Indosat to raise up to Rp 5t from bond issue

Indosat to raise up to Rp 5t from bond issue

JAKARTA (JP): In addition to a bond offering, international
telephone call operator PT Indosat will also issue rights shares
to help finance its massive expansion plan, the company's top
executive said here on Friday.

Indosat president Hari Kartana said the planned rights shares
would account for about 5 percent of the company's total shares.

Details of the rights shares are currently being prepared, he
said. He also said Indosat would raise between Rp 3 billion and
Rp 5 billion in fresh funds from the bond offering in the first
half of next year.

In a hearing with the House of Representatives last week,
Indosat said it planned to spend from Rp 10 trillion to Rp 15
trillion to finance its expansion over the next five years.

Approximately Rp 319 billion will go toward its existing
international direct dialing (IDD) business, and Rp 202 billion
will go into the Internet and multimedia sector.

The publicly listed state company plans to invest Rp 6.74
trillion in five areas next year. These areas are its existing
businesses, mobile phone services, telecommunications
infrastructure, domestic call services and the Internet and
multimedia.

Indosat will spend another Rp 2.89 trillion in 2002, Rp 1.45
trillion in 2003, Rp 1.39 trillion in 2004 and Rp 1.13 trillion
in 2005, the company said.

Hari said on Friday the company will also sell a portion of
its stakes in its subsidiaries to help finance the expansion
program.

The company owns a minority stake in cell phone concern PT
Telkomsel and runs Internet service provider PT Indosatnet.
Indosat, which is 75 percent owned by the government, plans to
spend a further Rp 716 billion next year on fixed-line
infrastructure.

Indosat reported on Wednesday a consolidated unaudited profit
of Rp 1.35 trillion during the first nine months of this year, an
increase of 13 percent from the same period last year.(hen)