[Kabar-indonesia] 19 RI Biz/Econ Reports: Rajawali/Gresik; Fisheries Exports [+JSX Up/Rupiah Down]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

19 Reports:

- Indonesia's Semen Gresik replaces Cemex
  representatives on boards [also see the
  previously sent: Indonesia's Gresik eyes 
  regional acquisitions]
- Interview - Indonesia hopes to boost fisheries 
  exports
- Indonesia Shares End Higher, Led By Bank 
  Negara, Telcos
- Indonesia Rupiah Ends Lower On Month-End 
  Dollar Demand
- Indonesia's Astra Intl to pay 150 rupiah/share
  interim div on Nov 15
- Indonesia's Astra Agro to pay 95 rupiah/share
  interim div on Nov 10
- Bakrieland To Issue $150M Bonds Oct - report
- Bakrie & Bro to build infrastructure projects in
  Indonesia
- Stock Alert - Indonesia's Bakrie group stocks
  lower on mudflow concerns
- Indonesia's cigarette makers cut production by
  30% as market slumps
- Indonesia's Bank Danamon plans to issue rupiah
  bonds in Q1 2007
- ADB seeks to boost investment to meet Asia's
  water challenges
- Indonesian retailer relaunches delayed
  bond-source
- Indonesia's Berlian Laju To List Shares In
  Singapore
- Toyota's Indonesian unit sees Sept car
  sales up 15-20 pct from Aug
- China's Geely wants to assemble cars in
  Indonesia
- Samsung Indonesia optimistic on boosting
  sales amid slump
- Indonesia's Polytama reconsiders US$55.5 mln
  bond issue plan
- Indonesia hopes to gain from EU charge on
  Chinese plastic bags

Indonesia's Semen Gresik replaces Cemex representatives on boards

JAKARTA, September 28 (XFN-ASIA) - Cement maker PT Semen Gresik 
has replaced Cemex SA representatives on its boards of directors and
commissioners with representatives of Rajawali Group, Semen Gresik
president Dwi Sutjipto said.

Rajawali became a major shareholder in Semen Gresik in July, when it
acquired 24.9 pct of the company from Cemex for 337 mln usd.

Sutjipto said Rajawali had put forward Rudi Antara to replace
Francisco Noriega as deputy president director, Irwan Suwarli to
replace Paul Eugene Gallardo Serrano as marketing director and 
Daryoto Setyawan to replace Jose Luis Saenz de Miera as deputy 
chief commissioner.

The shareholders have also appointed former finance minister Rizal
Ramli as chief commissioner, and Marwoto Hadisusastro and Arif Arryman
as commissioners.

Sutjipto said that Rajawali, unlike Cemex, had no special right to
veto major decisions taken by the directors.

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Interview - Indonesia hopes to boost fisheries exports

By Gde Anugrah Arka and Muhammad Ari

JAKARTA, September 28 (Reuters) - Indonesia is hoping a new ruling
aimed at cutting illegal fishing will help increase fisheries exports
from the sprawling archipelago significantly and boost the economy,
the fisheries minister said on Thursday.

The new rules making it mandatory for foreign shipping firms to
process their catch inside the country before exporting them will push
fisheries exports to $3.8 billion next year from an estimated $3.2
billion this year, Freddy Numberi said.

Indonesia's exports of fisheries, consisting mostly of shrimps and
tuna, stood at $3.0 billion last year.

Since the government ruling was issued in July, many foreign investors
have expressed interest in entering Indonesia's fisheries sector which
offers enormous potential, Numberi said.

Despite the potential offered by the export-oriented sector, Indonesia
loses $3 billion a year because of illegal fishing, he said.

"Many investors are showing interest. If I totalled up all potential
foreign investments, it could reach around $300 million. This country
has enormous natural resources in its seas," Numberi, a retired naval
officer, told Reuters in an interview.

"It (the regulation) is aimed at job creation, poverty alleviation in
the provinces and boosting the economy."

Foreign ships account for almost 15 percent of a total 6,000 fishing
ships in the country.

Numberi said most of the illegal fishing activities, broadly defined
as fishing without the government's authorisation, had in the past
been carried out by foreign ships which generally have better
equipment.

His remarks came as the government pledged to cut poverty and
unemployment, which are among Asia's worst, and boost the economy that
has grown at an average of 4 percent in the past 5 years, way below
Asian giants such as China and India.

