CAO seeks more time for debt plan

Beleaguered China Aviation Oil (CAO) Singapore Corp. has asked the Singapore High Court for more time to submit restructuring details in the wake of its disclosure of a US$550m loss from derivatives trading. The company, the Singapore-listed arm of China's main aviation fuel importer, said it needed another six weeks to come up with a plan to pay its creditors. The loss, the largest corporate failure Singapore has seen since the US$1.2bn collapse of Barings bank, has prompted investigations by the police, the central bank and the stock exchange. CAO sought court protection from creditors in a filing dated November 29 and was given two weeks to come up with a plan to pay back debt and set a date to meet creditors.