Dharmala to issue $200m FRN

JAKARTA (JP): Dharmala Intiutama International B.V. signed an agreement, arranged by Peregrine Fixed Income Limited, with a number of investors yesterday to launch US$200 million worth of guaranteed floating rate notes (FRN).

"About 60 percent of the proceeds will be used to replace the short term obligations of the company and the loans which have relatively high interest rates. The balance will be used for working capital, not to create new businesses, but to support routine activities," Suyanto Gondokusumo, president of PT Dharmala Intiutama, told reporters after the signing of the agreement.

Dharmala Intiutama International B.V., based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is a subsidiary of PT Dharmala Intiutama, an Indonesian leading business group with businesses ranging from financial services to agribusiness, while the arranger, Peregrine Fixed Income Limited, is a Hong Kong-based investment bank.

According to Suyanto, it is the first time the Dharmala Group has issued a FRN on the international market.

The notes carry an interest rate of 2.875 points above the six-month London Inter-bank Offered Rate and will mature in three years.

They are to be sold in Asia -- particularly Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia -- and Europe, and were over-subscribed from the original amount of $100 million, Suyanto said.

Dharmala Group recorded revenues of Rp 1.1 trillion in 1995, up 30 percent on 1994, while its net income reached Rp 90.7 billion, 22 percent higher than in 1994.

Suyanto said the company expects an increase of 25 percent in revenue and 20 percent in profit this year.

He also said that the Dharmala Group plans to acquire a stake in the PSP Group but he refused to specify the details of the plan. (jsk)