[Kabar-indonesia] 18 Biz/Econ Reports: Garment smuggling; BCA; Astra; Bank Ekspor; Niaga...

[Joyo at aol.com]

18 Articles compiled & selected by Joyo Indonesia News
Service:

- Smuggling of garments into Indonesia
  on the rise: Association
- Indonesia's BCA says H1 net profit
  rose 16 pct
- Indonesia's Bank Ekspor details 500 mln rph
  bonds
- Bank Niaga sells stake in Sumitomo Mitsui
  Indonesia
- Indonesia Berlian Laju Tanker buys back 17.5 mln
  shrs at 1,960-1,980 rupiah each
- Indonesia's Bakries Telecom uses IPO fund for
  capacity expansion
- Indonesia swaps 0.236 trln rph govt
  bonds
- Nissan Indonesia aims for sixfold sales
  increase
- Nissan Motor Indonesia to spend 50 mln usd
  on expanding plant - report
- Indonesia's Astra Otoparts buys 80 pct of
  Century Batteries for 28.2 bln rupiah
- Indonesia's PPA says bank offer US$350 mln
  loan to Petrochem Unit
- Indonesia's Truba Alam to sell 38.46 pct stake in
  IPO
- Plaza Indonesia Realty seeks US$250 mln for
  Jakarta project
- Indonesia's Eka Life posts 17% increase in
  income
- Lonsum builds N. Sumatra's first botanical
  garden
- Singapore's Wilmar Intl Q2 net profit up 22.5 pct
  on strong plantation ops
- Indonesia govt to promote export for food
  products
- Moody's sees stable ratings outlook for Asia
  Pacific telecom operators

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

Smuggling of garments into Indonesia on the rise:
Association

JAKARTA, August 29 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - An
association's leader voiced concern here on Monday
over the increasing smuggling of garments from several
Asian countries into Indonesia.

The executive secretary of the Indonesian Textile
Association (API), Ernovian G Ismy, said the smuggling
of garmnets from ten Asian countries including China,
Singapore, South Korea and India had increased in the
past year as a result of lenient law enforcement.

"The trend has been on the rise for the past three
years. In 2003 it reached 29 per cent and in 2004
increased to 22 per cent and reached 59 per cent in
2005," he said.

He said the figures were the outcome of a calculation
of the difference between consumption, production and
imports.

"Our garment production and imports are low, while
consumption remains high. So how could the consumers
cover the shortage. This means that the smuggling
activities continued," he said.

He said the government had been half-hearted and
rather slow in dealing with smuggling in spite of the
fact that the means for smuggling eradication were
already available.

He said smuggling could be stopped among other things
by checking imported garments through the "red tape"
and by strictly enforcing port to port manifest
regulations and imposing a harsher sentence on
smugglers.

"So far smugglers have only received administrative
sanctions and never been jailed, while their smuggled
products remain in circulating in the market," he
said.

He said due to increasing smuggling activities,
small-and medium-scale businesses in the country had
suffered losses as their products are unable to
compete with imported products.

According to API data, the number of small-and
medium-scale textile and garment companies in the
country reached 5,569 in 2004 mostly in Bandung, West
Java. In 2005 the number dropped to 4,700 and their
workers to 30,000 from 668,000.

"The loss suffered by the state and the public is big
because the garment industry is labor-intensive," he
said.

He said the companies were domestic market oriented so
that the impact of smuggling was significant to them.

He called on the government to help them by improving
law enforcement and more consistent policies.

"I ask the director general of taxation to inspect
import tax, value-added tax and income tax statements
of retail businessmen, agents and producers," he said.

Ernovian suspected that smugglers had used a new
method in their operation namely by mixing other
products with garment products in the same export
container.

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

Indonesia's BCA says H1 net profit rose 16 pct

JAKARTA, August 29 (Reuters) - Indonesia's second
largest lender, PT Bank Central Asia Tbk , said on
Tuesday its first half net profit rose 16.3 percent to
2.04 trillion rupiah ($224.8 million) from a year ago.

The bank said in a statement its net interest income
rose by nearly 28 percent to 4.68 trillion rupiah over
the same period.

