[Kabar-indonesia] 19 RI Biz/Econ Reports: BI: Firms See Little H2 Investment; Indofood; Budget

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

19 Reports:

- Indonesia firms see little H2
    investment-c.bank
- Indonesia Jan-July 7 budget 
  spending 247.52 trln rupiah; 
  surplus 283.59 bln
- Indonesia's Indofood to launch IPO 
  of Salim Ivomas by yr end: report
- Stock watch - Indonesia's Indofood 
  higher on merger of units, IPO plan
- Indonesia's Indofood ratings withdrawn 
  on company's request - S&P
- Indonesia's Astra Agro palm oil H1 
  sales up 23 pct
- Indonesia Sumatra H1 coffee exports
    fall 30 pct
- Current drought in Indonesia not a
    worry: Agriculture Minister
- Indonesia's BNI cuts profit forecast to
    1.8 trln rupiah from 2.5 trln - report
- Indonesia's Garuda plans to float 
  37.5 pct of its shares in 2010 - report
- Garuda to resume flights to Middle East
    and Europe
- Emirates to boost flight to Jakarta
- PT KAI to buy 160 railway carriages
    from Japan
- Indonesia's Bimantara sees H1 net profit
    rising to 160 bln rupiah from 6.15 bln
- Deutsche Bk Paves Way For Indonesia
    Media Nusantara Bond
- Indonesia Mobile-8 To Sell 20% Stake In
    IPO Sept Or Oct
- Malaysia's Astro says MEASAT-3 
  satellite to be ready by end-Q1 2007
- Honda's Indonesian Unit Sales Unlikely
    To Recover This Yr
- Boustead Singapore unit wins 2 contracts
   worth 14 mln usd from Indonesia cos

Indonesia firms see little H2 investment - c.bank

JAKARTA, July 18 (Reuters) - Only a fifth of Indonesian manufacturers
expect to make new investments in the second half amid worries over
the unstable rupiah currency and high domestic interest rates, a
central bank survey showed on Tuesday.

The results of the survey of 111 manufacturing companies underscored
market expectations that weak investment, already way below that of
other Asian countries, is likely to continue to be a drag on Southeast
Asia's biggest economy.

Investment accounted for only 22 percent of gross domestic product
(GDP) in the $290 billion economy in 2005. This compared with 32
percent in Vietnam and 40 percent in China, according to a World Bank
report.

"Policies which are badly needed to boost investments are interest
rate cuts and stability in the rupiah currency," said the survey on
investment expectations which was conducted between the end of June
and mid-July.

Some investors say graft, red tape, an unfriendly bureaucracy, tough
labour laws and an unreliable legal system make Indonesia a poor
choice for investments compared with regional rivals.

The survey also showed that for those manufacturing firms planning new
investment in the second half of the year, such as in new machinery
and plant, they expect their financing sources to come equally from
banks and non-banks.

Manufacturing accounts for a third of the country's GDP.

For those planning to finance new investments from non-bank sources,
most expect to do so using internal funding sources, the survey
showed.

The central bank earlier this month cut the key one-month BI rate
<BIPG> by 25 basis points to 12.25 percent, the second cut since it
was introduced last July, partly due to a strengthening of the rupiah
<IDR=>. But the rate remained among Asia's highest.

The rupiah, one of the most volatile currencies in Asia, was hit hard
during emerging market sell-off in May, but it has since largely
recovered. It was quoted at 9,225 per dollar late on Tuesday, or up
almost 7 percent so far this year.

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Indonesia Jan-July 7 budget spending 247.52 trln rupiah; surplus 283.59 bln

JAKARTA, July 18 (XFN-ASIA) - Actual state budget spending during the
seven months to July 7 amounted to 247.52 trln rupiah, or just 38 pct
of the full-year forecast spending of 647.67 trln, the Ministry of
Finance said.

Actual revenue over the same period reached 247.81 trln rupiah, or
39.63 pct of the full-year revenue forecast, resulting in a budget
surplus of 283. 59 bln rupiah.

