Stocks Roundup

SAMART Corporation saw its stock slide on the Bangkok Stock Exchange on Friday following the news its Thai staff had been banned from the offices of its wholly owned Cambodia Air Traffic Services amid the continuing deterioration in relations between Phnom Penh and Bangkok.

The stock fell 1.64 percent to 6 baht (US$0.18) by the close of Bangkok trading Friday. The Cambodian government said Thursday it was temporarily suspending the activities of the firm’s staff in Phnom Penh over allegations an employee stole the flight schedule of fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who visited the Kingdom earlier this month. The Cambodian government has stated publicly that the firm’s finances would not be affected.

Vimpelcom saw its recent strong rally come to an end last week despite recording a 0.54 percent increase in its stock price Friday in New York to finish at $20.66. The Nasdaq-listed stock fell 1.01 percent over the past five days after hitting a year-high the previous week.

The Moscow-based firm is due to announce group results for the third quarter Tuesday, including financial data for its mobile-phone operation in Cambodia for a period in which it has faced legal action from the Kingdom’s largest operator, Mobitel, over alleged price-dumping and illegal use of prefixes.

JSM stock still in decline

JSM Indochina continued its recent slump last week as it prepared to hold a meeting Thursday in London in a bid to solve an internal dispute over its investment strategy for Cambodia and Vietnam – a situation labelled a “distraction” by under-fire Chief Executive Craig Jones.

The stock lost a further 6.67 percent last week after closing down 1.56 percent Friday to £0.63 ($1.04) on the London Stock Exchange.

China-ASEAN Resources Co Ltd also continued to slide, losing 5.71 percent in the past five days trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange following a 5.04 percent fall Friday to HK$0.134 (US$0.017).

The company announced this month that its 10,000-hectare logging concession in Kratie province had lay dormant this year due to what it termed overzealous enforcement of logging legislation by the Cambodian authorities.

OZ Minerals, which was scheduled to restart drilling this month at its gold and minerals concessions in eastern Cambodia, recorded a 2.01 percent gain on the Australian Stock Exchange last week despite dropping 1.55 percent Friday to A$1.27 (US$1.16).