Tri Polyta's profit drops
JAKARTA (JP): PT Tri Polyta Indonesia reported a 24 percent decrease in its net profit to Rp 15 billion (US$6.4 million) for the second quarter of this year from Rp 19.8 billion in the same period of last year.
The company said in a statement yesterday that the profit decrease was due to a decline in the sales price of the company's products.
Tri Polyta, the country's largest polypropylene resin producer, recorded a 48.5 percent increase in sales volume to 86,558 metric tons of polypropylene, including exports of 22,351 metric tons, for the second quarter of this year.
While its profit decreased in the second quarter, the company still recorded an 8 percent increase in profit for the first semester of this year to Rp 35.9 billion from Rp 33.2 billion earned during the first semester of last year.
Tri Polyta is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Jakarta Stock Exchange. (rid)
;REUTER; ANPAf..r.. Bizbrief-TEPCO,-Indonesia TEPCO to enter RI JP/9/COLBOX2
TEPCO to enter RI
TOKYO (Reuter): Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc said yesterday it and Indonesian state-owned power firm PT PLN would launch a feasibility study for an electricity joint venture in Indonesia.
It will be the first time TEPCO has examined the possibility of overseas power production and distribution, a TEPCO spokesman said.
The start-up date and other details of the project have not been decided, he added.
TEPCO is Japan's largest power firm with a production capacity of 51.2 million kilowatts.
;UPI; ANPAf..r.. Bizbrief-Dollar-Europe-Asia U.S. dollar loses ground JP/9/COLBOX3
U.S. dollar loses ground
LONDON (UPI): The U.S. dollar was trading lower across Europe yesterday morning, following the previous day's nervousness about U.S. interest rates and Monday's plunge in Wall Street stocks.
In London, the U.S. currency was quoted at 1.4876 German marks, down on the previous finish of 1.4893. Against the Japanese yen, the greenback traded in London at 109.28 from the previous finish of 109.15.
The British pound was quoted at 2.3145 German marks from its previous finish of 2.3206 marks. The pound opened at US$1.5513, down from the previous close of $1.5582.
In Frankfurt , the dollar opened at 1.4843 German marks, down from the previous close of 1.5056.
In Paris , the dollar opened at 5.0360 French francs, down from the previous close of 5.0555.
In Tokyo , the dollar closed at 109.43 Japanese yen, down from the previous close of 109.85.
In Singapore , the dollar closed at S$1.4184, up from the previous close at s$1.4170.
In Hong Kong , the dollar closed at HK$7.7375, down from the previous close of HK$7.7385.
Gold opened at US$384.00 an ounce in Zurich, down from the previous close at $384.90, while in London it started trading at $384.00, down from the previous close of $384.25. In Hong Kong, gold closed at US$383.85, down from the previous close at $384.75.
;REUTER; ANPAf..r.. Bizbrief-Diadem-drilling Diadem starts RI project JP/9/COLBOX4
Diadem starts RI project
TORONTO (Reuter): Diadem Resources Ltd said on Tuesday it began drilling at its partly owned zinc-lead-silver property on Belitung Island in Indonesia on July 5 to confirm its tonnage and grade potential.
Diadem holds 30 percent of the property and Bresea Resources Ltd holds 60 percent. The other 10 percent is held by an Indonesian firm.
Bre-X Minerals Ltd, which is 23 percent-owned by Bresea, is the operator and is expected to present an up-to-date report on Belitung next week. A zinc-lead-silver zone was identified in the early 1990s, the firms have said.
;AFP; ANPAf..r.. Bizbrief-Ciba-merger Ciba-Geigy, Sandoz merge JP/9/COLBOX5
Ciba-Geigy, Sandoz merge
BRUSSELS (AFP): The European Commission has approved the merger between Swiss pharmaceutical companies Ciba-Geigy AG and Sandoz AG, a source said yesterday, paving the way for the creation of the world's second largest drug company.
The new company, to be known as Novartis AG, will have a market capitalization of more than US$60 billion.
It will have a world market share of about 4.4 percent, putting it in second place behind Britain's Glaxo-Wellcome but ahead of Merck of the United States and Germany's Hoechst-Marion- Roussel.
In order to obtain commission approval, the two companies had to accept certain modifications to the merger plan. They have to give up one third of their non-exclusive licenses for the manufacture of an active substance (methoprene), used in animal health care.
Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz currently control three of five active substances for the manufacture of anti-parasite products for cats and dogs.
The European Commission opened its inquiry into the merger on May 3.
;AFP; ANPAf..r.. Bizbrief-India-BMW BMW to make cars in India JP/9/COLBOX6
BMW to make cars in India
NEW DELHI (AFP): The Indian government yesterday approved the joint venture proposal of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG to manufacture cars in India in partnership with Hero Cycles, officials said.
"This (approval) will provide greater competition among the foreign car manufacturing firms who have positioned themselves in India and will also result in export promotion," a government official said.
The German firm's proposal was among 84 foreign investment proposals, totaling an investment of US$600 million over a five- year period, cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, the official said.
The proposal of U.S.-based Shell Oil Co., and Caltex for the "creation, development and improvement of infrastructure facilities and providing technical services," has also got the green light.
The proposed foreign investment from the two projects is of the order of $16 million, the official said.
;AFP; ANPAf..r.. Bizbrief-US-housing U.S. housing starts up 1.3% JP/9/COLBOX7
U.S. housing starts up 1.3%
WASHINGTON (AFP): Housing starts in the United States rose 1.3 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted 1.480 million units annually, the Commerce Department said yesterday.
Housing starts in May fell a revised 3.3 percent to 1.461 million units, compared with the initial estimate last month of a 4.7 percent decrease to 1. 434 million units.
Housing starts in April were revised up to a five percent rise, compared with the previous estimate of a 4.6 percent rise.
The consensus forecast of Wall Street economists was for June housing starts to rise 0.4 percent to 1.440 million units.
The June increase was led by the single-family home sector, the department said. Starts of single-family homes rose 7.4 percent in June to 1.225 million units, after falling 5.6 percent in the previous month. This is the highest rate of single-family starts since April 1994.
Multi-family starts fell 20.3 percent in June, after rising six percent in May.
;AFP; ANPAf..r.. Bizbrief-Thailand-steel Thai steel firm gets loan JP/9/COLBOX8
Thai steel firm gets loan
BANGKOK (AFP): Thai Special Steel Industry Public Co. Ltd. said yesterday it had secured a 20.5-billion-baht (US$820- million) loan to finance an integrated iron smelting and steel plant in central Thailand.
The loan for the project in Rayong province, southeast of the capital, would be provided by a group of Thai commercial banks, with 40 percent of the capital to be extended by Bangkok Bank, a company official said.
The first phase of the 96-hectare (235-acre) project would be completed in June 1997, the official said. The capital raised in the loan would be used to build the four-phase plant and buy machinery, she added.
Initial production capacity for the plant after the completion of the first phase was projected at 500,000 tons annually, the official said, adding that the iron ore used in the smelter would be imported from Australia.
The smelter would help reduce Thailand's steel imports and in doing so help the country's trade balance, she said.