Viet firm plans to spend $1.4b on solar parks

HO CHI MINH CITY • Vietnam's TTC Group, a sugar, energy, real estate and tourism conglomerate, is planning to spend as much as US$1 billion (S$1.38 billion) on an ambitious plan to build one of the country's largest portfolios of solar projects in an effort to capitalise on the nation's growing power needs.

Chief executive officer Thai Van Chuyen said the firm is seeking new investors for 10 to 20 solar parks it expects to have in operation by next year. The firm, which will fund 30 per cent of the project, is in talks for the rest of the funds needed for the parks, which would account for total capacity of as much as 1,000 megawatts.

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China loan guarantor 's shares surge again

NEW YORK • Wins Finance Holdings, the China loan guarantor that saw its stock jump 4,500 per cent as this year began before erasing those gains, said it does not know why its stock is skyrocketing again.

It climbed as much as 184 per cent to US$230 on Wednesday - up from about US$20 at the start of this month - before Nasdaq halted trading of the shares. Wins said in February that it could not explain what had driven up its stock in the initial rally. The company's market value tumbled after Bloomberg reported in March on the stock. On Wednesday, it had a market capitalisation of more than US$4 billion (S$5.5 billion).

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