Bank Arta goes public

JAKARTA (JP): East Java-based PT Bank Arta Niaga Kencana will sell about 500 million new shares to the public this month to raise funds to finance its expansion program.

The bank said that the new shares would be sold for about Rp 500 (about 0.6 U.S. cents) during the initial public offering scheduled for Oct 11-13.

About 54 percent of the proceeds from the IPI will be used to open several branches in Java, 40 percent to strengthen working capital and the other 6 percent for the improvement of banking technology, the bank said.

Bank Arta's net profit significantly increased to Rp 4.08 billion last year from Rp 2.16 billion in 1998. (hen)