BATI decides not to pay dividend

JAKARTA: cigarette producer PT British-American Tobacco Indonesia (BATI) said on Wednesday that it had decided not to pay any dividend for the 2003 financial year due to a decline in profit and sales.

The company booked a net profit of Rp 49.34 billion (US$5.5 million) last year, down from Rp 118.18 in 2002. The company's sales also declined to Rp 1.43 trillion from Rp 1.64 trillion.

After an annual general shareholders meeting, the company said that it would revoke its planned sale of Dunhill cigarette shares due to weak demand. -- JP