Astra Q1 earning slides 24%

Astra Q1 earning slides 24%

JAKARTA: Indonesia's car maker PT Astra International said on
Wednesday its net profit for the first quarter of this year slid
24 percent to Rp 842.31 billion (US$96.8 million) from Rp 1.114
trillion during the same period last year.

The company attributed the fall to lower foreign exchange
gains which slumped to Rp 27.68 billion from Rp 540.60 billion
last year.

Like many Indonesian companies, Astra's bottom-line is
affected by the rupiah's fluctuations against the dollar due to
its offshore borrowing.

The rupiah appreciated 10 percent between late March, 2002 and
March 31 this year.

Sales rose 5.8 percent to Rp 7.671 trillion from Rp 7.249
trillion last year.

Astra, which has a joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp. (TM)
to assemble and distribute the Japanese company's vehicles in
Indonesia, sold 34,563 cars in the first three months of this
year. That was around 42 percent of total national car sales.

Astra didn't offer comments on its performance.
Singapore's Cycle & Carriage Ltd. is Astra's major shareholder
with a 34.3 percent stake. Dow Jones

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CorporateBrief-services-Dubai-Asussie
Emirates bids to expand services
JP/14/brief

Emirates bids to expand services

SYDNEY: Dubai-based carrier Emirates is to press the
Australian government to allow an expansion of services between
Dubai and Australia, airline officials said Wednesday.

The move comes as Emirates experiences increased business on
its non-stop Perth to Dubai services as passengers seek to avoid
stopping in Asian hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong which are
affected by the SARS virus.

Emirates says it now wants to build on recently increased
Sydney flights and the introduction in October of services to
Brisbane by increasing its Melbourne and Sydney services to twice
a day.

A spokeswoman in Melbourne said Emirates chairman, Sheikh
Ahmed Lbin Saeed Al-Maktoum, will visit Canberra soon to argue
for a lifting of existing restrictions in Australia's air
services agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The move is expected to be strongly opposed by Australian flag
carrier Qantas, which is having to cut staff and trim costs
because of a downturn caused by fears terrorism and SARS in Asia.
-- AFP

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CorporateBrief-DB-increase-loan-losses
DB raises loan loss provisions
JP/14/brief

DB raises loan loss provisions

FRANKFURT: Deutsche Bank, the biggest bank in Germany, said on
Wednesday it increased its provisions for loan losses in the
first three months of the current year as the persistent
political and economic uncertainties continued to weigh on
lending and the financial markets.

Deutsche Bank said in its interim report that loan loss
provisions amounted to 380 million euro (US$421 million) in the
period from January to March, up from 270 million euro a year
earlier.

"This year started with persistent political and economic
uncertainties," chairman Josef Ackermann wrote in a letter to
shareholders prefacing the report.

Against the background of the war in Iraq, "investors remained
reticent towards new larger-scale commitments. In the lending
environment, too, there was still no clear signs of a let-up. The
climate on the financial markets has not yet improved
substantially." -- AFP

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CorporateBrief-HugoBoss-net-profit
Hugo Boss net profit slumps
JP/14/brief

Hugo Boss net profit slumps

METZINGEN, Germany: German fashion house Hugo Boss said
Wednesday its net profit fell by 17 percent in the first three
months of the current year on falling revenues.

Hugo Boss said in a statement its net profit amounted to 44
million euro (US$49 million) in the period from January to March,
down from 53 million euro a year earlier.

Revenues were down five percent at 340 million euro, not least
because of the strong euro, the statement said.

Using stable exchange rates, revenues would have fallen by
just 0.2 percent to 358 million euro.

Hugo Boss reiterated its forecast of stable sales for the
whole of 2003 and an increase of at least 10 percent in net
profit.

Growth would already begin to materialise in the second
quarter, the company predicted.

In 2002, Hugo Boss's net profit fell by 31 percent to 74.7
million euro. -- AFP

;Agencies;
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CorporateBrief-Qantas-normal-flights
Qantas to restore normal flights
JP/14/brief

Qantas to restore normal flights

SINGAPORE: Qantas Airways Ltd. hopes to restore flight
capacity to normal within 12 months if the SARS situation
continues to improve, chief executive Geoff Dixon said here on
Wednesday.

Bookings have been "mildly going up but generally it's still
very, very flat," he told reporters during a visit to Changi
Airport to check thermal scanners used to monitor passengers for
fever, a symptom of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

Qantas has cut capacity by about 20 percent after passenger
volumes plunged due to the US-led war in Iraq and the health
scare spawned by the SARS outbreak which has prompted tourists to
shun East Asia.

He said the Australian carrier will "make a decision in the
next three to four weeks on what our flying patterns will be in
the next 18 months," but it can only guess how long the SARS
outbreak will last. -- AFP