PDFCI and BTN provide $390m for toll road project

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly-listed Bank PDFCI and state-owned Bank Dagang Negara (BDN) are jointly arranging a syndication loan of Rp 920 billion (US$390.3 million) for a consortium of companies in charge of building a 19.2-kilometer toll road in the city.

"The loan agreement will be signed here next week," R.C. Eko Santoso Budianto, a director at Bank PDFCI, said after the bank's annual and extraordinary shareholders meetings yesterday.

The 19.2-kilometer toll road, linking Cikunir in Bekasi, West Java, and Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta, is currently being built by PT Citra Bhakti Margatama Persada, a consortium of state-owned highway operator PT Jasa Marga, PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada, PT Tridan Satriaputra Indonesia, PT Baskara Duniajaya and Tiara Indah Foundation.

Eko said his bank is arranging Rp 430 billion of the total loan, while BDN is arranging the rest, or Rp 490 billion. The loan syndication involves some 30 local banks.

"We have taken the lead and involved local banks because foreign banks are not interested in financing the toll road. Maybe it's because the revenues from the toll way will be denominated in rupiah," he added.

Meanwhile, Bank PDFCI's president, Eddie Tong, said that his bank is increasing its fee-based revenues, including those from loan syndication services, foreign exchange trading and other banking services.

Last year, Bank PDFCI recorded fee-based revenues of Rp 11.5 billion, or 6 percent of its total revenues. Of the fee-based revenues, Rp 2.1 billion came from service fees, 2.6 billion from foreign exchange trading and Rp 7.5 billion from other fees and commissions, including from loan syndications.

"The year 1995 was the beginning of our focus on investment banking activities," Eddie said, adding that the bank was involved in a total loan syndication of Rp 1 trillion last year, including $75 million for publicly-listed oil firm PT Medco Energi to acquire PT Stanvac Indonesia from America's Mobil Oil and Exxon.

During the first quarter of this year, the bank booked total fee-based revenues of some Rp 7 billion.

Earlier this year, the bank was assigned to arrange and provide bank guarantees worth Rp 707 billion to three telecommunications firms to build and operate telecommunications networks in Central Java, West Java and Kalimantan island.

Because of its active participation in loan syndications, International Financing Review magazine included Bank PDFCI in its Top 50 International Arrangers in the Asia Pacific Rim in the first quarter of this year.

Bank PDFCI's shareholders yesterday agreed to the bank's plan to distribute dividends of Rp 110 per share for 1995 or 44.5 percent of its total profit per share.

The bank's total assets grew by 19 percent to Rp 1.5 trillion as of the end of last year from Rp 1.3 trillion as of the end of 1994. Its net consolidated profits increased to Rp 23.2 billion last year from Rp 15.1 billion in 1994.

As of December 1995, the bank was 19.8 percent owned by PT Bahana Investa Argha, 17.42 percent by Bank Indonesia and its pension funds, 9.77 percent by Nippon Credit Bank, Ltd. of Japan, 5.72 percent by PT Pan Indonesia Bank, Ltd. and 4.09 percent by DEG-Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschafts mbH of Germany. (rid)