Sat, 23 Aug 2003

Intikeramik shares suspended

JAKARTA: The Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) suspended on Friday trade in the shares of porcelain tile company PT Intikeramik Alamasri Industri, on reports the company faces a bankruptcy lawsuit.

JSX said in a statement the suspension would remain in place until Intikeramik offered some clarification on the suit.

The company, which is the producer of the well-known Essenza tile brand, was sued by one of its creditors, Italian company E.N. Group S.p.A., for allegedly failing to pay matured loans amounting to US$250,000. -- JP

Bank Buana to issue new shares

JAKARTA: Bank Buana, one of the country's healthiest small- sized banks, announced on Friday it would issue 1.26 billion shares at a price of Rp 250 each as bonus shares and dividends.

Buana president Jimmy Laihad said after an extraordinary shareholders meeting that for every 500 shares held, investors would receive 128.9 bonus shares and 41.9 dividend shares.

Jimmy said the new issuance would increase the bank's paid-in capital to Rp 1.24 trillion (US$145 million) from Rp 930 billion.

In the first semester of this year, Buana booked a net profit of Rp 112 billion and an interest income of Rp 788 billion. The bank's total assets reached Rp 13.9 trillion.

As of June, the bank has channeled Rp 4.46 trillion of loans, with non-performing loans reaching Rp 36.4 billion, or 0.81 percent of all loans. -- JP