Friday, March 27, 2009

Business & Trade updates from Jakarta
















- JG: SOE Minister Raps Waskita For Overstating Profits
- JP: Govt Mulls Higher Taxation On Aging Planes
- Table-Indonesia Cbank Absorbs 2 Trln Rph On Reverse-Repo Auction
- Unilever Indonesia 2008 Net Pft IDR2.41 Tln Vs IDR1.96 Tln
- Table-Unilever Indonesia 2008 Net Profit Up 22.5 Pct
- Indonesian Toll Roll Op. PT Jasa Marge Receives $667 Mln Loan
- Malaysia Reclaims Asean Top Spot For Car Sales In Jan -Report
- Indonesia's Telkom, Telekom Malaysia Sign Cooperation Agreement
- Bank Ekspor Indonesia To Receive $500 Mln Loan From Japan
- Bank Hana Indonesia Asks Shareholders To Inject $26.1 Mln
- Indonesia's Antam, Krakatau To Invest $63.5 Mln In Iron OreProject
- Sales By Indonesian Retailer Mds Estimated To Reach $238 Mln
(Courtesy Joyo News Service)

The Jakarta Globe
Saturday, March 28, 2009

SOE Minister Raps Waskita For Overstating Profits

State-owned construction company PT Waskita Karya has falsely
inflated profit and revenue in its budgets to the tune of Rp 500
billion ($43.5 million) over the past years, Sofyan Djalil, the
state-owned enterprises minister, said on Friday.

“Waskita needs to fix the overstatement problem over the past
few years,” Sofyan said, without elaborating further on the
disputed figures. “The problem is that the company was using the
wrong accounting system.”

Sofyan also said that his ministry was currently increasing
supervision of the 14 SOEs that specialize in construction and
would likely reshuffle their directors. Waskita’s management
could not be immediately reached for comment. - JG

------------------------------

The Jakarta Post (website) March 27, 2009

Govt mulls higher taxation on aging planes

The Jakarta Post

Transportation Minister Jusman Syafii Djamal said his ministry
was considering proposing a higher tax on aging airplanes than
on newer ones.

"Ideally, aging planes should be subject to higher taxes. This
is expected to indirectly discourage the use of aging fleets and
make airline companies aware of the fact that using old planes
is inefficient," the minister said in Jakarta as quoted by
Antara newswire on Friday.

The minister made the statement in connection with the frequent
occurrence of accidents involving old planes of late.

Last Wednesday, a B737-200 passenger plane of Batavia Air
developed a leak in one of its engines forcing it to cancel its
take off from Soekartno-Hatta airport.

On March 23, a plane of the same type of Sriwijaya Air made an
emergency landing at Hang Nadim Aiport, Batam, after one of its
engines failed.

But the minister did not say when the progressive tax on old
airplanes would be imposed. "This is an option. We want planes
operated in Indonesia to have a maximal age of 21 years," the
minister said.

He said it would be better if Indonesia could follow the example
of Singapore where every plane which had been in operation for
five years was 'put to rest'.

Djamal said that his ministry was encouraging airline companies
to merge in an effort to avoid stiff competition among them.

"Ideally, Indonesia should only have seven airline firms with a
fleet of 400 airplanes," the minister said.

-------------------------------

Table-Indonesia Cbank Absorbs 2 Trln Rph On Reverse-Repo Auction

JAKARTA, March 27 (Reuters) - Indonesia's central bank absorbed
2 trillion rupiah ($174 million), as targeted, via a 21-day
reverse-repo auction on Friday.

Bank Indonesia conducted the auction, through which it absorbs
excess cash from commercial banks, by selling treasury bills
SPN20090731, SPN20100311, SPN20100218, FR0010 ,
FR0023 , FR0019 , FR0020 and
FR0026 .

Bank Indonesia held 21.56 trillion rupiah worth of government
bonds as of March 25, down from 28.24 trillion rupiah at the end
of February, finance ministry data showed.