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Indonesia Shares End Higher, Led By Bank Negara, Telcos

JAKARTA, September 28 (Dow Jones)--Indonesia shares ended higher
Thursday as investors continued to buy Bank Negara and
telecommunication blue chips, dealers said.

The Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite index ended up 10.741 points, 
or 0.7%, to hit a four-and-half month closing high of 1533.8.

Gainers led decliners 61 to 57, with 73 stocks unchanged. Volume was
1.35 billion shares valued at IDR1.49 trillion, compared with IDR1.4
billion valued at IDR1.5 trillion Wednesday.

Dealers said expectations that the central bank will cut interest
rates next week inspired buying, but concerns over a weak rupiah
triggered some profit taking.

Bank Indonesia's board of governors will meet Oct. 5, with many
analysts expecting a 50 basis points cut in the benchmark Bank
Indonesia interest rate to 10.75% from 11.25% at present.

Lower interest rates could increase net interest margins of banks and
reduce debt burdens of many companies, analysts said.

"The big picture here is that many companies will benefit from the
lower interest rates outlook," said Rifki Hasan, an analyst with
Paramitra Securities.

He also attributed gains to institutional funds buying to improve
their equity portfolio for the end of September.

Bank Negara Indonesia, the nation's second largest bank by assets,
extended gains, jumping 14% to IDR2,375, on expectations that lower
interest rates will help reduce its non performing loans for 2006.

Heavyweight Telkom rose 1.2% to IDR8,450 and rival Indosat gained 1.5%
to IDR5,200 on expectations that both will book strong nine-month
earnings due to an increase in revenue from their cellular services.

Profit taking hit shares in cement maker Semen Gresik, which fell 0.9%
to IDR27,650.

Looking ahead, dealers expect shares to trade higher Friday on further
buying in telecommunication blue chips.

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Indonesia Rupiah Ends Lower On Month-End Dollar Demand

JAKARTA, September 28 (Dow Jones)--The Indonesian rupiah ended 
lower Thursday as importers and dollar-indebted companies bought 
the greenback ahead of the end of the month, dealers said.

"Genuine dollar demand will likely continue to be healthy Friday," 
a dealer with a local bank said.

The dollar closed at IDR9,240, versus its close Wednesday 
at IDR9,208.

Importers and companies with offshore borrowings usually need dollars
to pay maturing obligations at the month-end.

Dealers said ample rupiah liquidity also weighed on the local unit
Thursday. The market was flush with liquidity as banks prepared
themselves with ample liquidity expecting high demand for cash by the
month-end, especially during the holy Ramadan month.

Dealers noted that another 0.7% increase in local stocks on top of
Wednesday's 1.5% gains, however, may curb the dollar's rise somehow
Friday as foreigners will need rupiah to pay for the shares they have
bought.

This will likely support the dollar to trade between IDR9,200 and
IDR9,250, dealers said.

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Indonesia's Astra Intl to pay 150 rupiah/share interim div on Nov 15

JAKARTA, September 28 (XFN-ASIA) - Car and motorcycle dealer PT Astra
International said its board of directors has decided to pay an
interim dividend of 150 rupiah a share on Nov 15.

In the first half to June, Astra International booked net profit of
1.86 trln rupiah, down sharply from 3.03 trln the year before.

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Indonesia's Astra Agro to pay 95 rupiah/share interim div on Nov 10

JAKARTA, September 28 (XFN-ASIA) - Crude palm oil producer PT Astra
Agro Lestari said its board of directors has decided to pay an interim
dividend of 95 rupiah per share on Nov 10.

In the first half to June, Astra Agro posted earnings per share of
263.33 rupiah.

----------------------------------------------------------

Bakrieland To Issue $150M Bonds Oct - report

JAKARTA, September 28 (Dow Jones)--Indonesia's PT Bakrieland
Development (ELTY.JK) will issue $150 million of secured bonds next
month which will be underwritten by Deutsche Bank, Bisnis Indonesia
reported, quoting a Bakrieland official.

"The structure of the bonds is being discussed," said Finance Director
Hamid Mundzir, according to the report. "Hopefully, all will be
completed by the end of October."

The company will also issue IDR300 billion of bonds onshore to finance
various property projects, the report added.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Bakrie & Bro to build infrastructure projects in Indonesia

JAKARTA, September 28 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Publicly listed steel pipe
maker PT Bakrie & Brothers said it will set aside US$4.81 billion to
finance nine infrastructure projects it hopes to build until 2010.

