BRI names underwriters

BRI names underwriters

JAKARTA: PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) said it had named UBS
Warburg and PT Bahana Securities as joint lead underwriters for
its initial public offering (IPO), which is scheduled for the
second half of 2003.

It has also named UBS as lead underwriter for its subordinated
dollar bonds, the bank said in a statement.

The government plans to sell a 30 percent stake in the bank
later this year, while the bank has planned to issue US$120
million in bonds in the middle of the year.

The bank also said it had appointed Makes & Partner as legal
consultant and both PT Piesta Penilai and PT Satyatama Graha Tara
as valuers. -- JP

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ANPAf..r..
CorporateBrief-Telkom-name-auditor
Telkom to name auditor this week
JP/14/BRIEF

Telkom to name auditor this week

JAKARTA: PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) said on Monday it
could appoint a new auditor as early as this week in a bid to
comply with U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission regulations.

"We expect to name an auditor soon or this week," said
Rochiman Sukarno, Telkom's investors relations manager.

The U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) last week
rejected Telkom's 2002 financial report on the grounds it wasn't
audited by a company accredited with the SEC.

The U.S. capital markets watchdog has told Telkom to resubmit
the reports by June 30, with an option to extend the deadline to
July 15.

Telkom has said it is unlikely to meet the deadline even if it
is extended, citing difficulties in finding a suitable auditor.

There is a limited number of SEC-recognized auditing firms in
Indonesia, and several of them may not be able to audit Telkom
due to a conflict of interest, Telkom said in a statement late
Wednesday.

Failure to comply with the SEC's deadline may result in the
delisting of Telkom's American Depository Receipts traded on the
New York Stock Exchange.

Telkom reported net profit of Rp 8.34 trillion (U$1 billion)
last year, almost double the Rp 4.25 trillion the previous year.

Telkom officials have said it didn't expect the new audit to
produce different financial results. --Dow Jones

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ANPAf..r..
CorporateBrief-PetroVietnam-oil-KL
PetroVietnam to exploit oil in Malaysia
JP/14/BRIEF

PetroVietnam to exploit oil in Malaysia

HANOI: Vietnam's state-owned oil and gas giant PetroVietnam
signed a deal with Malaysia's Petronas and Pertamina of Indonesia
to exploit an oil block in Malaysian waters, the company said.

The Vietnamese company and Pertamina will each take a 30
percent stake in the block, with Petronas holding the remainder,
Dang Huu Tuy, a company spokesman, told AFP.

Block SK-305 has a total area of 15,000 square meters and is
located off Sarawak, eastern Malaysia.

PetroVietnam declined to give specific figures for the value
of the deal.

In 2001, the three countries signed an oil and gas cooperation
agreement, allowing common exploration in the three countries on
the basis that the host country would take a 40 percent stake in
any project, with the remaining 60 percent split evenly between
the two other partners.

In January 2002, a similar contract was signed for two blocks
in Vietnam -- Blocks 10 and 11 in the Nam Con Son basin, in the
south of the country.

Tuy said the parties are soon to discuss an agreement for
another block in Indonesia. --AFP