Summitplast to open third plastic factory next month

Summitplast to open third plastic factory next month

JAKARTA (JP) : Publicly listed plastic component producer PT
Summitplast Interbenua will commence next month the operation of
its third factory at its industrial compound in the Lippo
Cikarang industrial estate in West Java.

Summitplast president Dhani Sutanto said here on Wednesday the
new plant, which will have a production capacity of 4,000 metric
tons, would boost the company's total production by 15 percent to
32,000 metric tons a year.

"The plant will enable us to meet the growing demand from the
Asia Pacific, mainly came from Japan and the U.S.," he said
following the company's general shareholders meeting.

Dhani added that the company spent about Rp 40 billion (US$
3.6 million), most of it raised from the its initial public
offering last year, to build the new factory.

Currently, Summitplast, a joint venture of two Japanese firms
and two Indonesian companies, operates two factories, one in
Lippo Cikarang, Bekasi, and another in Tangerang, with total
production of 28,000 tons per annum.

The company exports 95 percent of its products to electronic
home appliance manufacturers and automotive companies.

Dhani said the completion of the new plant would help the
company meet its sales target this year.

According to him, the company expects a 20 percent increase in
revenue this year from Rp 170 billion last year.

"We also estimate that our pretax profit will increase by 15
percent from Rp 22.3 billion in 2000," he said.

Dhani added that realized revenue between January and April
surged 65 percent to Rp 52 billion, while pretax profit in the
same period increased by 40 percent to Rp 17 billion, compared to
the same period last year.

"We continued to receive high demand during the period ... we
also took advantage of the weakening rupiah," he said, adding
that the company's products were sold based on the US dollar.

However, he said, the company would maintain its original
revenue targets because the country's ongoing political and
economic uncertainties could affect the company's performance.

He said, for example, that if the country's security situation
continued to weaken it would endanger the company's exports.

During the meeting, the shareholders approved the company's
plan to pay a total of Rp 5.8 billion in dividends, or Rp 35 per
share.

The shareholders also agreed to the proposed one-to-five stock
split in a bid to improve the quality of the company's share
trading. Under the proposal, each of the company's shares, with a
par value of Rp 500, will divided into five shares, each carrying
a nominal value of Rp 100.

The shareholders also agreed to changes in the composition of
the supervisory board and the board of executives.

The new supervisory board is led by Soebekti Hambali as the
chief commissioner. The other three members of the board are Amir
Kosasih, Masa-aki Uemura, who replaces Hironori Kato, and Slamet
Singgih.

Uemura is currently deputy general manager of the chemical and
plastics division at Sumitomo Corp. in Tokyo, while Slamet
occupies an expert staff position at the Ministry of Energy and
Mineral Resources.

Dhani Sutanto will continue to serve as company president,
with Tirtadjaja Hambali as finance director, Johannes Jali as
operational director, Hidenori Yamada as marketing director,
replacing Yojiro Ishibashi, and Naoki Hanabusa as production
director, replacing Hideto Omatsu.

Yamada is also general manager of Sumitomo Shoji Plastic Co.
Ltd., while Omatsu is general manager of the chemical and
plastics division at Sumitomo Corp. (05)