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