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

;Agencies; ANPAf..r.. 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

;Agencies; ANPAf..r.. 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

;Agencies; ANPAf..r.. 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; ANPAf..r.. 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