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