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