Tuesday, 3rd January, 2006

Dear Reader,

Happy New Year! We are off to a good start after independent shareholders of CNOOC voted on New Year's Eve to keep the non-compete undertaking intact. It's moments like this that make the struggle worthwhile. Independent shareholders also voted against the new share option scheme by a similar 3:2 margin, but CNOOC's parent was allowed to vote on that, so it was approved. In fact, institutional investors have been consistently voting against the excessive option scheme sizes allowed under Hong Kong's Listing Rules, and it is time they were tightened.

But there is no rest for minorities, so now we turn our focus onto something more local...

NEW ARTICLE
Reject the bid for NWTMT (3-Jan-06)
We start the year with a recommendation to reject the $0.75 privatisation offer for NWTMT. The uncertainty over the PrediWave case, where the claim is worth $5.70 per share, is too great, and investors should wait for its resolution. Even a 10% recovery would increase NAV by 76%. The vote is on 13-Jan-06, so vote NOW.
http://webb-site.com/articles/nwtmtpriv.htm


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David M Webb
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 3-Jan-06