Mandiri may issue bonds up to between $400m

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned Bank Mandiri, the nation's largest lender in terms of assets, plans to issue mid-term bonds of between US$200 million and $400 million in the first quarter of this year.

Bank Mandiri president director ECW Neloe told reporters on Wednesday that the bank intended to launch the dollar-denominated bonds in February.

"We will do the road shows in February," said Neloe. The bond issue was expected to be conducted in the same month, he added.

The proceeds from the bonds will be used mainly to expand its lending base.

Bank Mandiri invited 14 international investment banks -- including Credit Suisse First Boston, UBS AG, HSBC, ABN Amro, Barclays Capital, Merril Lynch, Citigroup and Deutsche Securities -- to participate, said Neloe.

Four of them would be shortlisted and one would be selected as the underwriter.

Neloe had previously said that the bank's lending expansion for this year was estimated to increase by 20 percent to Rp 18 trillion ($1.94 billion) as compared to the previous year.

The bank's profit rose 19 percent in the first nine months of last year to Rp 4.48 trillion from Rp 3.77 trillion it booked in the same period in 2003. The rise was due to lower interest rates applied by banks that encouraged companies and consumers to borrow more.