Daily Briefing: Manufacturer faces 91 charges for unpaid salaries; Microchip surge blurs economic outlook

And here are three companies giving out their dividends this week.

From Human Resources Online:

Oil and gas equipment manufacturer Wayne Burt Precision Technologies is facing 91 charges under Singapore’s Employment Act (EA) for failing to pay the salaries of 24 employees.

The company was charged by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Thursday (Nov 30) in the State Courts, according to a press statement. The affected employees were owed between three and four months’ salaries, amounting to almost S$185,000.

MOM has assisted the affected employees to fully recover the salaries owed as well as corresponding CPF contributions for local employees.

Read more here.

From Reuters:

The race to build microchips to meet global demand for electronic gadgets is exaggerating Singapore’s economic rebound, creating a potential headache for policymakers deciding whether to tighten monetary conditions for the first time in six years.

Over the last twelve months, the city-state has moved from the cusp of recession to record some of the fastest growth rates in the developed world - a turnaround founded on an explosion in output from its burgeoning semiconductor industry.

But despite wide-held expectations that the central bank will finally move next year to tighten by strengthening the Singapore dollar, the narrow base of that economic resurgence has some analysts questioning whether Singapore is ready.

Read more here.

From The Motley Fool:

Singapore Press Holdings Limited (SGX: T39), or SPH, will be going ex-dividend on Wednesday as well. The media giant operates three business segments – Media, Property and Others.

SPH is giving out 9.0 Singapore cents per share for the fourth quarter. The payout comprises of a normal dividend of 3.0 cents and a special dividend of 6.0 cents.

For the full year ended 31 August 2017, sales went south by 8.2% year-on-year to $1.03 billion as the disruption to the media industry continued to take its toll on SPH. However, net profit managed to climb 32% to S$350.1 million, mainly due to a one-off gain.

Read more here.