JAKARTA: Indonesian oil company Medco Energi International

JAKARTA: Indonesian oil company Medco Energi International
said on Thursday that it will delay plans to issue US$150 million
in seven-year bonds due to the looming war in Iraq.

"We have decided to delay the roadshow that was planned" for
the end of March, said Tendri Suprianto, a spokesman for the
company.

Medco, like many other Indonesian companies, are concerned
global investors won't be interested in buying local debt due to
the uncertainties of war.

Medco has been trying to raise fresh capital to finance
planned acquisitions of oil and gas fields in the country.

The company will resume the bond plans after the Iraq war is
over, Tendri said. Medco has named Credit Suisse First Boston and
UBS Warburg as lead underwriters for the issue.

The company, which is 34 percent owned by Thailand's PTT
Exploration & Production PCL, plans to buy 10 oil and gas fields
this year as part of efforts to raise its daily oil and gas
output to 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent by 2007 from the
current 80,000.

In March last year, Medco issued a $100 million five-year bond
via CSFB. -- Dow Jones

Gaz de France records $3.8b profit

PARIS: State-owned gas operator Gaz de France said on
Wednesday its net profit rose to 3.612 billion euros (US$3.818
billion) in 2002 from 891 million the previous year, boosted by a
huge exceptional gain.

Excluding a large indemnity paid by the government for the
cancellation of operator contracts, GDF chairman Pierre Gadonneix
said net profit would have fallen six percent to 838 million
euros.

Sales meanwhile rose 1.3 percent to 14.546 billion euros,
while operating profit rose 15.5 percent to 3.292 billion.

GDF said 19 percent of group sales were generated outside
France, close to its target of 20 percent for 2002, and up from
15 percent in 2001.

The company's net debt rose 29 percent to 4.359 billion euros
from the end of 2001, while cash flow rose eight percent to 2.409
billion.

The French government is currently working on plans to
privatise GDF by opening part of GDF's share capital to private
investors in mid-2004. -- AFP

Munich Re will issue bonds

MUNICH, Germany: Munich Re, the biggest reinsurer in the
world, said on Thursday it had no plans at present to undertake a
capital increase, unlike fellow insurer Allianz, but that it was
planning to issue bonds soon in order to strengthen its capital
base.

"We are not planning any capital increase at this time,"
Munich Re said in a statement.

"Rather, we intend shortly to strengthen our capital base via
the issue of subordinated bonds."

By doing so, Munich Re "can target new groups of investors
outside the stock market worldwide and further strengthen its
position on the international reinsurance markets in the present
upward phase," the statement said.

Subordinated bonds are debt that rank below other loans or
securities with regard to claims on assets or earnings.

In the case of default, creditors with subordinated debt do
not get paid out until after the senior debt holders were paid in
full. Subordinated debt is therefore more risky than
unsubordinated debt. -- AFP

Bundesbank's annual profits drop

FRANKFURT: The Bundesbank saw its profits cut in half last
year and the German central bank would transfer only around six
billion euros (US$6.4 billion) to the federal government for 2002
compared with 11.2 billion euros in 2001, the financial daily
Boersen-Zeitung reported on Thursday.

The main cause for the slump in profits was the low level of
interest rates and the weakness of the dollar, the newspaper
said, without revealing its sources.

Boersen-Zeitung noted, however, that the 2001 net profit of
11.2 billion euros was the second-highest profit the Bundesbank
had chalked up in its history.

The lower profit would have a direct effect on German federal
finances.

Under German law, 3.5 billion euros of the central bank's
profit flows into the current federal budget, while the rest is
used to repay debt of a special fund set up after unification to
cover the debts of the former East Germany.

The Bundesbank is scheduled to publish its official 2002
earnings next week. -- AFP

Sun donates $300m in software

NEW DELHI: The chief of U.S.-based computer maker Sun
Microsystems, Scott McNealy, on Thursday announced that his
company would donate software worth US$300 million to Indian IT
students.

"This donation is for giving them access to experiment with
our software. The donation will also be with respect to online
training for universities and academic use," McNealy told
reporters.

He said that he also discussed possible plans for cooperation
between his company and the Indian government with Indian
Information Technology Minister Arun Shourie here on Thursday.

McNealy also promised more investments in India in future,
especially in research and development, and education and
training.

The Sun Microsystems chief said both India and China had the
potential to become the growth engines for the global economy.

He described the current global outlook as "short of
optimism," but said his own company was on sound financial
footing. -- AFP

Bank of China doubles profit

HONG KONG: Bank of China (Hong Kong) said on Thursday said net
profit in 2002 more than doubled to HK$6.67 billion (US$857
million) after the provisions for bad debts fell by more than
half.

Bank of China Hong Kong (Holdings), which is a unit of one of
China's big four banks and was listed in Hong Kong in July last
year, said operating profit before provisions fell 8.15 percent
to HK$12.09 billion during the period.

However, operating profit after provisions rose to HK$9.23
billion from HK$5 billion.

The provisions for bad and doubtful debts fell 61.5 percent to
2.86 billion dollars.

Chairman Liu Mingkang said the group had made "encouraging
progress in areas of organizational restructuring, business
development, risk management and information technology."

"We also devoted considerable resources to enhancing
transparency under the scrutiny of the market, adapting promptly
to comply with the various market practices and regulatory
requirements application to listed companies," he said. -- AFP