Asian Internet search engine won't move out of Singapore

"This is a complete misunderstanding," chief executive Patrick Grove told The Business Times. Information technology industry sources have been speculating that Catcha.com might shift its regional headquarters north after moving its technology headquarters from the city-state to Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor in October.

"Previously all our technology research and development work was spread throughout the countries we operate in," Grove was quoted as saying. While it was decided to consolidate the bulk of research work in Malaysia, Grove said there were no plans to move operations out of Singapore.

The city-state's headcount dropped more than 50 per cent as part of a 15 per cent group-wide retrenchment in June. Further retrenchment followed in October and some staff were transferred with the recent sale of the music subsidiary to U.S.-based Music.com Inc.

"We've now cut costs to a manageable level and are starting to rehire in selected divisions," Grove told the newspaper, noting Catcha.com was one of the first dotcoms to make "difficult decisions upfront and very quickly."

In response to critics who said its business-to-consumer Internet search engine could not be sustained in the long run, Grove said, "We're not looking for another business model. Two of our countries, Malaysia and Thailand, will break even by the first quarter of next year."

(la/dpa)