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

Indonesia's Bank Ekspor details 500 mln rph bonds

JAKARTA, August 29 (Reuters) - PT Bank Ekspor
Indonesia, a government owned bank, said on Tuesday
its planned 500 billion rupiah ($54.82 million) bond
issue would be divided into three maturities of
between three to five years.

The bank said the bonds, which will be used to to
support its financing, would be offered to investors
between Sept. 25-27 and be listed on the Surabaya
Stock Exchange on Oct. 3.

The first tranche, which will carry a three-year
maturity, would have a coupon rate of between
12.25-12.75 percent.

The second tranche, with a four-year maturity, would
offer a 12.50-13.00 percent coupon and the final
tranche, a five-year maturity with a coupon rate of
between 12.75-13.25 percent.

The lender, which specialise in providing trade
financing, has appointed PT Trimegah Securities Tbk
and state-owned Danareksa Sekuritas to underwrite the
issue.

The bank booked a net profit of 200.5 billion rupiah
last year, up 10 percent from a year ago. However, the
figure was below its net profit in 2003 of 293.7
billion rupiah.

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

Bank Niaga sells stake in Sumitomo Mitsui Indonesia

JAKARTA, August 29 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Publicly
listed Bank Niaga (JSX:BNGA) announced that it has
divested its entire 0.71 per cent stake in PT Bank
Sumitomo Mitsui Indonesia.

Bank Niaga said in a statement it earned Rp10.2
billion (US$1.13 million) from the asset sale to
Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.

Following the deal, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp
increased control of the Indonesian subsidiary to 99
per cent.

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

Indonesia Berlian Laju Tanker buys back 17.5 mln shrs
at 1,960-1,980 rupiah each

JAKARTA, August 29 (XFN-ASIA) - PT Berlian Laju Tanker
has bought back 17.5 mln shares at prices of
1,960-1,980 rupiah per share, company director Michael
Murni Gunawan said in a letter to the stock exchange.

He said the buybacks were carried out over two days
with 11 mln shares purchased on Aug 23 at 1,970-1,980
rupiah per share and another 6.5 mln units on Aug 24
at 1,960-1,970 per share.

Gunawan said the company has so far bought back 74.44
mln shares, or 17.9 pct of a total of 415.76 mln
allowed under a buyback program endorsed by the
capital market regulator.

The company said earlier it planned to spend not more
than 1.14 trln rupiah to buy back up to 10 pct of its
shares at up to 2,750 rupiah each.

The buyback program was approved at a special meeting
on May 31.

By mid-afternoon, Berlian Laju Tanker was up 20 rupiah
at 1,970, on 21.06 mln shares, the top traded stock by
value.

As of July 14, the public held 54.53 pct of the
company's shares or 2.27 bln shares, PT Tunggaladhi
Baskara 45.35 pct or 1.886 bln shares, Widihardja
Tanudjaja 0.06 pct, and the company's cooperatives
0.06 pct.

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

Indonesia's Bakries Telecom uses IPO fund for capacity
expansion

JAKARTA, August 29 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Publicly
listed telecommunications company PT Bakrie Telecom
(JSX:BTEL) said it has used most of the funds it
raised from the initial public offering (IPO) earlier
this year to finance its expansion plan.

About 90 per cent of the fund has been used to buy
equipment and telecommunications facilities, its
Director Rakhmat Junaidi said, adding that the
remaining 10 per cent was for working capital.

By June this year, the subsidiary of the Bakri Group
had spent 60 per cent of the funds to expand its
network capacity, Junaidi said.

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

Indonesia swaps 0.236 trln rph govt bonds

JAKARTA, August 29 (Reuters) - Investors swapped 0.236
trillion rupiah ($25.88 million) of Indonesian
government bonds maturing between 2007-2009 into
12-year debt through an auction on Tuesday, a senior
finance ministry official told reporters.

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

Nissan Indonesia aims for sixfold sales increase

JAKARTA, August 29 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co. ,
Japan's second largest auto maker, is aiming for a
six-fold increase in sales in Indonesia next year,
driven by the introduction of a new model, an official
at its local unit said on Tuesday.

The company, which sells a wide range of vehicles from
sedans to light trucks in Indonesia, expects sales
this year to halve to 5,000 because of a nationwide
slump caused by a sharp increase in fuel prices.

