Singapore - Singapore Airlines (SIA) is increasing its A380 services on the Singapore-London route to "double daily" starting September 20, the carrier said on Wednesday.

The second flight of the superjumbo will depart Singapore as SQ318, and return from London as SQ321.

A third daily flight will continue to be operated by a Boeing 747-400 "for the time being," SIA's statement said.

The twice-a-day A380 service is currently flying four times weekly. Following the delivery of a sixth A380 to SIA from manufacturer Airbus in September, the second daily flight will also be added on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, every day of the week.

Singapore - A German firm has opened a plant on Singapore's Jurong Island to provide oil additives to the Asia-Pacific region, company officials said Wednesday.

The plant, operated by Evonik RohMax Asia-Pacific, is the local subsidiary of Evonik RohMax Additives GmbH.

"We can expand capacity quickly when the need arises and market demand grows," general manager Bonnie Tully said.

The plant, which opened Tuesday, includes a production unit, laboratory and logistics unit.

Singapore - US investments in Asia grew 12 per cent last year with the biggest jump coming in India, where acquisitions in the information sector propelled the increase, media reported Tuesday.

Investments in the rising economic giant surged 48 per cent to 13.6 billion US dollars in 2007 from a year earlier, according to US Commerce Department statistics published in Singapore's Business Times.

Investments in China rose 21 per cent to 28.2 billion dollars as a result of reinvested earnings in manufacturing, the department said.

Those in Thailand soared 37 per cent to 14.9 billion dollars largely because of investments in petroleum refining, banking and mining while investments in Malaysia jumped 25 per cent to 15.5 billion dollars.

New York - Merrill Lynch & Co will sell a 3.4-billion-dollar stake to Singapore's government-owned Temasek Holdings, the US financial services firm announced late Monday.

Temasek already bought a Merrill stake last year and will become the firm's largest shareholder.

The sale is part of Merrill Lynch's plans to sell 8.5 billion dollars in stock in an attempt to raise capital as it tries to survive the ongoing US credit crunch, arising from rampant mortgage defaults.

Singapore - Soaring jet fuel costs and reduced demand for air travel left Singapore Airlines (SIA) with a 15 per cent fall in quarterly profits, the carrier said on Monday.

Net profit for April through June was 358.6 million Singapore dollars (263 million US dollars,) compared with 424 million Singapore dollars (316.4 million US dollars) a year ago.

"The price of jet fuel has risen more than 75 per cent year-on- year, and the strains on financial markets have not abated," SIA said in a statement. Trends are being tracked closely "and are in a good position to react nimbly," the carrier added.

Singapore - Chief information officers (CIOs) based in six of the 10 members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have a high degree of confidence in their ability to handle tech