executive and chief financial officer, just three months after the company fell into voluntary administration due to the precarious retail industry, SmartCompany.com.au reported. The new management team have said they will acquire 78 profitable stores out of a total of 130 locations – for an undisclosed price – and will focus on a new strategy for the entire business.

Japan's government on Friday unveiled a comprehensive plan to rescue Tokyo Electric Power Co. and fund compensation claims stemming from the country's worst-ever nuclear energy disaster that are expected to total more than ¥2.5 trillion, or roughly $31 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. The approval by the cabinet of Prime Minister Naoto Kan came after last-minute disputes within the ruling party over how heavily the company should be penalized and who in the end would pay the massive costs.

Saab Automobile's future was again cast in doubt Thursday after owner Spyker Cars NV said a EUR150 million ($212.2 million) investment agreement with a Chinese auto maker had fallen apart, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported. The announcement puts Saab Chairman and Spyker Chief Executive Victor Muller under intense pressure to come up with another deal fast. Saab's plant in Trollhattan, Sweden, has been idle since production was halted six weeks ago after suppliers stopped delivering parts because they hadn't been paid.

Beleaguered Bridgecorp investors could soon get their first distribution from the failed property lender's receivers, nearly four years after the company collapsed, The New Zealand Herald reported. PricewaterhouseCoopers partner and Bridgecorp receiver Colin McCloy said the receivers hoped to shortly resolve the Inland Revenue Department's claims and would then be in a position to make a distribution to Bridgecorp's more than 14,000 secured debenture holders.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. will accept government involvement in its management and won't cap total compensation funds for those hurt by Japan's nuclear crisis, as part of an agreement for assistance in meeting what could total tens of billions of dollars in claims, The Wall Street Journal reported. Tepco said that company President Masataka Shimizu notified the government of its acceptance of the conditions Wednesday in a letter to industry minister Banri Kaieda.

Prime Minister John Key this morning confirmed his Government will reduce KiwiSaver's Member Tax credit - the 2 per cent subsidy the Government pays to savers in the scheme - in a move to make it more affordable, The New Zealand Herald reported. Individuals and employers would be expected to make up the difference, he said in a pre-budget speech in Wellington today. Mr Key acted to clarify his Government's intentions toward the scheme after days of hints of changes to the scheme and Working For Families to come in next week's Budget.

CEC Group and its employees will have a clearer picture of their futures today when management meets administrators to discuss the way forward for one of the company's main businesses, Cairns.com.au reported. CEC Constructions Ltd was placed into voluntary administration on Friday in what chief executive officer Roy Lavis said was part of the group’s survival plan as it struggles with debts of about $90 million. Mr Lavis said it was hoped the company would be bought by the workers in a plan aimed to protect the group, finance companies, staff, directors, creditors and shareholders.

Allied Farmers, which has been reduced to a 'penny-dreadful' stock after putting too high a value on loans acquired from Hanover Finance, has completed the sale of property at Clearwater, near Christchurch, and will use the proceeds to repay debt, The New Zealand Herald reported. The property was among assets acquired from Hanover in December 2009 in a disastrous debt-for-equity swap. The loans have lost more than three-quarters of their $400 million value at the time of the deal, which left Allied shareholders with some 2 billion of near-worthless shares.

Cabinet ministers have agreed to demand that Tokyo Electric Power Co. carry out deeper restructuring so it can secure enough compensation for damage caused by the Fukushima No. 1 power plant but were less certain on whether a new entity should be set up to help it, officials said, The Japan Times reported. The decision to set up the entity, which would provide funds to help the beleaguered utility known as Tepco pay for radiation-related damages, was delayed on Saturday.