But it is hoping to bounce back with its new van model
model, the Nissan Livina van, which will be positioned
in the most popular segment in Indonesia. The Livina
will compete with the Toyota Kijang, part of the IMV
model from the world's second largest automaker,
Toyota Motor Co .

"In 2007, we forecast (sales) of nearly 30,000," Teddy
Irawan, a deputy director at PT Nissan Motor
Indonesia, told Reuters on the sidelines of a company
event.

"We will introduce the Nissan Livina in the first half
of next year and it is aimed for a broader market. The
model will account for between 50-60 percent of our
production by 2007."

The increase is part of Nissan's aim to triple its
output to 290,000 units sales from Southeast Asia
between 2004 and 2008.

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

Nissan Motor Indonesia to spend 50 mln usd on
expanding plant - report

JAKARTA, August 29 (XFN-ASIA) - PT Nissan Motor
Indonesia plans to spend 50 mln usd on expanding its
assembly facility in the Bukit Indah industrial zone
in Purwakarta in the province of West Java, Bisnis
Indonesia reported.

The newspaper quoted Teddy Irawan, Nissan Motor
Indonesia's deputy director for national sales and
promotion, as saying: 'We plan to expand the
production capacity to 1,500 cars per month.'

At present, the plant has the capacity to produce
1,000 cars per month.

Irawan was quoted as saying the investment was part of
Nissan's scheme to turn the facility into the
production base for Nissan's new Levina multi-purpose
vehicle for the Southeast Asian market.

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

Indonesia's Astra Otoparts buys 80 pct of Century
Batteries for 28.2 bln rupiah

JAKARTA, August 29 (XFN-ASIA) - Automotive parts maker
PT Astra Otoparts said it has acquired 80 pct of the
equity of PT Century Batteries Indonesia from PT GS
Battery Indonesia for 28.22 bln rupiah,

Astra Otoparts, a unit of Astra International, said in
a statement to the Jakarta Stock Exchange that the
closing date for the transaction is November 8 this
year.

The remaining 20 pct of Century Batteries is owned by
PT Sumber Selatan Nusa.

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

Indonesia's PPA says bank offer US$350 mln loan to
Petrochem Unit

JAKARTA, August 28 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - State-owned
asset management company PT Perusahaan Pengelola Aset
(PPA) said it has received offers from a number of
banks to lend money to its petrochemical subsidiary PT
Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI).

TPPI needs US$350 million for working capital, PT PPA
President Mohammad Syahrial said.

Syahrial said PT PPA has rejected a proposal from the
Tirtamas Group to acquire the 70 per cent stake of the
government in TPPI to gain full control its former
unit.

The government took over TPPI from the Tirtamas Group
in compensation for a debt to the state.

Syahrial said Tirtamas may take control of TPPI but PT
PPA wants to keep at least 20 per cent stake in the
petrochemical plant, which produces upstream aromatic
materials.

The Tirtamas Group has asked for full control of the
plant by repaying its debt to the state.

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

Indonesia's Truba Alam to sell 38.46 pct stake in IPO

JAKARTA, August 29 (XFN-ASIA) - PT Truba Alam
Manunggal said it will sell 5 bln shares or 38.46 pct
of its enlarged capital via an initial public offering
(IPO) slated for Sept 27 to 29.

The listing on the Jakarta Stock Exchange is
tentatively scheduled for Oct 5.

The company said in a published prospectus that it
will use the entire IPO proceeds to build a 2 x 100
megawatt power plant on the resort island of Bali.

It will also issue 2.8 bln warrants that can be
exercised from April 5, 2007 until Oct 5, 2009.

The IPO and warrant exercise prices are yet to be
determined.

Earlier reports said the company expects to raise some
400 bln rupiah from the IPO.

The company said the ownership of its existing
shareholders PT Nusantara Langit Biru and PT Alam
Manunggal will be diluted to 30.77 pct each after the
IPO, from 50 pct each currently. Their ownership will
drop further to 25.32 pct each once all warrants are
converted into shares.

Brokerage firm PT Danatama Makmur is the underwriter
of the IPO.