The government initially projected a budget deficit of 22 trln rupiah
this year, or 0.7 pct of GDP, but has recently proposed to parliament
to revise this up to 37.63 trln rupiah or 1.2 pct of GDP due to
bigger-than-expected spending for education, quake reconstruction,
subsidies and interest payments.

The full-year revenue forecast was also revised up to 651.91 trln

rupiah while expenditure is now forecast to reach 689.54 trln.

The statement said tax revenue from January to July 7 reached 192.22
trln rupiah or 46.17 pct of the full-year forecast, while non-tax
revenue amounted to 54.92 trln.

On the expenditure side, the ministry said the largest item during the
period was debt repayment, which amounted to 39.20 trln rupiah, mostly
for domestic debt service.

Other major expenses included 38.28 trln rupiah on personnel
expenditure, 14.65 trln on goods procurement, 13.99 trln on capital
goods and 10.30 trln on subsidies.

The relatively slow budget utilization was partly to blame for slow
GDP growth so far this year.

Darmin Nasution, director general for taxation at the Ministry of
Finance, has said slow spending was happening in almost all government
departments, and he blamed this partly on tighter procurement system.

On budget financing, the ministry said actual domestic financing
during the period reached 25.98 trln rupiah or 51.02 pct of the
initial full-year target, mainly from treasury bond sales.

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Indonesia's Indofood to launch IPO of Salim Ivomas by yr end - report

JAKARTA, July 18 (XFN-ASIA) - Noodle maker PT Indofood Sukses Makmur
plans to float its 80-pct subsidiary PT Salim Ivomas Pratama by the
end of 2006, after merging the subsidiary's cooking oil units and
related businesses, Bisnis Indonesia reported.

"The companies will be merged before the IPO is launched. We have set
the IPO for the end of this year," the report cited Indofood's deputy
president Fransiscus Welirang as saying.

Welirang gave no further details of the IPO plans

The units to be merged into Salim Ivomas are PT Inti Boga Sejahtera,
PT Bitung Manado Oil Industry, PT Sawitra Oil Grains, PT Pratiwimba
Utama and PT Gentala Artamas, the company said earlier.

Salim Ivomas runs palm oil plantations while the five units are
involved in business ranging from the processing of cooking oil to
trading of crude palm oil.

Indofood will hold a shareholders meeting on Aug 16 to seek approval
for the plan, the report said.

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Stock watch - Indonesia's Indofood higher on merger of units, IPO plan

JAKARTA, July 18 (XFN-ASIA) - Shares of noodle maker PT Indofood were
higher in active midmorning trade after a report that the company
plans to float shares in one of its units by the end of this year,
dealers said.

The company is planning to float its 80 pct subsidiary PT Salim Ivomas
Pratama by the end of 2006, Bisnis Indonesia reported. The company
earlier said it will merge its cooking oil units and related
businesses into Salim Ivomas.

The units to be merged into Salim Ivomas are PT Inti Boga Sejahtera,
PT Bitung Manado Oil Industry, PT Sawitra Oil Grains, PT Pratiwimba
Utama and PT Gentala Artama.

At 10.29 am, Indofood was up 10 rupiah or 1.11 pct at 910 on trade of
12 mln shares.

The composite index was down 0.461 points at 1,283.488, off a high of
1, 294.156, on volume of 531.749 mln shares valued at 299.632 bln
rupiah.

Willy Sanjaya, an analyst with PT Mahakarya Artha Securities, said
investors are buying Indofood shares on a report that the company
plans to launch an IPO of one of its subsidiaries, Salim Ivomas
Pratama.

"Indofood is expanding aggressively in the edible oil sector as it
sees that demand for the product will continue to increase. This
should improve its bottom line in the medium term," he said.

He said the merger of the company's units is a positive step as the
merged companies will be able to operate in a more cohesive way.

"The IPO of the Indofood unit will also intensify competition in this
sector, which is currently dominated by Astra Agro Lestari, London
Sumatra and Bakrie Sumatra," Sanjaya said.