Following are details of the auction :

Total incoming bids : 2.5 trillion rupiah

Amount absorbed : 2 trillion rupiah

Bid rate range (pct) : 8.15-8.21

SOR (stop out rate) (pct) : 8.15

Weighted average rate (pct) : 8.15

Settlement date : March 27

Maturity date : April 17

Frequency of incoming bids : 2

(Reporting by Sonya Angraini; Editing by Sara Webb)

-------------------------

Unilever Indonesia 2008 Net Pft IDR2.41 Tln Vs IDR1.96 Tln

JAKARTA, March 27 (Dow Jones)--Consumer goods producer PT
Unilever Indonesia (UNVR.JK) said Friday its 2008 net profit
rose 23% because of an increase in sales.

Net profit for the January to December period rose to IDR2.41
trillion from IDR1.96 trillion the previous year.

Sales rose 24% to IDR15.58 trillion from IDR12.54 trillion.

Assets at end-December at the nation's largest consumer goods
producer by sales rose 22% on year to IDR6.50 trillion.

The company didn't provide any comments on its 2008 performance.

-------------------------

Table-Unilever Indonesia 2008 Net Profit Up 22.5 Pct

JAKARTA, March 27 (Reuters) - Following are the results for
consumer products firm PT Unilever Indonesia Tbk for the year
ended Dec. 31, 2008.

(in billions of rupiah unless stated otherwise)

2008 2007

Net profit 2,407.23 1,964.65

Sales revenue 15,577.81 12,544.90

Operating profit 3,431.10 2,777.36

EPS (in rupiah) 315.00 257.00

NOTE: Unilever Indonesia, a unit of Anglo-Dutch conglomerate
Unilever Plc , produces soaps, detergents, dairy-based foods,
and cosmetics.

Analysts polled by Reuters Estimates forecast the company made a
2.42 trillion rupiah ($210 million) net profit last year and
would make 2.92 trillion rupiah this year. ($1 = 11,520 rupiah)
(Reporting by Sonya Angraini; Editing by Sara Webb)

------------------------------

Indonesian Toll Roll Op. PT Jasa Marge Receives $667 Mln Loan

JAKARTA, March 27 Asia Pulse - Two Indonesian toll road
subsidiaries of state company PT Jasa Marga - PT Marga Nujyasumo
Agung (MNA) and PT Jakarta Lingkar Barat (JLB) - have both
received a total loan pledge of Rp8 trillion (US$667 million) to
finance toll road projects.

MNA was pledged a loan of Rp3 trillion by Bank Negera Indonesia
and JLB received a loan commitment of Rp5 trillion by Bank
Mandiri (JSX:BMRI), Jasa Marga president Frans S. Sunito said.

The two companies have eight toll road projects in Java
including a number of sections of the Jakarta outer ring road.

The government has provided financial support of Rp4 trillion in
revolving funds to finance land clearing, the newspaper Bisnis
Indonesia said.

-------------------------------

Malaysia Reclaims Asean Top Spot For Car Sales In Jan -Report

KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 (Dow Jones)--Malaysia reclaimed its
position as the top passenger car market in the Asean region
January, for the first time since the beginning of the U.S.
financial crisis last year, Bernama reported late Friday,
quoting the Malaysia Automotive Association president Aishah
Ahmad.

Aishah said January passenger car sales in Malaysia rose to
37,801 vehicles against Thailand's total sales of 32,085 units,
followed by Indonesia with 31,567 units.

Total vehicle sales in Asean declined to 122,607 units in
January compared to 165,363 units in the same month last year,
Aishah was quoted as saying.

------------------------------

Indonesia's Telkom, Telekom Malaysia Sign Cooperation Agreement

JAKARTA, March 27 Asia Pulse - State telecommunication company
PT Telkom (JSX:TLKM) and Telekom Malaysia Berhad (KLSE:4863)
have signed a cooperation agreement to expand telecommunication
business in the international market.

Research by Telkom showed that the cooperation has a potential
business value of up to Rp2 trillion (US$180 million) in the
next five years.

Telkom President Rinaldi Firmansyah said the memorandum of
understanding signed here last Wednesday would serve as a
milestone for the expansion of mutually beneficial business
cooperation between the two companies.

