Hero books Rp 46b in loss

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed PT Hero Supermarket announced yesterday a net loss of Rp 46 billion (about US$6 million) in 1997 due to mounting foreign exchange losses.

The company's president, Ipung Kurnia, announced yesterday that the loss resulted from foreign exchange losses of about Rp 60 billion.

Hero, the country's leading supermarket operator, recorded a net profit of Rp 25.12 billion in 1996.

Ipung said yesterday that Hero had signed a strategic alliance with Dairy Firm of Hong Kong in February this year in which Hero's controlling shareholders issued a five-year bond equaling 24.55 percent share of Hero Supermarket.

At the time, Ipung said, Dairy Firm also took a 6.6 percent share in Hero and subsequently purchased another 1 percent, which would give it a combined stake of 32.2 percent.