Three of the nine projects are toll road projects in Java, which will
cost around US$810 million to be offered in the Infrastructure Summit
to be held here in November, company secretary Juliandus Tobing said.

The three toll road projects are: Kunciran to Serpong, to cost US$190
million; Cimanggis to Cibitung, valued at US$340 million and Serpong
to Cinere, to cost US$280 million, Tobing said.

Bakrie & Brothers has already been awarded the Tanjung Jati A power
project, to cost around US$1.4 billion and a gas pipeline project
spanning the sea between East Kalimantan and Central Java, to cost
around US$1.26 billion.

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Stock Alert - Indonesia's Bakrie group stocks lower on mudflow concerns

JAKARTA, September 28 (XFN-ASIA) - PT Energi Mega Persada and Bakrie
group-related stocks were lower amid a lack of progress in the
containment of mudflow near the site of a gas well drilled by Energi's
Lapindo Brantas, dealers said.

Energi was down 20 rupiah or 3.57 pct at 540 while Bakrie Brothers was
down 5 or 3.23 pct at 150.

Yesterday, the government declared the areas swamped by the mudflow a
disaster zone and ordered the relocation of affected families.

The government also ordered contractor Lapindo Brantas, which is
responsible for drilling at a gas well near the mudflows, to pay at
least 1.5 trln rupiah to help fund the cleanup efforts.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Indonesia's cigarette makers cut production by 30% as market slumps

JAKARTA, September 28 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Cigarette producers have
been forced to cut production by 30 per cent with the market remaining
in the doldrums marked with a 12 per cent decline in sales in the
first half of this year.

Weak purchasing power is the main factor causing the slump, the
association of clove cigarette producers (GAPPRI) said, adding that
therefore, there are concerns the industry's sales target will not be
reached this year.

The association chairman Ismanu Soemiran urged the government to
reconsider a plan to raise the excise duty next year.

The ailing industry needs time to recover, Soemiran added.

Earlier the customs and excise duty director general Anwar Suprijadi
said the government planned to raise official sales prices of
cigarettes to come with an increase in excise duty in 2007.

Soemiran said the industry could not afford a hike in prices and
excise tariffs as market prices are already below the official prices
set by the government.

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Indonesia's Bank Danamon plans to issue rupiah bonds in Q1 2007

JAKARTA, September 28 (XFN-ASIA) - PT Bank Danamon said it is planning
to issue rupiah bonds in the first quarter of next year to support its
loan expansion program, bank president Sebastian Paredes said.

"We're planning to issue bonds in the first quarter next year to
support our growth," he told reporters.

He said the size of the bond issue is still being assessed by management.

Commenting on the central bank's planned single-presence policy, he
said Danamon shareholders have not made up their minds yet whether to
merge with Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) or not.

"We're still waiting for the guidelines from Bank Indonesia, which
hopefully will be issued soon. It (merger) will depend on the
shareholders, what will be best for them and for the bank," he said.

He said the decision on whether to merge with BII or not will take
some time as Danamon and BII both have to consult their respective
majority and minority shareholders and seek their approvals.

Under Bank Indonesia's planned single-presence policy, one shareholder
will be allowed to control only one bank, and so banks that share the
same owner will be required to merge.

BII and Bank Danamon are owned indirectly by Singapore's Temasek Holdings.

Bank Niaga and Bank Lippo also share the same owner, Khazanah Malaysia.

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ADB seeks to boost investment to meet Asia's water challenges

MANILA, September 28 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - A Water Financing Program
Conference opened Tuesday at the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
headquarters here aiming to accelerate water investments for the five
participating countries.

The conference brings together central and line agency high-level
representatives from India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, and
Vietnam, including experts on urban, rural, and basin water issues, as
well as finance and planning ministry officials.

Over two days, they will discuss barriers to water investment,
practical strategies to overcoming the barriers, ADB products and
services that can help them, and opportunities for water investments.

In 2002, about 700 million people in the Asia and Pacific region were
still without safe water supplies and some two billion had inadequate
or no toilet facilities.

Investments to provide people with safe drinking water and decent
toilet facilities, to allocate and preserve water resources, and to
properly manage wastewater have fallen seriously behind demands.

"Improvements in the MDG indicators for income levels, hunger,
communicable diseases, maternal and child mortality rates, and
environmental sustainability rest on many factors. But all have one
factor in common: Water," ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda told the
meeting's opening.

