BNI launches $75m-bond offering

BNI launches $75m-bond offering

JAKARTA: State-owned PT Bank Negara Indonesia launched Monday a bond offering of at least US$75 million, after having delayed the deal following the recent terrorist attacks in Bali, sources familiar with the deal told Dow Jones Newswires.

The lower tier-two subordinated debt will have a maturity of 10 years, callable after the first five years, sources said.

The roadshow will begin in Hong Kong Thursday, before moving on to Singapore Friday, sources said.

J.P. Morgan is the lead manager for this deal. -- Dow Jones

DBS Group's nine-month earnings drop 11.5%

SINGAPORE: Singapore-based lender DBS Group Holdings said Monday net profit in the nine months to September fell 11.5 percent due to higher loan loss provisions amid a weak economic outlook.

The S$734.6 million (US$412.7 million) net profit and the higher provisions reflected "the uncertain economic environment and a soft property market," the bank said in a statement.

Provisions in the nine months to September rose to $353 million, up 21 percent from $292 million in the comparable period in 2001.

On a quarterly basis, net profit in the third quarter to September declined 22.8 percent to $199.1 million from the previous three-month period.

Net interest income for the nine-month period increased 29 percent to $2.0 billion, and rose 1.1 percent to $670.6 million in the third quarter. -- AFP

Danone's strong growth resumes in Asian

PARIS: French food producer Danone has seen an "incredibly strong" resumption of growth in its operations in India, China, Indonesia and to lesser extent in Malaysia, chairman Franck Riboud said in an interview with the Monday edition of French business newspaper La Tribune.

Danone still expected 50 to 60 percent of its growth to come from the 40 percent of its operations that are in developing countries, he said.

"We are trying to play on the differences in economic cycles. For example, at the moment Argentina is not going well, Mexico continues to perform well, Brazil neither well nor badly.

"And, good news, over the last quarter we have seen 'our' Asia, that is to say India, China, Indonesia and a (to a lesser extent) Malaysia, come back incredibly strong," Riboud said.

The group as a whole was maintaining its growth targets, he said. -- AFP

Sony bounces back to profit in September quarter

TOKYO: Japan's Sony Corp. said Monday it bounced back into profit in the September quarter powered by a tax gain, restructuring efforts and foreign demand for PlayStation consoles.

But the consumer electronics giant cut a full-year sales forecast due to uncertain global demand for electronics in the second half.

In the three months to September, Sony posted a group net profit of 44.1 billion yen (US$361 million), reversing a 13.2 billion yen loss a year earlier.

Tax benefits from a decision to merge in December with its ailing audio visual subsidiary Aiwa Co. Ltd. boosted net income by 36.1 billion yen.

The firm's pre-tax profit surged to 48.8 billion yen from 600 million yen earlier, but sales inched up just 0.5 percent to 1.79 trillion yen. -- AFP

Honda earnings rise 3.3 percent on brisk U.S. sales

TOKYO: Brisk sales in United States helped boost second- quarter earnings at Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co. by 3.3 percent, the company reported Monday.

The Tokyo-based company chalked up a net income of 87.2 trillion yen (US$697 billion) in the second quarter ended Sept. 30, up from earnings of 84.3 trillion yen in the same quarter of 2001.

The results got a big boost from automobile sales in the United States, which surged 58.9 percent in the second quarter, compared to last year. Japanese sales were also healthy, climbing by 24.8 percent over the same period.

Looking toward the future, however, Honda warned about "fears of a progressing slowdown" in the U.S. economy and intensifying competition in the Japanese market amid "continuing weak consumer spending."

Still, Honda predicted a 13-percent rise in net income to 410 billion yen ($3.3 billion) in the year ending March 31, 2003. -- AP

Telekom Malaysia and Celcom sign merger agreement

KUALA LUMPUR: Government-controlled Telekom Malaysia Bhd. signed a deal Monday with the country's second-largest mobile phone operator, clearing the way for the two to merge their cell phone operations.

Under the sale and purchase agreement, Celcom (Malaysia) Bhd. will buy the entire equity interest of TM Cellular Sdn. Bhd. - Telekom's mobile operations - for 1.68 billion ringgit (US$442 million) by issuing 635.5 million new shares at 2.65 ringgit each to Telekom.

When the deal is complete, Telekom's shareholding in Celcom will rise to 47.9 percent from 31.25 percent, triggering a mandatory general offer for the remaining Celcom shares at 2.75 ringgit each, the price Telekom promised Celcom shareholders if the deal was completed before Oct. 29.

The TM Cellular-Celcom merger is part of the consolidation of Malaysia's crowded mobile phone industry. -- AP

General Motors launches its operations in South Korea AP Photos[

BUPYUNG, South Korea: Pitching new models and the logo of its joint venture firm, U.S. auto giant General Motors Corp. formally launched its business in South Korea Monday after taking over key assets of bankrupt Daewoo Motor Co.

"GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co. is open for business," declared Nick Reilly, president of the new carmaker, during a ceremony at Daewoo's main plant in Bupyung, west of Seoul.

GM signed a deal in April to take over Daewoo, which went bankrupt in 2000, but its formal South Korean operations had been delayed until Monday pending negotiations on financing and other details with its Korean partners, which include Daewoo creditors.

GM has invested US$251.3 million for a 42.1 percent stake in the joint venture. Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. has a 14.9 percent stake, China's Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. 10 percent and Daewoo creditors 33 percent. -- AP