He said positive sentiment in the company was also boosted by the
outcome of its eurobond buyback case. The UK Court of Appeal had
earlier granted Indofood's petition to overturn a High Court decision,
which had disallowed the company to make an early redemption of its
280 mln usd eurobonds at par.

Sanjaya added he heard that Indofood was also planning to acquire a
noodle company in Malaysia. "If the plan is realised, this would
certainly boost the company's noodle output and help expand its noodle
market in that neighbouring country," he said.

Indofood has said it plans to buy the instant noodle production
facility of Medan Pulangan Sdn Bhd in Malaysia for 11 mln rgt. Medan
Pulangan owns two noodle production lines with a combined annual
capacity of 230 mln packs, as well as a production line for
seasonings.

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Indonesia's Indofood ratings withdrawn on company's request - S&P

JAKARTA, July 18 (XFN-ASIA) - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services today
said it has withdrawn its "B" corporate credit rating on PT Indofood
Sukses Makmur at the company's request.

At the same time, S&P also withdrew its issue rating of "B" on the 280
mln usd notes issued by Indofood International Finance Ltd. The notes,
which were guaranteed by Indofood, have been fully redeemed by the
company.

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

Indonesia's Astra Agro palm oil H1 sales up 23 pct

JAKARTA, July 18 (Reuters) - Indonesia's PT Astra Agro Lestari Tbk
said on Tuesday its sales of crude palm oil (CPO) in the first half of
2006 rose 23 percent to 476,597 tonnes, compared to the previous year,
thanks to higher output.

High overseas demand boosted Astra Agro exports by 58.2 percent to
166,559 tonnes, or around 35 percent of total sales.

It aimed to export 450,000 tonnes of CPO, mostly to India.

Astra Agro has said palm oil output in the first half grew 14 percent
to 470,718 tonnes, due to an increase in harvested fresh fruit
bunches. The firm planned to produce 950,000 tonnes of palm oil this
year.

In the first six months, the company's average price rose 2.3 percent
to 3,351 rupiah ($0.361) per kg, driven by the strengthening of global
palm and soyoil prices.

Astra Agro is a subsidiary of the country's leading auto retailer, PT
Astra International Tbk (ASII.JK>. It has around 200,000 hectares of
palm oil plantations in Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan.

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Indonesia Sumatra H1 coffee exports fall 30 pct

JAKARTA, July 18 (Reuters) - Coffee bean exports from Sumatra island,
Indonesia's key coffee-growing belt, fell 30 percent in the first half
of the year due to lower output, industry data showed on Tuesday.

Coffee bean exports fell to 100,358 tonnes in the first six months of
the year from 143,213 tonnes in the same period last year.

June exports alone fell 36 percent to 22,006 tonnes, from 34,582
tonnes a year ago.

The beans were sold via Panjang port, in the country's key growing
belt of Lampung province on Sumatra island.

Industry officials have said Indonesia's coffee bean exports were
expected to fall 30 percent to 245,000 tonnes in 2006 as heavy rains
have cut output in the world's fourth-largest producer.

Output is expected to drop 30 percent to 315,000 tonnes from around
450,000 tonnes last year because of wet weather.

Robusta constitutes 85 percent of Indonesia's coffee output, while the
rest is aromatic and high-value arabica. Lampung accounts for
three-quarters of Indonesia's coffee bean output.

Indonesia is the world's third-largest robusta producer after Vietnam
and Brazil.

Following are details of Lampung's exports:

                           2006             2005        Pct chg
                        (tonnes)        (tonnes)         y/y
 
 January          19,694.43    19,052.92      3.13
 February        19,587.66    22,589.56    -13.29
 March            11,944.15    22,555.48    -47.10
 April              10,574.98    19,408.48    -45.51
 May               16,551.36    25,024.66    -33.86
 June               22,005.65    34,581.58    -36.37

 Total           100,358.23   143,212.68    -29.92

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Current drought in Indonesia not a worry: Agriculture Minister

JAKARTA, July 18 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Agriculture Minister Anton
Apriyantono said here on Monday that it was not necessary to worry
about this year`s drought because it would only affect rain-fed paddy
fields.

