Shanghai Turbo Enterprises

All minority shareholders of Shanghai Turbo Enterprises have been called on by the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias, to vote against the proposed resolution to remove the incumbent board of directors at an extraordinary general meeting on July 24.

Speaking at a meeting between Sias and shareholders of the company, Sias president David Gerald said there appeared to be no legitimate reason for two new shareholders, Mr Lin Chuanjun and Mr Zhang Wen Jun, to remove the current board.

The duo hold a 10.6 per cent stake in Shanghai Turbo. Former chief executive and executive director Liu Ming holds 30 per cent.

Mr Gerald said: "If the two requisitioners cannot provide sufficient reasons for the proposed removal, then the attempt to remove the current board is irresponsible and disruptive."

Furthermore, he said the two requisitioners have no working experience as directors or senior management in a Singapore Exchange-listed company and have also not undergone formal training to prepare them for such a role.

United Overseas Insurance

United Overseas Insurance's second-quarter net profit fell 15.5 per cent to $6.9 million.

Gross premium written for the three months to June 30 slipped 0.9 per cent to $29.5 million.

Annualised earnings per share were at 45.12 cents, down from 53.42 cents in the same quarter a year ago.

For the first half of this year, gross premium written fell 3.5 per cent to $56.7 million, while net profit fell 24.8 per cent to $11.4 million.

The fall in gross premium in the first half of the year was mainly due to market-wide erosion of premium rates and the company's risk-control efforts to "weed out unprofitable business and catastrophe-prone offshore insurance accounts", the general insurer said.

Annualised earnings per share for the first half of the year fell to 37.33 cents from 49.62 cents previously.