Singapore Technologies transfers shareholdings to parent Temasek Holdings[

Singapore Technologies transfers shareholdings to parent Temasek Holdings[

Singapore Technologies will transfer all its shareholdings to its
parent company -- government investment arm Temasek Holdings --
as part of a rationalization plan, the companies said on
Wednesday.

The announcement comes a day after Temasek, which owns a chunk
of many of Singapore's biggest companies, published its first
annual report in which it said it plans to reduce its exposure to
Singapore to just one-third of its portfolio over the next 10
years.

Singapore Technologies is one of the city-state's leading
engineering-based companies and the move will also affect several
major listed companies, such as SembCorp Industries, CapitaLand,
and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing.

The restructuring will result in 128 Singapore Technologies
employees being laid off by the end of 2004, the companies said
in a statement.

"This rationalization is part of our overall effort to manage
Temasek's capital structure more efficiently," Temasek Executive
Director and chief executive Ho Ching said in the statement.

The report confirmed that Temasek is by far Singapore's
biggest shareholder, with total assets of S$180 billion (US$107
billion) and about S$9.32 billion ($5.54 billion) in cash.

Ho is the wife of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and
is listed as one of Asia's most powerful business personalities
by Fortune magazine. -- AP