"Now (July-August), it is harvest time in which most farmers in
Sumatra and Java are harvesting their crops. The drought only affects
rain-fed paddy fields. This is normal in a drought," he said at the
Vice Presidential office here after attending the installation of the
Association of Indonesian Orchid Lovers.

The minister said that the drought had also affected some of the
technically-irrigated paddy fields especially areas far from water
resources, but most of the problems have already been overcome.

Some of the farmers should not have planted their rice in rain-fed
paddy fields, Anton said, adding that farmers should not grow rice
even in the technically-irrigated paddy fields during the drought.

He said farmers should not grow rice in three consecutive planting
seasons a year, but in two consecutive planting seasons followed by
planting of second crops.

The minister said that during this year`s drought, some 16,000
hectares of rice fields may have been damaged.

"It (the damage) only happens in the current harvest time. In a year,
however, we have 11.5 million hectares of rice-fields to harvest, so
there is no need for worry," Anton added.

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Indonesia's BNI cuts profit forecast to 1.8 trln rupiah from 2.5 trln - report

JAKARTA, July 18 (XFN-ASIA) - State owned PT Bank Negara Indonesia has
cut its net profit forecast for this year to 1.8 trln rupiah from an
initial projection of 2.5 trln amid weak credit growth, Bisnis
Indonesia cited company president Sigit Pramono as saying.

Pramono added that in the first half, the bank posted gross profit of
1.8 trln rupiah.

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Indonesia's Garuda plans to float 37.5 pct of its shares in 2010 - report

JAKARTA, July 18 (XFN-ASIA) - National flag carrier PT Garuda
Indonesia plans to float 37.5 pct of its shares via an initial public
offering (IPO) in 2010, Bisnis Indonesia reported, citing an unnamed
company executive.

"The share sale will be part of our efforts to improve the healthiness
of the company," the executive said.

He said Garuda's management also plans to sell 5 DC-10 aircraft and a
branch office in Brussels, as part of efforts to restructure the
company.

The executive added that the airline has begun debt restructuring
talks with its main creditor Export Credit Agency (ECA) in Jakarta,
but he gave no further details.

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Garuda to resume flights to Middle East and Europe

JAKARTA, July 18 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - State-owned air carrier Garuda
Indonesia said it will resume flights to the Middle East and Europe
after they were halted for several years as a result of the economic
crisis in the country.

"We hope to resume flights between Jakarta and Dubai early next year
to be followed with flights to a number of cities in Europe,"
Executive Vice President for Operation Ari Sapari said.

Ari said he was confident the flights to Dubai will be profitable with
the growing number of air passengers between Jakarta and the Middle
East.

Currently, there is no Indonesian airline providing services from
Jakarta to the Middle East while many foreign airlines are seeking to
fly from that region to Indonesia, he said.

In April this year, Garuda resumed flights between Bali and Seoul
which had been halted since September 2004.

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Emirates to boost flight to Jakarta

JAKARTA, July 18 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Emirates Airlines will continue
to increase flights to Indonesia prompted by a growing number of air
passengers from the Middle East to Indonesia.

Richard Vaughan, senior vice president of Emirates for East Asia and
Australia, noted the number of business travelers between Dubai and
Jakarta had been growing over the past several years.

Vaughan said Emirates had already increased flights between the Middle
East and Indonesia in he past several years

Currently Emirates has the highest frequency of flights among
international airlines serving the route, flying between Dubai and
Jakarta 10 times per week, he said.

The frequency of flights will soon be increased to 14 times a week,
Emirates area manager for Indonesia John Rotikan said.

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PT KAI to buy 160 railway carriages  from Japan

JAKARTA, July 18 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - State-owned railway company PT.
Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) signed a contract to buy 160 second hand
coaches from Japan with the first shipment of 16 units scheduled to
arrive in Indonesia on July 21.

