Astra sells stake in Sumalindo

Astra sells stake in Sumalindo

JAKARTA: PT Astra International said Monday it has sold a
74.56 percent stake in plywood producer PT Sumalindo Lestari Jaya
for Rp 13.98 billion (US$1.23 million) to unlisted PT Sumber
Graha Sejahtera.

The sale and purchase agreement for Sumalindo was signed
Monday in Jakarta, Astra said in a statement.

Analysts in Jakarta say the sale of Sumalindo is also in line
with the company's plan to sell assets and issue rights shares to
refinance its debt.

Astra, which is 32 percent owned by Singapore's Cycle &
Carriage Ltd., has debt worth $726 million and Rp 881 billion,
with annual payments due until 2006.

The company needs to restructure its debt after admitting it
will have trouble meeting the debt payments due later this year
and in 2003. Astra will have debt worth Rp 165 billion and $135
million maturing by December. -- Dow Jones

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ANPAf..r..
CorporateBrief-Pegadaian-profit
Pegadaian posts Rp 57b in profit
JP/14/brief

Pegadaian posts Rp 57b in profit

JAKARTA: Indonesia's state-owned pawnshop operator Perum
Pegadaian boosted its net profit to Rp 57.95 billion (around
US$6.2 million) in the first six months of the year from Rp 31.42
billion a year earlier, it said Monday.

The company added revenues rose to Rp 370.22 billion in the
first six months of the year from Rp 250.70 billion a year
earlier.

It added its equity rose to Rp 534.96 billion from Rp 452.18
billion, whereas total liabilities increased to Rp 1.79 trillion
from Rp 1.38 trillion mostly because the company issued Rp 300
billion of bonds earlier this year.

Pegadaian bonds are among the most frequently traded in the
local secondary bond market. -- Dow Jones

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CorporateBrief-CPC-oil
CPC to raise oil prices by 5.55%
JP/14/brief

CPC to raise oil prices by 5.55%

TAIPEI: Taiwan's state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp. said Monday
it is raising its gasoline and diesel prices an average of 5.55
percent from Tuesday due to rising global oil prices.

Unleaded gasoline will be raised by NT$1.0 (US$29) per liter
and diesel by $0.5, a company statement said.

Separately, it is raising the fuel oil price by NT$180 or an
average 2.59 percent per kiloliter.

Such price hikes have been driven by higher global crude oil
prices, with an increase of $1.0 in the crude oil price
translating to an increase in costs for the company by NT$7.0
billion a year.

The company should have raised the gasoline price by over
NT$2.0 per liter to fully mirror the higher crude oil price if
negative impacts on consumers and economy were not taken into
consideration, it added. -- AFP

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CorporateBrief-ATV-China
ATV allowed to broadcast in China
JP/14/brief

ATV allowed to broadcast in China

HONG KONG: Hong Kong-based Asia Television Ltd. (ATV) said
Monday it will become the territory's first TV station in
mainland China after gaining approval to broadcast in southern
Guangdong province.

ATV said in a statement it has been given approval by the
State Administration for Radio, Film and Television to beam its
two free-to-air channels -- ATV World and ATV Home -- to the
Pearl River Delta region.

Chief executive Chan Wing-kee hailed the approval as a "giant
step forward" that will boost ATV's future business development
and provide it with more opportunities to cooperate with other
stations in Guangdong.

However, Chan maintained ATV would remain a local television
station and that is programs would continue to cater to the
tastes of Hong Kong viewers. -- AFP

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ANPAf..r..
CorporateBrief-Opel-forecast
Opel revises loss forecast lower
JP/14/brief

Opel revises loss forecast lower

FRANKFURT: Troubled German automaker Opel is expected to
record losses of 400 million euros (around US$392 million) this
year, down from 500 million in previous company forecasts, the
Handelsblatt newspaper reported Monday.

Quoting sources close to the company, the paper said the
German arm of U.S. giant General Motors had revised down its
losses following better sales in the first seven months of 2002
and increased orders by the end of the year.

"It is too early to confirm the figures. But we have always
said that we were going to greatly reduce our operating losses
for this year and we are now in that position," Opel spokesman
Ulrich Weber told AFP.

Opel lost 674 million euros last year, but has enacted a vast
cost-cutting program. -- AFP

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ANPAf..r..
CorporateBrief-Hitachi-Seiki-collapses
JP/14/brief

Hitachi Seiki collapses: report

TOKYO: Japanese industry machinery maker Hitachi Seiki Co.
Ltd. sought court protection from creditors on Monday buried
under liabilities of US$427 million, Kyodo News agency said.

Hitachi Seiki applied for the Civil Rehabilitation Law as it
could no longer bear the brunt of plunging sales caused by the
bursting of the nation's bubble economy in the early 1990s, Kyodo
said.

The company also cited the yen's appreciation against the
dollar and stagnant economic activity overseas, it said.

Hitachi Seki's liabilities totaled 50.4 billion yen on a
parent-only basis as of the end of June.

The company, controlled 5.7 percent by Nissan Fire and Marine
Insurance and 4.8 percent by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, has no
capital relationship with electronics giant Hitachi Ltd. -- AFP