Bank Universal to go ahead with IPO

Bank Universal to go ahead with IPO

JAKARTA (JP): Bank Universal said yesterday it would go ahead
with its initial public offering (IPO) despite uncertainties in
stock trading activities.

The bank said it had submitted a final application to the
Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) for an initial public
offering of 250 million shares at Rp 675 each.

This represents 26.2 percent of the bank's enlarged share
capital.

The offering period is expected to start on Sept. 18 and close
on Sept. 22, subject to Bapepam approval. The first day of
trading is planned for Oct. 7, 1997.

Managing underwriters for the issue are PT Bahama Securities
and PT SBC Warburg Indonesia. Co-lead underwriters are PT Astra
Securities and PT Mitra Dutasekuritas. The issue has also been
underwritten by 45 members of the Jakarta and Surabaya Stock
Exchanges.

"We are pleased to announce details of our IPO. After much
consideration of current market conditions, we have decided to
progress with the issue.

"Both the currency and equity markets appear to be stabilizing
which provides us with greater certainty and therefore a better
market in which to list," the bank's president Stephen Satyahadi
said.

Bank Universal is the flagship of PT Astra International's
financial service division. The Astra Group will retain a 70.1
percent shareholding in the bank after the IPO.

"Having said this, we have been realistic and have reduced the
size of the issue in light of market conditions," Satyahadi
added.

The issue was initially planned to be 300 million shares or
29.9 percent of the bank's equity.

From 1992 to 1996, management achieved compound annual growth
rates of 65 percent in net profits after tax and 27 percent in
assets.

Bank Universal is one of Indonesia's leading retail banks in
the fast growing consumer and commercial niches. Its business
strategy is focused on providing value-added banking services to
middle-income consumers and mid-sized corporations.

With investment of over Rp 100 billion in infrastructure since
1994, the bank is well-positioned to capitalize on the growth in
demand for banking services.

The bank's director of corporate services Jerry Ng said the
bank had fared well during the recent turmoil in the financial
markets.

"The recent volatility in the currency has, in fact, resulted
in significant gains from fees on clients' foreign exchange
transactions. At the same time, we have taken a very
conservative approach to loans growth with expectations that it
will be flat for the remainder of 1997," he said.

Ng said the bank had remained on average a net lender of funds
in the Jakarta interbank market over the past two months. Its
loan to deposit ratio, as defined by Bank Indonesia, stayed at
approximately 95 percent throughout July and August.

As of Dec. 31, 1996, the bank had Rp 3.5 trillion in assets,
making it the 12th largest bank in Indonesia among 164 private
banks. As of June 30, 1997, its assets had increased to Rp 4.3
trillion. (das)