Indomobil bond

Indomobil bond
interest at 12.125%

JAKARTA: PT Indomobil Sukses Internasional, Indonesia's
second-largest automotive distributor, said it would sell Rp 300
billion (US$33 million) of bonds this week with a coupon of as
much as 12.125 percent.

The company will use the proceeds to help increase sales as it
plans to extend more loans for cars and motorcycles, Indomobil
said in a statement published in newspapers on Tuesday. The
Jakarta-based PT Kresna Graha Sekurindo will manage the sale.

Indomobil will sell Rp 50 billion of 370-day bonds with a
coupon of 9.875 percent, Rp 75 billion of two-year bonds at
11.125 percent and Rp 175 billion of three-year bonds at 12.125
percent, the company said. Three-year U.S. Treasuries yielded
2.813 percent.

Indomobil, based in Jakarta, sells vehicles made by Nissan
Motor Co. and Renault SA. In 2000, PT Swadharma Indotama Finance,
a financing unit of Indomobil, sold Rp 150 billion of six-year
bonds with a coupon of 18.25 percent. -- Bloomberg

;AP;
ANPAf..r..
Brief-Sampoerna
Sampoerna may rating raised
JP/

Moody's may raise
Sampoerna's rating

SINGAPORE: PT H.M. Sampoerna, Indonesia's second largest
publicly traded cigarette maker, may have its foreign currency
debt rating raised from B2, Moody's Investors Service said.

"This rating review is prompted by Sampoerna's improving
credit profiles, based on its leading position in Indonesia's
premium clove cigarette market; its solid financial profile and
free cash flow generating ability; and declining level of
foreign-exchange exposures," Moody's said in a statement. --
Bloomberg

;AFP;
ANPAf..r..
Brief-Australia-air
Qantas-Air NZ deal approved
JP/14/Brief

Qantas-Air NZ
deal approved

SYDNEY: Australian regulators lifted on Tuesday objections to
a proposed alliance between Qantas Airways and Air New Zealand,
although New Zealand authorities remain a stumbling block to the
trans-Tasman deal.

The Australian Competition Tribunal upheld an appeal against
the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's previous
decision to reject the proposed deal.

Qantas and Air New Zealand welcomed the decision but the
Australian flag carrier expressed frustration at the lengthy
legal proceedings that had led to the ruling, saying it
represented a "lost opportunity for much needed aviation reform".

The alliance would have involved Qantas taking a 22.5 percent
stake in Air NZ, allowing the airlines to coordinate pricing and
capacity on trans-Tasman routes.

Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon said the alliance could not
proceed in its original form because the New Zealand High Court
had rejected the proposal last month. -- AFP

;AP;
ANPAf ..r..
Brief-Mexico-Cemex
Mexican cement giant looks toward China, India
JP/14/Brief

Cemex looks toward
China, India

MEXICO CITY: The president of the giant Mexican cement company
Cemex says he is interested in yet more foreign markets, only two
weeks after announcing the purchase of a British cement company.

In an interview published on Monday, Lorenzo Zambrano told the
newspaper Reforma that "there are many countries where we would
like to be sooner or later, such as India, China or even Russia".

"We have much, much information about China and India, by
market, by region," he said. "We have information about costs,
prices of competitors, about the dynamics of the market."

But Zambrano gave no hint about when the company might act on
that information. Several times in recent years, Cemex has been
reported to be a potential buyer of Indian companies, but
declined to reach agreements there. The new purchase also will
increase the company's debt load. -- AP

;AP;
ANPAf..r..
Brief-Temasek
Temasek gets top AAA rating
JP/14/brief

Temasek gets
top AAA rating

SINGAPORE: Temasek Holdings Pte., a Singapore government
investment company that plans to sell bonds for the first time,
obtained the highest credit rating from Moody's Investors Service
and Standard & Poor's.

Temasek, which has assets of S$90 billion ($53 billion), was
given a rating of AAA by Moody's and Standard & Poor's, the same
level as the island government's. Singapore is the only country
in Asia outside of Japan and Australia that has the highest
rating assigned by the credit assessors.

The rating may help cut the cost of raising funds for Temasek,
owned by Singapore's Ministry of Finance. Executive director Ho
Ching, 51, said in February Temasek, which is expanding
investments overseas, may sell 25 to 30-year bonds. Ho, the wife
of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has held the position since
May 2002. -- Bloomberg