Astra Agro pays dividend

Astra Agro pays dividend

JAKARTA (JP): Shareholders of the publicly listed PT Astra
Agro Lestari approved on Monday the management's proposal to pay
a total dividend of Rp 85 (about 1 U.S. cent) per share for the
1998 financial year.

The company paid the interim Rp 60 dividend last November and
will pay the remaining Rp 20 dividend on July 5.

The company said the shareholders also approve in the annual
shareholders meeting the issuance of one bonus share for every
five shares held by existing holders.

Astra Agro's shareholders approved the appointment of Danny
Walla as the new president replacing Benny Subianto.

Rini Suwandi, currently the president of Astra International
was also appointed as chief commissioner, replacing Theodore
Rachmat.

Benny will be promoted to the board of commissioners.

Astra Agro's net profit jumped by 146.6 percent to Rp 223.4
billion in 1998 from Rp 90.6 billion the previous year.

The soaring profit resulted from an increase in net sales to
Rp 853.7 billion from Rp 459 billion the previous year.

Sales of crude palm oil (CPO) made up 91.6 percent of the
company's revenue last year. (udi)