Bank Mega, CSFB to bid for Danamon

Bank Mega, CSFB to bid for Danamon

JAKARTA: PT Bank Mega confirmed on Monday that Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. (CSFB), has joined its consortium bidding for the government's 51 percent stake in PT Bank Danamon Indonesia.

Bank Mega's President Commissioner Chairul Tanjung told Dow Jones Newswires that the Philippines' JG Summit Holdings Inc. has also joined the consortium, which already includes PT Bhakti Capital.

CSFB couldn't be reached for confirmation Monday. --Dow Jones

Sampoerna Q1 sales drops

JAKARTA: Sampoerna said the sales volume for the first quarter of its machine-made cigarettes fell 9.2 percent to 3.408 billion sticks from 3.752 billion a year earlier, while the sales volume of its hand-rolled cigarettes dropped 9.9 percent to 5.553 billion of sticks from 6.164 billion.

The company said the market share of its three major brands - Dji Sam Soe, Sampoerna A-mild and Sampoerna A-International - dropped to 18.6 percent by the end of the first quarter from 19 percent as of Dec. 31.

"We remain confident with our strategy to monitor the development of or market share to identify any potential threat to our long-term market positioning," the company said.

It said its first quarter figures reflected the impact of its strategy to pass on tax increases to consumers at the beginning of the fiscal year.

The government late last year increased cigarette prices, which are used as the base to calculate the excise tax that cigarette companies pay to the government.

The price of machine-made clove cigarettes produced by large companies rose Rp 75 a stick, while the price for those made by medium companies rose Rp 60 a stick and those by small companies rose Rp 50. --Dow Jones

Danareksa to issue Rp 500b in bonds

JAKARTA: Indonesia's state-owned investment bank PT Danareksa plans to issue around Rp 500 billion (US$56.8) in bonds by June to refinance maturing debts and raise working capital.

Danareksa's President Zes Virawan told reporters over the weekend that the company has named its unit PT Danareksa Sekuritas and PT Trimegah Securities as underwriters for the proposed bond issue.

He didn't provide further details on the plan, such as maturity and coupon rate indications.

Many Indonesian companies are rushing to tap the local debt market this year as declining interest rates have made it cheaper to borrow, while demand for bonds is also strong among investors due to higher returns compared with bank rates. -- Dow Jones

DBS Bank posts modest rise in Q1

SINGAPORE: DBS Group Holdings said Monday net profit in the first quarter to March rose a modest 0.4 percent from a year earlier but added it was optimistic it would be able to weather the fallout from the SARS outbreak and weak economic conditions.

The net profit of Southeast Asia's biggest bank net profit was S$279 million (US$157.6 million) for the quarter, up from S$278 million.

Its performance in the March quarter was above analysts' forecasts of S$221.60 million to S$233 million, according to a poll by financial news agency AFX-Asia.

The net profit was down 1.1 percent from S$282 million in the December quarter.

Net interest income fell 10.6 percent from a year earlier to S$599 million as net interest margins fell 2.02 percent "primarily due to intense housing loan competition," the bank said in a statement.

The bank set aside provisions for potential losses on loans of S$115 million in the March quarter, up from S$96 million a year earlier due to the "uncertain economic environment and continuing weak equity and property markets." -- AFP

S&P affirms Petronas ratings

KUALA LUMPUR: Standard and Poor's (S&P) on Monday affirmed its BBB-plus foreign currency and A-plus local currency ratings for Malaysian oil company Petronas, and added the ratings outlook was stable.

The international credit rating agency said Petroliam Nasional Bhd.'s (Petronas) ratings reflected the company's exclusive ownership and control of Malaysia's substantial hydrocarbon resources and "very strong financial profile."

"These strengths are slightly offset by risks relating to its increasingly large presence outside Malaysia, as well as the cyclical, capital intensive and competitive nature of the industry," Eel-Lin Tan, S&P's credit analyst said.

S&P said the start of operations at Petronas' third LNG facility in April 2003 should further enhance cash flow generation, as will the full commissioning of its petrochemical complex.

But the rating firm said that Petronas was exposed to uncertain operating and political conditions through its international businesses, many of which are located in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and require substantial capital expenditures in the next few years. -- AFP