Astra International begins paying debts
Astra International begins paying debts
JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed PT Astra International announced
on Wednesday it had begun repaying its debt nearly three months
ahead of the schedule stipulated in its 1999 debt restructuring
agreement.
Astra corporate secretary Aminuddin also said in a statement
nearly all of Astra's subsidiaries had completed the
restructuring of their respective debts.
"We have made the first (payment) installment amounting to
US$66.7 million and Rp 66.3 billion ($7.6 million) ahead of the
December deadline, because our cash flow is quite robust,"
Aminuddin said.
He said 12 Astra subsidiaries had completely restructured
their debts, while debt restructuring agreements for two other
subsidiaries -- PT Tjahja Sakti Motor, the assembler and sole
agent in the country for BMW cars, and heavy equipment company PT
United Tractors, which have combined debts of $333.5 million and
Rp 147 billion -- were being finalized.
The 12 Astra subsidiaries which have completed their debt
restructuring are: the publicly listed PT Astra Graphia, PT
Sumalindo Lestari Jaya and PT Astra Otoparts, and PT Fuji
Technica Indonesia, PT Traktor Nusantara, PT Federal
International Finance, PT Berau Coal, PT United Tractors Pandu
Engineering, PT Pamapersada Nusantara, PT Pandu Dayatama Patria
and PT SAN Finance.
Aminuddin added that Himawan Surya resigned from Astra
International's board of directors early last month, and his
position had been assumed by Prijono Sugiarto, the current
president of PT Multi France Motor and PT Tjahja Sakti Motor.
In a related development, the Automobile Industry Association
reported that Astra International's sales of cars and trucks --
Toyota, Daihatsu, Isuzu, BMW, Peugeot and Nissan -- totaled
91,504 units in the first eight months of the year, up 493
percent from the 18,562 units sold in the corresponding period
the previous year. The company's vehicle exports, mainly Toyota
and Daihatsu, in the same period reached 32,225 units, up from
the 18,446 units exported over the same period in 1999.
The association added that Astra's motorcycle (Honda) sales in
the period under review rose to 277,844 units, up 86 percent from
the previous year.