Astra moves back to the top of Review 200 rankings

Astra moves back to the top of Review 200 rankings

JAKARTA (JP): After sliding to second place last year, Astra
International reclaims its customary position at the top of the
Review 200: Asia's Leading Companies listings for Indonesia, the
Far Eastern Economic Review reports in its December 28 edition.

The survey, in association with AT&T and Concert (the global
venture of AT&T and BT) and conducted by AC Nielsen International
Research (Hong Kong), reflects this time around the perceived
performances of 208 multinational companies in Asia and between
23 and 34 local companies in each of 11 countries.

Each was judged according to the REVIEW's readers' sense of
product or service quality, long-term management vision,
innovation in responding to customer needs, financial soundness,
and whether others try to emulate it.

Industrial conglomerate Astra International has been helped by
a sharp recovery in its core business -- cars. The size of
Indonesia's total vehicle market more than tripled to 300,000
units in 2000. Astra makes the popular Kijang minivan in
collaboration with Japan's Toyota.

Astra President Theodore Rachmat also attributes the company's
improved performance to debt restructuring in 1999 and the sale
in March of a 23 percent stake to Singapore's Cycle and Carriage.

But prospects for next year are still uncertain. Analysts do
not expect the buoyancy in sales to last.

Rising a notch to second place is Indofood, the world's
largest noodle maker by volume. The company is using its economy
of scale from its dominance in Indonesia's noodle market to
launch forays into the region.

Cigarette maker Sampoerna vaulted up three places to third.
Two other tobacco companies, last year's top-ranking company
Gudang Garam (fourth) and Djarum (eight) are keeping their
position. All three benefit from relatively inelastic demand
among Indonesia's roughly 100 million smokers, which allows the
companies to protect margins by passing on higher costs to
consumers.

Rounding off the top five is telephone company Indosat. The
state-owned firm benefits from its virtual monopoly on both
incoming and outgoing IDD calls. In addition, it has branched off
into providing cellular phone services and has another quality
that makes it something of a rarity in Indonesia's scarred
corporate landscape -- it is debt-free. Indosat also owns a 30
percent stake in cellular service provider Telkomsel, which
debuts this year in ninth place.

Another newcomer to the list is pharmaceutical company Tempo
Scan Pacific. By sourcing its raw materials from low-cost
countries, Tempo has been able to keep prices lower than its
multinational rivals such as Hoechst and Bayer. Its top-selling
drug, Bodrex, is used by millions of Indonesians to treat fevers,
headaches, and the common cold.

Completing the list are two more newcomers, Sosro (seventh)
and SCTV (tenth). Sosro is often called "the Coca-Cola of the
bottled tea business." The unlisted company has an extensive
marketing network that delivers its familiar Teh Botol bottles to
virtually every part of Indonesia. But it is also saddled with a
large amount of debt. SCTV's debut reflects the return to
profitability of television channels. Many see it as particularly
good at offering viewers quality news programming.

REVIEW 200's top 10 Indonesian companies this year are, in
ranking order: Astra International, Indofood, Sampoerna, Gudang
Garam, Indosat, Tempo, Sosro, Djarum, Telkomsel, and SCTV.(03)