Steady Safe obtains loan

JAKARTA (JP): PT Steady Safe, a publicly-listed transport company, has signed an agreement with a syndication of 22 banks for a US$100 million loan that will be used to enlarge its armada and repay its debts.

The company will spend $75 million for the purchase of 1,000 new buses and $25 million to refinance the firm's existing debts, it said in a statement yesterday.

The loan agreement, which was signed in June, was approved Thursday by the firm's shareholders in their second extraordinary meeting.

Steady Safe currently operates taxi cabs and passenger buses in Jakarta and plans to engage in ferry and train services.

It recorded a 44 percent rise in net profit to Rp 23.1 billion ($9.8 million) in the first half of the year over the same period of 1995. (jsk)