SINGAPORE. Apr 3: Singapore companies have reported an unprecedentedly drastic plunge in the amount of cooperate earnings and the number of profit-makers in 1998. according to data compiled by local media, reports Xinhua.

The data show that the total earnings of the 193 listed companies which announced their 1998 full-year results before the deadline on Wednesday, plunged by 90 per cent to 507.9 million Singapore dollars (294.4 million US dollars) compared with 1997.

A large number of listed big companies, like Singapore Telecom. Singapore Airlines and Singapore Press Holdings that do not have December year-ends for their account, were not counted in the data.

The drop in 1998 corporate earnings meant a much more sharp fall than the 49-per cent plunge sustained by 106 companies in the previous economic recession in 1985. when the total corporate earnings declined to 483.1 million Singapore dollars (280 million US dollars) from the previous year's 925.1 million Singapore dollars (536.3 million US dollars) arid 68 per cent of the 106 companies reported positive earhings.

Compared with 1997. the companies’ earnings were down 75 per cent to about 800 million Singapore dollars (463.8 mil-

lion US dollars) in Singapore first half of last year.

But they incurred losses of 292 million Singapore dollars (169.3 million US dollars) in the second half, which saw Singapore's economy going into recession.

A back-of-the envelope calculation shows that the average earnings per company was about 2.6 million Singapore dollars (1.5 million US) last year, about half the 4.6 million Singapore dollars (2.7 million US dollars) for 1985 when the economy shrank 1.6 per cent for the whole year.

Data also show that a total of 130 companies or 67 per cent of the 193 listed companies managed to stay in black in 1998 although a full 70 per cent of the total declared either lower profits or outright losses.

Analysts attributed the sharp plunge in total earnings to companies’ correction to property bubbles in the past year, saying the companies were availing themselves the opportunity to clean house by taking huge provisions.

They said that many listed companies were plagued by property woe and nine out of 10 of those which declared the biggest losses were developers making massive write-offs on their properties.

Even the banks, which kept their position as Singapore's biggest profit generators, saw

their earnings eroded by provisions on housing and property loans.

Government linked companies (GLCs), looking for growth in Singapore's limited domestic market and once considered by many to be a good bet on the growth of Singapore, were also among the worst performers last year as they rushed headlong into property during the boom years and now were paying for the price.

Neptune Orient Line (NOL) led the loss-makers for 1998, losing 438.2 million Singapore dollars (254 million US dollars). next to NOL were the other two GLCs, Keppel Land and DBS Land, that suffered from a net loss of 350.6 and 239 million Singapore dollars (203.2 and 138.6 million US dollars) respectively.

These three GLCs lost a staggering one billion Singapore dollars (579.7 million US dollars) in all as a result of battering by low traffic and high interest rates.

Domestically, hotels and car distributors also had a hard time last year.

A signed article in the local English newspaper the Business Times commented, "in general, companies that maintained their profitability tended to be those whose markets were outside of the region — such as the electronic sub-contractors and the ship-repairers."