BNI 1st-half profit up
BNI 1st-half profit up
JAKARTA: State Bank Negara Indonesian (BNI) said on Wednesday its first-half net profit rose 7.7 percent to Rp 1.512 trillion (about US$170 million), benefiting from Bank Indonesia's lower benchmark rates over the period.
The bank said its interest costs fell by Rp 346 billion to Rp 5.317 trillion, and its interest earnings rose by 252 billion to Rp 7.258 trillion.
Its unaudited first half capital adequacy ratio (CAR) stood at 18.22 percent, up from 17.28 percent last year.
"The decline in Bank Indonesia's rates has lowered the cost of serving interest payments (on customer deposits)," said BNI's director for risk management, Binsar Pangaribuan.
Bank Indonesia's benchmark rates have fallen by about two percentage points on the back of a stronger rupiah in the first six months of this year.
Binsar said BNI's overseas branches were also performing better than last year. He gave no details, but said BNI had branches in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, New York and London. --JP
;JP;bkm; ANPAf..r.. CorporateBriefs-Yellowpages-sold Yellow pages sold for US$7.05b JP/14/Brief1
Yellow pages sold for US$7.05b
DENVER, Colorado : Embattled telecoms group Qwest Communications, struggling to lighten a heavy debt burden, announced Tuesday it had struck a deal to sell its yellow pages business for US$7.05 billion to a newly formed consortium.
Qwest shares shot up 31.70 percent on the news.
The group said its directories publishing business QwestDex would be sold to a new entity formed by two private equity firms: The Carlyle Group, and Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe.
Qwest is on a selling spree as it seeks to slash a mountain of short-and long-term debts amounting to more than $25 billion, revealed in company accounts this month.
"As we promised, we are moving aggressively to take the necessary steps to ensure the long-term success of the company and our ability to continue to provide world-class services to our customers," Qwest chairman and chief executive Richard Notebaert said in a statement.
"The sale of QwestDex is a significant part of our plan to deliver and strengthen our balance sheet and will allow us to focus on maximizing the profitability of our core operations." --AFP
;JP;bkm; ANPAf..r.. CorporateBriefs-Ramayana-profit Ramayana profit drops 43 %: Report JP/14/Brief1
Ramayana profit drops 43 %: Report
JAKARTA : PT Ramayana Lestari Sentosa, one of Indonesia's largest department store operators, Wednesday reported a 43 percent fall in first-half net profit to Rp 84.69 billion, due to foreign exchange losses and a decline in interest income.
Ramayana posted net profit of Rp 147.41 billion a year earlier.
Interest income decreased to Rp 34.84 billion from Rp 41.19 billion. The company also booked foreign exchange losses of Rp 16.96 billion, swinging from foreign exchange gains of Rp 69.91 billion a year earlier.
It didn't provide further comment on its performance.
Analysts said Ramayana is cash-rich and is parking excess funds in time deposits. Consequently, declining interest rates in Indonesia's dragged down the company's interest income.
The company's assets expanded to Rp 2.06 trillion from Rp 1.63 trillion.
Sales rose to Rp 1.25 trillion from Rp 971.61 billion in the year-ago first half, boosting gross profit to Rp 346.07 billion from Rp 254.63 billion, and operating income to Rp 78.27 billion from Rp 75.07 billion.
This means that on the operating level, the company grew during the first half compared with the same period last year. -- Dow Jones ;JP;bkm; ANPAf..r.. CorporateBriefs-AOL-AT&T AOL to pay AT&T US$9b JP/14/Brief1
AOL to pay AT&T US$9b
NEW YORK : AOL Time Warner Inc. will pay AT&T Corp. as much as US$9 billion in cash and stock, as well as an ownership stake in a new cable company, to unwind a complicated joint venture involving Time Warner Entertainment, according to published reports.
The deal had been anticipated following a decision late last month by the two companies to delay a move toward an initial public offering of stock in Time Warner Entertainment, or TWE. AOL Time Warner owns a little less than three-fourths of TWE, and AT&T owns the rest.
Under the terms of the deal, which was expected to be announced Wednesday, AOL gets full ownership of Warner Bros. film studio and Home Box Office.
In return, AT&T gets about $2 billion in cash, $1.5 billion in AOL Time Warner shares and a 21 percent stake in a newly created Time Warner Cable company, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday on their Web sites.
The deal's value is expected to range from $8.5 billion to $9 billion, based on the current values of cable stocks and AOL shares, the Journal reported. --AP.
;JP;bkm; ANPAf..r.. CorporateBriefs-Siemens-jobs Siemens to cut 1,300 more jobs JP/14/Brief1
Siemens to cut 1,300 more jobs
MUNICH, Germany : The German electronics giant Siemens plans to cut an additional 1,300 jobs in its ICN fixed telephone networks division on top of the 16,500 already announced, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
Only the day before, Siemens had said it was planning additional job cuts in the ICN division, but it had not provided a concrete number. --AFP.