Bank Arta goes public

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)