The international cooperation will include in voice and data
services, international cable system and optimization of data
centers, Rinaldi said.

Details of the cooperation are yet to be discussed between the
subsidiaries of the two holding companies, the newspaper
Investor Daily quoted him as saying.

----------------------------

Bank Ekspor Indonesia To Receive $500 Mln Loan From Japan

JAKARTA, March 27 Asia Pulse - PT Bank Ekspor Indonesia, a state
export bank, hopes to secure a loan of US$500 million from Japan
to be announced in the G-20 meeting in London on April 2.

The bank needs the funds to finance exports and to increase its
capital adequacy ratio (CAR), its president Arifin Indra
Sulistyanto said.

The new loan would not be part of the loan pledge already
received by the finance ministry from the Japanese government,
the newspaper Bisnis Indonesia said.

Arifin, however, said the amount could be changed as both side
were still in the process of negotiations, including on the loan
interest rate.

He said the bank was expected to record a Rp2.5 trillion (US$217
million) increase in assets to Rp13 trillion by the end of this
year.

Starting July, the function of the bank will change to export
financing agency with a new name Indonesia Eximbank.

The new function will allow it to have much greater role in
financing exports, Arifin said.

-----------------------------

Bank Hana Indonesia Asks Shareholders To Inject $26.1 Mln

JAKARTA, March 27 Asia Pulse - PT Bank Hana Indonesia has asked
its shareholders for a capital injection of Rp300 billion
(US$26.1 million) to strengthen its financing capacity.

The bank Director Edy Kuntardjo said the bank needs additional
capital to finance business expansion although it still has a
high capital adequacy ratio of 40 per cent, well above the
minimum level of 8 per cent set by the central bank.

Edy said additional capital has been included in the bank
business plan for this year and the shareholders are expected
give their approval.

Last year the bank recorded a significant increase in credits.
Therefore, it needs more capital to keep its ratio from falling,
he said.

Based on data from Bank Indonesia, Bank Hana's outstanding
credit grew to Rp631 billion by December 2008 from Rp148.8
billion a year earlier, the newspaper Bisnis Indonesia said.

-------------------------------

Indonesia's Antam, Krakatau To Invest $63.5 Mln In Iron Ore
Project

JAKARTA, March 27 Asia Pulse - Two state companies will invest
Rp700 billion (US$63.5 million) in an iron ore project in the
area of Batulicin in the regency of Tanah Bumbu in South
Kalimantan.

Mining company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) (JSX:ANTM) and unlisted
steel maker PT Krakatau Steel have established a joint venture
company PT Meratus Jaya Iron & Steel to run the iron steel
processing plant.

Krakatau Steel has a 66 per cent stake in the project and Aneka
Tambang has the remaining 34 per cent, the newspaper Bisnis
Indonesia reported today.

The plant with a capacity 315,000 tons of sponge iron a year is
expected to be operational in 2011, Antam President Alwin Syah
Loebis said.

Krakatau Engineering, a subsidiary of Krakatau Steel, has been
named contractor to build the project, Alwin said.

Work is already in progress in the project, he was quoted as
saying by the newspaper Bisnis Indonesia.

----------------------------

Sales By Indonesian Retailer Mds Estimated To Reach $238 Mln

JAKARTA, March 27 Asia Pulse - The sales of Matahari Department
Store (MDS), a business unit of one of Indonesia's largest
retail companies PT Matahari Putra Prima (JSX:MPPA), are
forecast to reach Rp2.62 trillion (US$238 million) in the first
quarter of this year .

The estimated sales value is 7 per cent higher than Rp2.45
trillion it recorded in the same period last year and overshoots
the growth target of 5 per cent set for the January-March
period, company President Travis Saucer said earlier this week.

In the whole of this year the company hopes to chalk up a 20 per
cent increase in sales exceeding the average growth target of 15
per cent for Indonesian retail industry, Saucer said.

The highest increase of 25 per cent is recorded in the sales of
footwear, or the highest in the last three years by the company,
he was quoted as saying by the newspaper Investor Daily.

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