Lippo opens new stock gallery

Lippo opens new stock gallery

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed Lippo Securities opened a stock
gallery and a dealing room at its headquarters yesterday to cater
more to retail clients.

The company's managing director, Jos Parengkuan, said the
opening of the gallery was expected to increase the number of the
country's noninstitutional clients from 30 percent to 40 percent.

The gallery and dealing room cost more than Rp 2 billion
(US$840,000). "Total investment for the dealing room was over Rp
1 billion while the gallery was Rp 1 billion," he said.

The Chairman of Capital Market Supervisory Board, I Putu Gede
Ary Suta, opened the gallery and dealing room.

Jos said the company's dealing room was equipped with phone
facilities which could accommodate more than 6,000 telephone
numbers.

The telephone facility could also record conversations between
dealers and the investors to avoid misunderstandings, he said.

Putu said he hoped new trading facilities could get more local
investors involved in buying and selling shares because foreign
investors dominate local markets.

Ary Suta said domestic investors in Indonesia's capital market
accounts for 0.1 percent of the population. "This is still a
small amount," he said in comparison to 11 million people or 10
percent in China, 40 million people or 5 percent in India, 15
percent in Taiwan and 20 percent in Japan.

"The presence of Lippo's gallery is expected to accommodate
more domestic investors, not only in Jakarta but also from other
cities," Putu said.

Jos said Lippo Securities' brokerage value reached around Rp
10.6 trillion, the second largest after those booked by Makindo
Securities.

Lippo Securities posted 187 percent increase in net profit to
40.4 billion in 1996, while total revenue rose 216 percent to Rp
106.5 billion. (09)