Finansa expands into RI
JP/11/Colbox
Finansa expands into RI
JAKARTA (JP): Bangkok-based financial institution Finansa Group announced on Thursday the acquisition of PT Trade Ezy Securities, a member of the Jakarta and Surabaya stock exchanges, as part of its regional expansion.
The company said the securities company, formerly owned by the Indonesian subsidiary of Paribas Asia Equity, would be named PT Finansa Indonesia.
Finansa, which manages three private equity funds investing in Southeast Asia, will team up with Renee Zecha, former president of UBS Warburg, in Indonesia to run the securities firm.
The company said it would provide financial advisory, investment banking, debt trading as well as stock broking through its Indonesian subsidiary.(hen)
;AFP; ANPAf..r.. Bizbrief-Taiwan-Indonesia RI suspends Taiwan flights JP/11/Colbox
RI suspends Taiwan flights
TAIPEI (AFP): Indonesia has announced a suspension of chartered flight services by Taiwan's Mandarin Airlines after aviation negotiations between the two governments became deadlocked, the airline said Wednesday.
Mandarin, a subsidiary of Taipei-based China Airlines, would stop its twice-weekly chartered passenger flights between Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan and Indonesia's resort island of Bali from Thursday, the company said in a statement.
The carrier had served the route since February with a Boeing 737-800, it said.
Its competitor UNI Airway from Taiwan, which also runs a twice-weekly chartered service on the same route, might also have to stop its flights in July.
"The chartered flight permission (from Indonesia) is given on a monthly basis...UNI has not received the permit for July," said a UNI spokeswoman.
In negotiations last month between aviation authorities of the two countries, Indonesia had asked for a reduction in the number of Taiwanese flights but the request was rejected by Taiwan.
;DJ; ANPAf..r.. Bizbrief-Golden-Cargrill
Golden-Cargill alliance ended JP/11/Colbox
Golden-Cargill alliance ended
SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): Golden Agri-Resources Ltd. Wednesday said it has called off its alliance with Cargill Asia Pacific Ltd.
"Market-related events in the past six months are the main reasons," Golden Agri-Resources said in a statement.
As a result, a company called Cargill-Mas Holdings Ltd., formed under the alliance, has also been dissolved.
A joint venture between Cargill-Mas Holdings and Seletar Investments Pte Ltd. has also been terminated, according to the statement.
Golden Agri-Resources and Cargill Asia Pacific will continue their activities in the palm oil market segments, the statement said.
Golden Agri-Resources, a unit of Asia Food & Properties Ltd., mainly runs palm oil plantations in Indonesia.
;AP; ANPAf..r.. Bizbrief-Aussie-Timor Aussie sets back Timor talk JP/11/Colbox
Aussie sets back Timor talk
DARWIN, Australia (AP): Talks on dividing production from oil fields under the sea separating Australia and East Timor may not be completed ahead of a crucial mid-July deadline after Canberra raised new issues, a negotiator for East Timor said Wednesday.
U.S. diplomat Peter Galbraith, who has been appointed by the United Nations to negotiate on East Timor's behalf, declined to detail the issues.
Negotiations are due to resume next week in Canberra.
"We were close to reaching and agreement; we had a text of which only a couple of items were unresolved and there was a path to resolve them," Galbraith told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.
"But since then, some new issues have been introduced by the Australian side and that's making it more difficult," he said.
Galbraith confirmed Australia's offer to East Timor of a 85-15 revenue split from the oil reserves was one issue that had been on track to resolution. East Timor wants a 90-10 split.
;REUTERS; ANPAf..r.. Bizbrief-Malaysia-palm KL palm oil ends lower JP/11/Colbox
KL palm oil ends lower
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Malaysian palm oil failed to sustain early gains and closed lower in directionless trade on Wednesday as players ignored market-friendly export data for the first 20 days of June.
"The SGS figures were ignored by the market, and I am sure any fresh crop data will face a similar fate," a trader said.
Cargo surveyor Societe Generale de Surveillance Malaysia Sdn Bhd (SGS) said Malaysian palm oil exports stood at 644,724 tons in June 1-20 against 573,375 in the same period in May.
At the close on Wednesday, the new benchmark third-month September contract was down six ringgit at 815 ringgit ($214.47) a ton after trading as high as 833 ringgit.
Volume was 1,152 lots.
In the physical sector, June crude palm oil (CPO) for the southern and central regions was offered at 800 ringgit a ton against bids at 795. Trades were done at 805 for both sides.
Among refined products, July RBD palm oil was offered at $232.50 a ton FOB and August at $235.
There were offers for July RBD olein at $247.50 and August at $250. RBD palm stearin was offered at $185 and June palm fatty acid distillate at $150.
;REUTERS; ANPAf..r.. Bizbrief-Europe-gold
Gold drifts lower in Europe JP/11/Gold
Gold drifts lower in Europe
LONDON (Reuters): Gold drifted lower on Wednesday morning, nudged lower by easing lending rates and the strong dollar, but was expected to ward off any excessive pressure, traders said.
"The last few days have had a steadier feel to them, this may be a case of a bit of consolidation," one said.
Spot gold held at $272.35/272.85 a troy ounce at 0944 GMT, against its last close at $273.40/273.90 in New York on Tuesday.
Silver was pitted at $4.41/4.43 a troy ounce on Wednesday morning -- unchanged from its last close -- and showed no signs of budging as gold sleepily crawled lower.
Activity in the platinum group metals was also slow, with only palladium showing any signs of life.
Spot palladium was quoted at $611.00/621.00 at 0957 GMT, up from $607.00/617.00 at the last New York close and down slightly from its morning fixing of $618.00.
In the meantime, platinum remained sidelined, quoted at $578.00/583.00, unchanged from its last close in New York.
;AFP; ANPAf..r.. Bizbrief-Aviation-Boeing Boeing, Mitsubishi tie up JP/11/Colbox
Boeing, Mitsubishi tie up
LE BOURGET, France (AFP): US aircraft giant Boeing said on Wednesday it has struck a strategic alliance in the aerospace sector with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan.
Boeing said in a statement at the Paris Air Show that the alliance covered space-based communications, air traffic management, multimedia, navigation, space and communications services, launch services and space infrastructure markets.
It said the agreement included up to six launches of the Boeing Delta rocket which lifts satellites into geostationary transfer orbit and confirmed the Boeing Delta team as Mitsubishi's preferred non-Japanese launch service provider for satellites.
They said the new launch service was expected to be finalized later this year.
The general manager of Mitsubishi's space systems division, Hiroshi Kimura, said the companies wanted to benefit from new opportunities in the areas of air traffic management systems, the application of new radar systems, space-based broadband communication and Internet services for multimedia business applications.
;AFP; ANPAf..r.. Bizbrief-Andersen-penalty Arthur Anderson pays penalty JP/11/Colbox
Arthur Anderson pays penalty
WASHINGTON (AFP): The US accountancy firm Arthur Andersen has paid a US$7 million (8.2-million-euro) penalty to end a Security and Exchange Commission probe into charges it falsified audits for Waste Management Inc. to protect lucrative business relations.
Announced Tuesday, the penalty was the biggest ever paid by one of the world's top five accountancy firms.
The US financial watchdog, the SEC, suspected that Arthur Andersen, and four of its current and former partners, knowingly ignored irregular accounting practices by Waste Management that inflated its profit levels.
Arthur Andersen has neither acknowledged nor denied any wrongdoing.
The SEC said that between 1992 and 1996 Waste Management inflated its pre-tax profits of US$1.48 billion and underestimated its expenses by over $148 million -- a state of affairs the SEC said Arthur Andersen could hardly overlook.