Plaza Indonesia eyes sites of two other embassies

Plaza Indonesia eyes sites of two other embassies

JAKARTA (JP): The publicly-listed PT Plaza Indonesia Realty is
seeking another chance to take over the sites of two other
foreign embassies after successfully acquiring the former land of
the Australian embassy two years ago.

Plaza Indonesia director Boyke Gozali said yesterday that the
company, controlled by the Bimantara Group, is unlikely to face a
problem in taking over the site of the former Soviet embassy.

"The site of the former Soviet embassy is now under the
control of Bimantara. So it is only a matter of time until we own
the plot of land," he told reporters following the annual meeting
of the company's shareholders.

Boyke said that Bimantara, the majority of which is owned by
Bambang Trihatmodjo, one of President Soeharto's three sons, had
already acquired the 1.9-hectare site of the former Soviet
embassy under a deal, which allowed the Russians to have another
plot on Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

Difficult

He, however, said that unlike the site of the former Soviet
embassy, taking over the site of the Japanese embassy will be
difficult.

"We have been lobbying Japanese officials to buy their
embassy's site but there has been no response so far," he said,
while indicating the blue print of the company's long-term
expansion program, which already includes the former sites of the
embassies of Australia and the former Soviet Union.

The former site of the Australian embassy is located right
next door to the Grand Hyatt hotel and its adjacent modern
shopping complex on Jl. M.H. Thamrin, Plaza Indonesia's main
properties, while those of the Japanese and the Soviet embassies
are located on the next two plots of land.

Boyke said that the company is now preparing the second phase
of its expansion project on the former site of the Australian
embassy, which it bought at US$5,000 per square meter two years
ago.

The Australian embassy is now located on Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said.

Boyke said that the expansion, which will start by the end of
the year, will include the construction of a seven-floor shopping
complex, a 45-floor apartment block and a 48-floor office
building.

The expansion, which will cost the company around US$225
million, is scheduled for completion in 1999, he said.

Boyke explained that around 40 percent of the funds for the
financing of the expansion project will be in the form of equity
and the other 60 percent of bank loans.

Plaza Indonesia is listed on Jakarta and Surabaya stock
exchanges. Bimantara and Sinar Mas Group have the majority of
shares in it.

The company's assets rose by around 20 percent to Rp 745.39
billion (US$338.8 million) as of last year from Rp 613.99 billion
as of 1993. Its net profits increased by around 30 percent to Rp
31.77 billion last year from Rp 23.96 billion in 1993.

Yesterday's meeting endorsed the management's proposal for the
distribution of dividends of Rp 30 (1.3 U.S. cents) per share.
(hen)