Temasek reaps double growth of profit

However, after the bloodless coup in September 2006 and the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) was set up, around Bt69 billion of a total Bt73 billion derived from the sale to Temasek by Thaksin and his family has been frozen in banks under the orders of the AEC.

Recently, many have speculated that the former premier tried to get back this money after the Revenue Department demanded that Siam Commercial Bank transfer Bt12 billion from Thaksin's children's accounts for tax payment.

The bank, which is the country's third largest, yesterday confirmed that its financial status is very solid with total assets of more than Bt1.1 trillion and deposits of more than Bt870 billion. Any withdrawals of as much as Bt12 billion or 1.4 per cent of its deposits is normal and would not affect the bank's liquidity.

No one knows at this stage whether Thaksin will get his money back but Temasek last year made a handsome net profit despite some of its bad investments, including the Shin Corp deal.

According to Bloomberg, Temasek Holdings, Singapore's US$130billion (Bt4.45trillion) sovereign wealth fund, said fullyear profit doubled as sales of energy and Chinese banking assets countered slowing returns from stock market investments.

Net income rose to a record $12.8 billion in the year ended March 31, up from 9.1 billion Singapore dollars (Bt218 billion) a year earlier, Temasek said in its annual report released yesterday. The company sold Tuas Power for S$4.24 billion in March.

Profit exceeded the average 18percent annual return on investment since Temasek's inception more than three decades ago. The fund attracted more money to buy stakes in companies including Merrill Lynch and Barclays, whose shares tumbled as the credit market collapsed and about $9 trillion was erased from global stocks in the past year.

The fund spent S$32 billion on new investments and sold S$17 billion of assets, up from S$16 billion and S$5 billion respectively in the previous year. Its shareholder return by market value grew 7 per cent in the 12 months to March 31, slower than the 27percent expansion in the previous period.

Run by chief executive officer Ho Ching, 55, Temasek embarked on an overseas expansion in the past decade to stretch its reach beyond Singapore, where it already controls six of the citystate's 10 biggest companies by market value.