Singapore's Temasek cancels sale of power company

SINGAPORE: Singapore's state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd said it canceled an auction of electricity generator PowerSeraya Ltd because of a lack of investor interest.

"We launched the tender process early last month based on indications of interest from investors," Temasek's investment director Gwendel Tung said in a statement late Tuesday. "In light of the market conditions, we have decided not to proceed further."

Temasek still plans to sell PowerSeraya in the future, Tung said. PowerSeraya, which has a capacity of 3,100 megawatts and provides about 28 percent of the city-state's electricity, would have been the third power plant sold by the government investment company this year.

Temasek sold Senoko Power in September to a consortium led by Japanese brokerage Marubeni Corp for 3.65 billion Singapore dollars ($2.49 billion) and in March sold Tuas Power Ltd to power producer China Huaneng Group for SG$4.24 billion ($3.0 billion).

The three companies generate about 90 percent of Singapore's power.

Temasek said in August profit doubled to a record SG$18.2 billion ($12.8 billion) for the year ending March 31. The government-run investment company's portfolio grew to SG$185 billion ($131 billion) in the year ending March 30, 2007.