"PT. KAI`s 2006-2007 program covers the purchase of 160 railway
coaches from Japan. Although second hand, they are still in good
condition," PT. KAI spokesman Akhmad Sujadi said here Monday.

According to Sujadi, the 160 coaches will be purchased under a short
term project aimed at increasing the number of railway carriages, and
disposing of old ones.

He said the price of each coach is Rp800 million (US$87,273), so that
the 160 units will cost a total of Rp128 billion.

He said the first batch of coaches would be modified so that it would
be at least two weeks before being put into operation.

PT. KAI currently has about 400 electric train coaches, but only 273
are in operation.

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Indonesia's Bimantara sees H1 net profit rising to 160 bln rupiah from 6.15 
bln

JAKARTA, July 18 (XFN-ASIA) - PT Bimantara Citra expects its net
profit rising to 160 bln rupiah in the first half to June from 6.15
bln a year ago as most of its business units reported good earnings,
company president Harry Tanoesoedibyo said.

"The bottom line is around 160 bln rupiah. All units performed well,"
he told reporters, without elaborating further.

In the first half of last year, Bimantara booked sales of 1.12 trln
rupiah and operating profit of 92.76 bln. Despite the good operating
results, however, the bottom line was pressured by heavy foreign
exchange losses and interest payments.

Bimantara's major earnings contributor is broadcasting firm PT
Rajawali Citra Televisi (RCTI).

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Deutsche Bk Paves Way For Indonesia Media Nusantara Bond

SINGAPORE, July 18 (Dow Jones)--Deutsche Bank AG has sent investors
pre-deal research on PT Media Nusantara Citra to pave the way for a
U.S. dollar bond from the Indonesian media firm.

Deutsche Bank AG will be the bookrunner on the bond, with further
support lent by Indonesian bank AAA Sekuritas, a person familiar with
the subject said Tuesday.

Market talk has it that the borrower is looking for a US$100 million
deal, although the person said the size and timing are still to be
determined.

Media Nusantara is part of PT Bimantara Citra Tbk. (BMTR.JK)

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Indonesia Mobile-8 To Sell 20% Stake In IPO Sept Or Oct

JAKARTA, July 18 (Dow Jones)--Indonesia's cellular phone operator PT
Mobile-8 Telecom plans to sell up to 20% of its shares in an initial
public offering scheduled for September or October, a senior official
at Mobile-8's parent PT Bimantara Citra (BMTR.JK) said Tuesday.

"We plan to launch the IPO of Mobile-8 by the end of the third quarter
or in October of this year. The proceeds from the IPO will be used to
develop our business," Bimantara Citra President Director Hary
Tanusudibjo told reporters.

Diversified holding Bimantara Citra owns 70.5% of Mobile-8.

PT Danareksa Sekuritas and BNP Paribas Peregrine are the underwriters
for the IPO, he added.

He didn't mention the value of the IPO.

As of June 30, Mobile-8, which uses Code Division Multiple Access, or
CDMA, technology, had around 1.4 million subscribers.

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Malaysia's Astro says MEASAT-3 satellite to be ready by end-Q1 2007 - UPDATE

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 (XFN-ASIA) - Astro All Asia Networks Plc said
its MEASAT-3 (M3) satellite is expected to be ready by the end of the
first quarter of 2007.

The pay-TV operator said it plans to add a further 50-60 new channels
upon the satellite's successful launch.

Astro Group chief executive officer Ralph Marshall told reporters
after a company annual meeting that he expects Astro's content cost in
the current year to be around 15-20 mln rgt, following M-3's launch.

He said the company plans to re-package its current products and
expects the new products line-up to enhance its average revenue per
subscriber (ARPU).

"These new services, including more pay- and premium-programming, will
help mitigate the continuing degradation in Astro's average revenue
per subscriber (ARPU)," Rohana Rozhan, chief executive officer of
Astro TV, said.

