Indofood delays milk plant project
Indofood delays milk plant project
Dow Jones, Jakarta
Indonesian instant noodle producer Indofood Sukses Makmur said Friday it has delayed the construction of a milk plant in East Java worth US$36 million.
"We have delayed the project because we want to focus on our core business," Indofood's Chief Administration Officer Indra Josepha told Dow Jones Newswires.
Indofood's core businesses are instant noodles, in which it holds around a 90 percent market share, and cooking oil.
Indra said the company hasn't yet decided when it will resume the development of the plant.
"If the time comes, we will then restart the project," he said, adding that there have been changes in the economic climate recently that have pushed Indofood to delay the project. --Dow Jones. Gudang Garam profit ups 17 percent
JAKARTA : Indonesia's largest cigarette producer, PT Gudang Garam, posted Friday a first-half net profit of Rp 1.08 trillion, up 17 percent on year.
Higher sales of Rp 10.39 trillion, up from Rp 8.30 trillion, boosted the net, the company's financial statement showed.
Gudang Garam is the leading seller of clove cigarettes, known locally as "kretek," which account for most of the smoking market here.
The company gave no details on volumes, but analysts expect the company boosted sales by raising prices rather than selling more sticks.
The company made a first-half operating profit of Rp 1.72 trillion, up from Rp 1.51 trillion a year ago. --Dow Jones United Tractors sells stake in Berau
JAKARTA : Indonesian heavy equipment concern PT United Tractors said Friday it has sold a 60 percent stake in coal producer PT Berau Coal to unlisted PT Intra Karsa Corporindo.
The company said it will hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting soon. It didn't disclose the value of the sale.
United Tractors said the sale is aimed at helping refinance the company's foreign debt, which is around US$89.3 million.--Dow Jones
CNOOC to take stake in Australian gas project
HONG KONG : China National Offshore Oil Co. (CNOOC) said Friday it intends to buy a five percent stake in Australia's North West Shelf Gas Project for around US$320 million.
The announcement was made as China's major offshore oil and gas producer said first half to June net profit dropped 21.7 percent from a year earlier due to falling oil prices.
The announcement that CNOOC would take a stake in the NWS Gas Project, the largest natural resource project in Australia, was expected after the project won a 25-year-deal worth more than $13 billion to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China.
The five percent stake in reserves would amount to 1.1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas or the equivalent of 210 million barrels of oil, CNOOC said.
CNOOC will also take a 25 percent stake in China LNG joint venture, which will build an LNG terminal for the NWS gas in Guangdong in China's southeast.
"The acquisition of a material stake in the China LNG joint venture and the upstream production and reserves offers the company immediate access to world-class gas project with world- class partners," CNOOC chairman and chief executive Wei Liucheng said. --AFP
Microsoft discloses flaws in business software, Web browser
REDMOND, Washington : Microsoft Corp. has disclosed security flaws in several software programs, with some of the flaws rated critical for computer users.
The company said Thursday that "critical" flaws in Internet Explorer 5.01, 5.5 and 6.0 could allow attackers to access and run unauthorized commands on users' computers.
In addition, the company said "moderate" flaws in several of Microsoft's business software programs - including Windows XP Professional and Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 - could potentially allow attackers to purposely crash a computer system. --AP