Truba Alam's operating units include PT Maxima
Infrastruktur, PT Manunggal Power and PT Manunggal
Infrasolusi whose businesses range from shipping,
trading, power plants and mining.

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

Plaza Indonesia Realty seeks US$250 mln for Jakarta
project

JAKARTA, August 28 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Sumitomo
Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has invited a number
of local banks to take part in a syndicated loan of
US$150 million for PT Plaza Indonesia Realty
(JSX:PLIN).

PT Plaza Indonesia Realty needs the loan to build a
shopping center, apartments and office towers in the
expensive business district of Jalan Thamrin in
Jakarta.

SMBC asked state-owned Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI)
(JSX:BBNI), PT Bank Mega (JSX:MEGA) and PT Bank
Internasional Indonesia (BII) to join a consortium to
finance the project, banking sources said.

The local banks are now carrying out a feasibility
study on the project before they decide on the
proposed syndicated loan, the sources said.

The banks are not entirely convinced of the
feasibility of the project as it will be built beside
big property projects of Grand Indonesia and Jakarta
City Center, which will be its rivals.

The project of Plaza Indonesia will include expansion
of its shopping center, luxurious 48-floor apartment
tower named Keraton-The Grand Hyatt Residence and a
41-floor office tower.

The project is now in the stage of ground breaking by
contractor Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Co.
Ltd from South Korea.

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

Indonesia's Eka Life posts 17% increase in income

JAKARTA, August 29 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - PT Asuransi
Eka Life reported Rp514.62 billion (US$57.1 million)
in premium income in the first seven months of this
year oe an increase of 16.89 per cent from the same
period last year.

A company director Jaime J.M. Javier described the
performance of the company as very encouraging.

Javier attributed the increase in income to expansion
of marketing networks.

The net profit of the company was Rp15 billion in the
first seven months of this year with annual target of
Rp35 billion, up from Rp20 billion last year.

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

Lonsum builds N. Sumatra's first botanical garden

MEDAN, N Sumatra, August 29 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - PT
London Sumatra Indonesia Tbk. (Lonsum) will this year
begin building Sei Merah Botanical Garden on 100
hectares of land in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra.

This first botanical garden in North Sumatra province
is expected to be completed in 2010 at a total cost of
Rp4.3 billion (US$470,950), Lonsum spokesman Duddy
Pramudyanto told reporters here Sunday.

The first stone laying ceremony marking the beginning
of the construction of the botanical garden, which
will be equipped with a plantation museum, is
scheduled to be held on December 17, 2006.

The opening of Sei Merah Botanical Garden indicates
that the 100-year old plantation company is committed
to conserving the environment, serving the community
and giving contribution to the government, Duddy said
at a ceremony to mark the company's centenary.

Indonesia now has four botanical gardens comprising
Bogor and Cibodas botanical gardens, both in West
Java, and two others in Purwodadi (Central Java) and
Bali.

Lonsum has chosen North Sumatra as the location of its
first botanical garden since the company, used to be
named Harrison & Crosfield, started its operation in
this province.

The company has decided to open the botanical garden
in its Sei Merah plantation as part of the 1,700 ha
land in Sei Merah is no longer productive and the
location is only about 22 km from Medan, capital of
North Sumatra.

The Sei Merah Botanical Garden is not expected to
function as a profit making project since the purpose
of opening this first botanical garden in North
Sumatra is to contribute to environmental conservation
and to present the history of plantations development
in the province, including the presence of Javanese
laborers in Sumatra to work as plantation workers,
Duddy said.

As one of the oldest plantation companies in
Indonesia, Lonsum gained about Rp392 billion in profit
from sales of Rp1.9 trillion in 2005.

The firm has set its sales target at Rp2.1 trillion to
Rp2.2 trillion for 2006.

Lonsum employs 12,000 workers at present, and the
number will increase twofold during the harvest season
in its plantations in seven provinces, he said.

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

Singapore's Wilmar Intl Q2 net profit up 22.5 pct on
strong plantation ops

SINGAPORE, August 28 (XFN-ASIA) - Integrated
agribusiness group Wilmar International Ltd, formerly
Ezyhealth Asia Pacific Ltd, said its second-quarter to
June net profit rose 22.5 pct to 15.71 mln usd from a
year earlier, mainly boosted by the improved
performance of its plantation and palm oil mills
segment.

