Thai Pokphand's RI units finish debt restructuring

Thai Pokphand's RI units finish debt restructuring

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones): The Indonesian businesses of Thailand's
Charoen Pokphand Group have completed the restructuring of their
sizable debts, with the biggest unit PT Charoen Pokphand
Indonesia (H.CPH) reaching agreement with its bankers Tuesday on
rescheduling $190 million in loans.

Charoen Pokphand Indonesia, a poultry feed meal producer
that's listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange, signed an agreement
with 26 creditors under which its loans and those to an
affiliated unit, chicken-breeder PT Charoen Pokphand Jaya Farm,
will be repaid by year 2003. Under the agreement, interest will
be 2.5 percentage points above the Singapore interbank offered
rate, or Sibor. The agreement doesn't call for creditors to take
"haircuts", or accept less than what they are owed. Creditors
will receive 17.5 percent of what they are owed by Friday, and
another 2.5 percent by Dec. 22.

Tuesday's signing in Singapore marked the third and final
stage of debt-restructurings completed by Indonesian units of CP,
as the large Bangkok-based conglomerate is known. Last month, PT
Surya Hidup Satwa restructured a $32 million loan, and PT Central
Proteina Prima signed an agreement to reschedule $131.5 million
in loans.

In negotiations with Charoen Pokphand Indonesia, the lenders
on the creditors' steering committee were Bank Brussels Lambert,
Citibank NA and American Express Bank. The creditors include
banks from Japan, Europe and the U.S.

At the signing ceremony, Joseph Kestemont, regional general
manager for Bank Brussels Lambert said the restructuring resulted
from "months of tough negotiations." He complimented Charoen
Pokphand Indonesia for an "unwavering commitment" to reaching a
deal and said lenders took a "very practical approach."

Eddy S. Zaoputra, managing director of Charoen Pokphand
Indonesia, said that there's been "much good news" for Indonesia
in recent days. Last week's election of a new president and vice-
president can be a "turning point" for the economy and "life the
nation out of its multidimensional crisis," he said.

If economic and political conditions can be stable and the
rupiah can stabilize at Rp 6,500 to the dollar, or stronger,
Charoen Pokphand companies in Indonesia "will grow fast,"
Zaoputra said. He said that CP companies in Indonesia will
concentrate of developing food industries. He predicted that
Charoen Pokphand Indonesia revenue can reach IDR5 trillion a year
by 2005, compared with about Rp 2 trillion a year currently.