ASF to issue Rp 1t in bonds
ASF to issue Rp 1t in bonds
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Financing company PT Astra Sedaya Finance (ASF) plans to issue
a Rp 1 trillion (US$107.18 million) worth of bonds in October to
help increase automobile sales.
The company, which is the financing unit of the country's
largest automotive producer PT Astra Internasional, plans to use
the proceeds from the bonds issuance to provide more loans for
consumers wishing to buy cars and motorcycles.
ASF president director Gunawan Geniusahardja told reporters on
Friday that his company expected higher amount of loans, reaching
up to Rp 7 trillion by the end of the year.
The loans, said Gunawan, would also be financed by internal
funds and bank borrowing.
The new bonds will have a variety of tenures, ranging from one
year to four years. The company has appointed Andalan Artha
Advisindo Securities and PT Trimegah Securities as the
underwriters.
The planned sale, which will be registered at the Surabaya
Stock Exchange, is the second for ASF in recent years after the
previous sale of Rp 500 billion in bonds.
Automotive sales have been escalating this year, spurred on by
the availability of low-interest loans. Car sales for 2004 are
expected to reach a record high of more than 420,000 units, while
the figure is expected to be 3.6 million for motorcycles.
Encouraged by the strong demand, the financial arms of
automotive companies are aggressively looking for more funds, so
they can lend more.
On Monday, financing company PT Indomobil Finance Indonesia
announced its plan to issue Rp 300 billion worth of bonds in
October, which will be followed with another bond issuance of Rp
750 billion. The firm revised upward its target of financing for
2004 by 100 percent from last year to Rp 1.4 trillion.
Another financial arm of Astra, Federal International Finance
(FIF), announced last month its plan to issue Rp 500 billion
bonds.
Despite the various bond offers, Gunawan is confident that the
market would welcome ASF's planned bonds.
"I'm optimistic that our bonds will be welcomed because we
target a different market segment. The FIF, for example, focuses
on Honda motorcycle buyers, while we eye the market outside of
Honda," said Gunawan.