Total revenue for the June quarter grew 7.4 pct to
1.29 bln usd.

Its plantation and palm oil mills, which showed a
sharp 135 pct year-on-year surge in pretax profit to
9.37 mln usd in the second quarter, accounted for 47.9
pct of Wilmar's pretax profit of 19.58 mln sgd, the
company said.

Merchandising and refinery contributed a bigger share
of 52.6 pct to total pretax profit but its
contribution to the total was flat at 10.29 mln usd
compared to a year earlier.

Wilmar's net profit for the first half to June was up
35 pct year-on-year to 31.95 mln usd on the back of a
7.1 pct rise in revenue to 2.37 bln usd.

"We remain optimistic on our overall business outlook
going into the second half. We expect our key business
divisions to benefit from Indonesia's growth in the
palm oil industry, demand growth from China and other
emerging markets," the company said in notes
accompanying its financial results.

The company said it believes that it will continue to
deliver "reasonable earnings growth" in the second
half of the year.

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

Indonesia govt to promote export for food products

JAKARTA, August 29 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Trade
Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said here on Monday the
government would push exports of food products which
increased by 18 percent in 2005 from the previous
year.

Exports of food products reached US$1.61 billion in
2005 while in 2004 they were recorded at US$1.36
billion, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics
(BPS).

Exports of the products from January to February this
year reached US$259.8 million.

Based on the facts the trade ministry had taken
efforts to promote the development of small and
medium-scale business in the food sector to widen
their market access and export opportunities.

According to BPS small and medium-scale business in
the food sector contributed Rp439.86 trillion or 39.72
percent of total production of small and medium-scale
businesses worth Rp1,107.54 trillion.

The head of the trade ministry's small- and
medium-scale businesses, Dede Hidayat, said his office
had conducted a training program for 200 small-and
medium-business units producing handicrafts and food
products.

Meanwhile in an effort to promote small-and
medium-scale food business he planned to hold an
exhibition of their products next month.

He said 200 producers and retailers would participate
in the "Pangan Nusa 20006" exhibition. "50 exporters
and 50 prospective exporters will take part in the
event," he added.

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

Moody's sees stable ratings outlook for Asia Pacific
telecom operators

SINGAPORE, August 29 (AFP) -- Telecom operators in the
Asia Pacific face a stable ratings outlook over the
next 12 months as cash flow generation remains strong
and debt levels fall, Moody's Investors Service said
Tuesday.

The region's telecom operators main challenge will lie
in having to identify new sources of income growth to
make up for declines in the fixed-line business
segment, the US risk evaluator said in its outlook for
the sector.

"The ratings outlook for integrated and fixed lined
telecommunications carriers in the Asia Pacific over
the next 12 months is stable, while that for cellular
carriers is positive," Moody's Investors Service said.

"Various carriers are now comfortable with their
financial profiles and hence our conclusion that the
rate of debt reduction may fall in the coming 12
months.

"They are also self-funding, exhibiting enhanced cash
flows and debt which has been reduced to sustainable
levels."

Moody's however pointed out the risk profiles of the
respective telecom operators may increase in the
future as they scout for new prospects in new markets
that offer high growth but will require investment
outlays.

"Whether this pressures ratings depends on the
relevant amounts, financing structures, degree to
which operating incomes rise or fall, and the extent
to which cash flow and interest coverage change," said
Moody's Investors Service.

"As the pressure to maintain or increase margins
continues, along with demand for capital by emerging
market operators, Moody's would view with caution any
opportunistic M and A (mergers and acquisitions)
activity that may occur."

While cautious over any M and A activity, Moody's
noted the key telecom operators such as Singapore
Telecommunications, South Korea's top mobile carrier
SK Telecom and China Mobile boast sufficiently strong
cash flows to support ongoing investments without
affecting their credit profiles.

For cellular operators, growth will be strongest in
markets such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and
China where "demand for cellular products continues
almost unabated," said Moody's Investors Service.

China Mobile alone is expected to have signed up more
than 23 million new users in the first-half of 2006,
it said.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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