Mayweather set for richest sports year ever: Forbes

Floyd Mayweather's blockbuster May 2 bout with Manny Pacquiao will help make the American fighter's 2015 earnings shatter the all-time record for a sportsman's annual pay, Forbes.com calculated on Thursday. 

PHOTO: AFP

3 Apr7:20 AM

[LOS ANGELES] Floyd Mayweather's blockbuster May 2 bout with Manny Pacquiao will help make the American fighter's 2015 earnings shatter the all-time record for a sportsman's annual pay, Forbes.com calculated on Thursday.

Forbes noted that Mayweather will likely to earn at least US$150 million and Pacquiao more than US$100 million for the welterweight world title showdown in Las Vegas.

The financial news website said payouts could be higher still if more than three million pay-per-views are sold.

Mayweather's haul would represent the highest yearly earnings ever by an athlete, surpassing Tiger Woods' inflation-adjusted record of US$125 million in 2008, Forbes said.

Woods currently occupies both first and second place on Forbes' list of all-time highest paid athletes in a given year, adjusted for inflation, his adjusted earnings of US$120 million in 2009 number two on the list.

NBA legend Michael Jordan is next, with inflation-adjusted earnings of US$115 million in both 1997 and 1998. Woods' US$113 million in 2007 and 2010 are next.

The highest boxer on the list is former heavyweight world champion Mike Tyson, with inflation adjusted earnings of US$112 million in 1996.

Forbes said its figures were the result of 25 years of tracking athletes' earnings.

Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum has predicted that record-shattering revenue totals for the May 2 mega-fight could surpass US$400 million.

That includes US$74 million from just over 15,000 tickets at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The foreign rights to the fight sold for a record US$35 million, according to Arum.

As Forbes noted, the big X-factor in a final revenue figure is pay-per-view sales.

Boxing's record for pay-per-view purchases is the 2.4 million buys from Mayweather's split-decision win over Oscar de la Hoya.

The record for pay-per-view receipts is the US$152 million set by Mayweather's 2013 bout with Saul 'Canelo" Alvarez.

Mayweather-Pacquiao, a fight more than five years in the making between the men considered the best pound-for-pound fighters of their generation, is expected to "crush" both pay-per-view numbers, Forbes noted.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the pay-per-view price for the fight will be a record US$99 for the high definition feed, with a standard definition version costing a slightly cheaper US$89.

AFP

    

New guidelines on investment ads to be implemented by end-2015

By

Claire Huanghuangjy@sph.com.sg@ClaireHuangBT

The Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) said on Monday that new guidelines on advertisements of investments in financial instruments and properties will be implemented by the end of the year. 

ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG

4 May12:15 PM

THE Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) said on Monday that new guidelines on advertisements of investments in financial instruments and properties will be implemented by the end of the year.

Tan Sze Wee, chairman of ASAS, said the regulator is working together with media owners who are members of its council, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Council for Estate Agencies to enhance the existing advertising code in these areas.

"Proposed enhancements include raising the standards of disclosure and strengthening measures to deal with advertisers who repeatedly place misleading advertisements."

Dr Tan added that the move will give the public a better understanding of the risks of the investment and greater protection against recalcitrant advertisers.

The move comes on the same day the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) issued a warning on investing in foreign properties. It also urged the relevant authorities to review existing rules governing developers selling foreign properties here.

Said Lim Biow Chuan, CASE's president: "We strongly urge the relevant authorities to review existing legislation to ensure that developers who sell their foreign properties locally abide by the same minimum standards in information disclosure that local developers have to meet."

The developers should commit to "truthful and honest claims and not make misleading or false representations to investors in order to sell their properties", he added.

To ensure investors are able to make well-informed decisions, CASE suggested that developers selling foreign properties here provide information fact sheets which include data such as the financial standing of the developer, the developer's obligations and a proper valuation of the property.

The association said it had received 13 complaints in 2013 and 2014 from consumers who had purchased property overseas, with some cases involving losses of more than S$100,000 by the investor.

Most of the complaints involved investors who were unable to get back promised returns or payouts, said the association.

CASE said many investors were lured by promises of high rental yields or high capital growth and that many of the investors were unable to get updates on their investments and, in some cases, lost contact with the property investment company.

Singaporeans have been reported to be one of the top real estate buyers in Asia, noted CASE, which cautioned that investments in unfamiliar markets hold high risks including foreign-exchange fluctuations, sovereign risks and interest rate risks.

"The recent warning by analysts from Maybank about the glut of homes in the Iskandar region is a timely reminder to consumers about the potential high risks involved in investing in overseas properties," said the association.

    
 

ExxonMobil shuts Singapore petchem units for maintenance

ExxonMobil has started maintenance at its Singapore Chemical Plant (SCP) due to last "a few weeks", a spokeswoman said on Monday, without giving details of the units involved at the company's largest integrated petrochemical complex. 

PHOTO: EXXONMOBIL

4 May11:44 AM

[SINGAPORE] ExxonMobil has started maintenance at its Singapore Chemical Plant (SCP) due to last "a few weeks", a spokeswoman said on Monday, without giving details of the units involved at the company's largest integrated petrochemical complex.

"We confirm that there is a scheduled maintenance taking place at ExxonMobil's SCP, starting 1 May 2015," the spokeswoman told Reuters. "The overall duration of this maintenance is expected to last a few weeks. We are working closely with our customers to meet their business needs during this period of time." The complex includes a host of petrochemical units and two steam crackers which produce hydrocarbon products including ethylene and propylene, the building blocks for plastics.

One of the two crackers, which has a capacity of 1 million tonnes per year (tpy) of ethylene, was started up in 2013.

REUTERS