Asked about Astro's Indonesian operations, Marshall said the terms and
conditions of the Indonesian pay-TV joint venture are currently being
finalized.

Astro will be taking a 20 pct stake in the joint venture, in
compliance with the country's broadcasting law, he said.

In the mean time, PT Direct Vision, the joint venture company,
launched 48 channels, including five locally produced Indonesian
channels, using the Astro trademark under licensing arrangements, he
added.

"The group already has working relationships with the leading content
players in India, Indonesia and China to create and aggregate content,
as well as tap their extensive libraries for distribution on our
platforms in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei," he said.

That includes five new Malay language channels and a Chinese language
general entertainment channel, which were already launched in
Indonesia earlier this year, he added.

He also said the company plans to allocate an investment of about 500
mln rgt to its Indonesian operations over the next three to five
years.

On a group basis, Marshall said the company plans to allocate an
annual budget of some 300 mln rgt to develop local content to support
its regional platform's future growth.

Marshall also said the company is in advanced discussions with
strategic partners on various initiatives in India, including
participation in a nationwide consortium of radio networks.

"We expect to finalize partnership arrangements in the coming months.
Appropriate announcements will be made in due course," he added.

Referring to financial prospects, Marshall said 2007 will be a year of
consolidation for Astro, given that plans to venture into new markets,
efforts to improve its customer relationship management (CRM) and
billing system issues, and the launch of new contents and services,
could create cost pressure.

For the first quarter to April, Astro posted a net profit of 90.48 mln
rgt on sales of 523.02 mln rgt, compared with 39.81 mln rgt on sales
of 473. 24 mln rgt a year earlier.

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Honda's Indonesian Unit Sales Unlikely To Recover This Yr

JAKARTA, July 18 (Dow Jones)--The Indonesian automotive industry is
unlikely to recover completely before the end of the year, as high
interest rates continue to hurt demand, said Kenji Otaka, president
director of PT Honda Prospect Motor, Tuesday.

The Indonesian automotive industry has shown modest growth since May,
Otaka told Dow Jones Newswires, but added that the current interest
rate level is not favorable for customers yet.

Bank Indonesia's benchmark one-month rate now stands at 12.25%.

Vehicle sales increased to 23,077 units in May from 22,576 in April.
Sales rose further to 24,546 in June, but sales for both May and June
were down significantly from the corresponding months last year. The
company last year sold 51,208 vehicles in May and 49,355 in June.

Sales in Indonesia's auto industry fell 49% in the first half of 2006
after sharp increases in fuel prices last October.

Automative companies in Indonesia expect sales to drop to between
300,000 and 350,000 this year from 533,922 in 2005.

Otaka said that the company, in which Japan's Honda Motor Co.
(7267.TO) has a 49% stake, will likely continue to hold around 10% of
the market share, which it attained in 2005 when it sold 53,750 units.

He added that the company will introduce "affordable" new types of
mini sedans and mini multipurpose vehicles in the future to help boost
sales, but declined to give details relating to design and when the
new vehicles would be released.

He also said that the new vehicles will likely belong to the same
class as the current best selling Honda City mini sedan and Honda Jazz
mini MPV.

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Boustead Singapore unit wins 2 contracts worth 14 mln usd from Indonesia cos

SINGAPORE, July 18 (XFN-ASIA) - Boustead Singapore Ltd said its unit
PT Boustead Maxitherm Industries has won two contracts worth about 14
mln usd in Indonesia.

Under the first contract PT Boustead will build a solid waste energy
recovery system for PT PG Rajawali II while under the second, it will
build of a cold storage facility for PT Wachyuni Mandira.

Boustead said it expects to complete 70 pct of the value of the
contracts within the year to March 2007.

"The latest solid waste energy recovery project will add onto our
growing order book for energy-related engineering, which we view as a
key growth driver for Boustead," Boustead group CEO and chairman Wong
Fong Fui said in a statement.

The company said the contracts are expected to have a positive impact
on profitability and earnings per share but not on net asset value per
share for the year to March 2007.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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