Danamon Q1 pretax profit soar

Danamon Q1 pretax profit soar

JAKARTA: PT Bank Danamon Indonesia said Monday its pretax profit
for the first three months of this year rose to Rp 296 billion
rupiah (US$33.93 million) from Rp 192 billion during the same
period last year.

Net interest income rose slightly to Rp 500 billion from Rp
400 billion last year.

"Income from loans contributed to 55 percent to our total
interest income," Danamon said in a statement.

Income from government bonds fell to 32 percent of total
interest income from 60 percent last year, reflecting the bank's
ability to gradually reduce its dependency on government bonds as
a source of income, the statement said.

Danamon has Rp 14.1 trillion worth of government bonds, making
up around 30 percent of its total assets.

During the three months, Danamon made loans totaling Rp 24.2
trillion, compared with Rp 11.9 trillion in the first quarter of
2001, pushing up its loan-to-deposit ratio to 70 percent by the
end of the first quarter from 33 percent in the same period last
year.

The government, which owns 99.35 percent of Danamon, plans to
sell a 51 percent stake in the bank later this month or in early
May. --DJ

DJ Indonesia Bk Mega/CSFB-2:JG Summit Hldgs Joins Consortium

JAKARTA: PT Bank Mega confirmed on Monday that Credit Suisse
First Boston Corp. (CSFB), has joined its consortium bidding for
the government's 51 percent stake in PT Bank Danamon Indonesia.
Bank Mega's President Commissioner Chairul Tanjung told Dow Jones
Newswires that the Philippines' JG Summit Holdings Inc. has also
joined the consortium, which already includes PT Bhakti Capital.
CSFB couldn't be reached for confirmation Monday. --DJ

Sampoerna Sales -3: Market Share Drops Slightly

JAKARTA: Sampoerna said the sales volume for the first quarter of
its machine-made cigarettes fell 9.2 percent to 3.408 billion
sticks from 3.752 billion a year earlier, while the sales volume
of its hand-rolled cigarettes dropped 9.9 percent to 5.553
billion of sticks from 6.164 billion.

The company said the market share of its three major brands -
Dji Sam Soe, Sampoerna A-mild and Sampoerna A-International -
dropped to 18.6 percent by the end of the first quarter from 19
percent as of Dec. 31.

"We remain confident with our strategy to monitor the
development of or market share to identify any potential threat
to our long-term market positioning," the company said.

It said its first quarter figures reflected the impact of its
strategy to pass on tax increases to consumers at the beginning
of the fiscal year.

The government late last year increased cigarette prices,
which are used as the base to calculate the excise tax that
cigarette companies pay to the government.

The price of machine-made clove cigarettes produced by large
companies rose Rp 75 a stick, while the price for those made by
medium companies rose Rp 60 a stick and those by small companies
rose Rp 50. --DJ

Danareksa to issue Rp 500 b in bonds by June

JAKARTA: Indonesia's state-owned investment bank PT Danareksa
plans to issue around 500 billion rupiah ($1=IDR8,720) in bonds
by June to refinance maturing debts and raise working capital.

Danareksa's President Zes Virawan told reporters over the
weekend that the company has named its unit PT Danareksa
Sekuritas and PT Trimegah Securities as underwriters for the
proposed bond issue.

He didn't provide further details on the plan, such as
maturity and coupon rate indications.

Many Indonesian companies are rushing to tap the local debt
market this year as declining interest rates have made it cheaper
to borrow, while demand for bonds is also strong among investors
due to higher returns compared with bank rates.

Singapore SilkAir/Cut Flights -3: Chengdu Affected

SINGAPORE: From May, SilkAir will be suspending flights to
Chengdu in China, Padang and Palembang in Indonesia, and Chiang
Mai and Krabi in Thailand.

Cities which will have reduced number of flights include
Xiamen and Kunming in China; Medan, Manado, Lombok and Solo in
Indonesia; Yangon in Myanmar; Phnom Penh in Cambodia; and
Langkawi in Malaysia.

The spread of SARS has severely curtailed regional travel as
countries issue travel advisories against travel to affected
areas.

SilkAir's parent, SIA, recently said its overall passenger and
cargo capacity in March fell 8.7 percentage points from a year
ago to 67.3 percent. --DJ