"Water is essential to sustain life, to provide food, to create the
conditions for higher levels of health, education and income," he
said.

Delegates heard that among China, Pakistan, Philippines, India,
Indonesia, and Vietnam none except India and China will meet the water
target, and only Pakistan, India and the Philippines may meet the
sanitation target. Indonesia might not meet neither target unless
investment is significantly increased.

To address these problems, ADB announced earlier this year that it
would double its investments in water operations through the new Water
Financing Program (WFP) 2006-2010.

WFP will focus on the delivery of substantial investment, reform, and
capacity development in three key areas: rural water services, urban
water services, and river basin water management.

"ADB is well positioned to lead the way for achievement of MDG 10 in
the region," Mr. Kuroda told participants. "We recognize that
individual countries cannot meet this important challenge on their
own. Strong regional partnerships involving governments, development
institutions, civil society and the private sector are needed to
support your efforts," he said.

Water reforms and improved governance are also crucial, he said. It is
for this reason that ADB takes a comprehensive approach that includes
support for reforms and capacity building, along with financing.

The ADB President said that getting water to the top of the
development agenda will require good coordination and leadership from
outside the water sector.

"That leadership must involve the finance and planning agencies," he
said. "The days are over in which water issues could be delegated
entirely to water agencies to handle. Water has become everyones
business, and therefore a national development issue."

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Indonesian retailer relaunches delayed bond-source

HONG KONG, September 28 (Reuters) - Indonesian retailer PT Matahari
Putra Prima Tbk has revived a delayed bond issue, a market source said
on Thursday, with a higher yield than initially indicated on offer.

The issue disappeared from the radar screen after the firm held
investor presentations in late May and early June, when the emerging
market suffered a sell-off on concerns about future U.S. economic
growth and higher interest rates.

Matahari had set an indicative yield of 10 percent for its three-year
bond worth $100 million to $150 million, the source said. That
compared with 9 percent it announced to the market in June.

It also shortened the maturity from five years.

Pricing of the deal, callable in 2007, is expected on Friday.

Credit Suisse and UBS are joint bookrunners for proposed bond issue.

Matahari said in May that the proceeds would be used to help fund
expansion plans.

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Indonesia's Berlian Laju To List Shares In Singapore

SINGAPORE, September 28 (Dow Jones)--Indonesian shipping company PT
Berlian Laju Tanker (BLTA.JK) late Wednesday filed a draft prospectus
for a separate listing of its shares on the Singapore Exchange.

Berlian, which will continue to list its shares on the Jakarta and
Surabaya stock exchanges, said the funds raised will be used for
general corporate purposes.

The draft prospectus didn't state the number of shares to be issued or
the likely amount that will be raised via the Singapore offer.

Berlian, which specializes in shipping chemicals, oil and gas,
reported net profit of $56.1 million and operating revenue of $157.8
million for the six months ended 30 June, 2006.

Its fleet comprised 55 vessels as at June 30, 2006, of which 44 are
owned by the company and 11 are chartered.

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Toyota's Indonesian unit sees Sept car sales up 15-20 pct from Aug

JAKARTA, September 28 (XFN-ASIA) - PT Toyota Astra Motor (TAM), a
49-51 joint venture between Toyota Motor Corp and PT Astra
International, predicts that its sales will be 15-20 pct higher this
month than last month, TAM marketing director Joko Trisanyoto said.

He told reporters that the increase in sales this month was likely
driven by sales of TAM's Avanza multi-purpose vehicle.

The company sold 10,165 vehicles last month, having sold 7,652 in July.

Trisnyoto said it had sold about 5,000 Avanzas this month, compared to
4,400 last month.

He said the company expected sales to drop next month because of the
Idul Fitri holidays.

He forecast that sales in November would return to last month's level.

Trisnyoto said Toyota might be able to increase its share of the
market here to 38 pct this year from 34 pct last year.

The Indonesian Automotive Industries Association has that the industry
as a whole will sell 330,000 vehicles this year, having sold 534,000
last year.

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China's Geely wants to assemble cars in Indonesia

JAKARTA, September 28 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Chinese car maker Geely
Holding Group, plans to assemble cars in Indonesia after failure to
secure a license in Malaysia.

The plan came after Chery Automobile Co also from China agreed with
the Indomobile Group to sell Chery cars in the country.

Cam Soh Thiam Hong, executive chairman of Geely car distributor Alado
Corp. said his company hopes to produce sedan cars with engine
capacity of 1100cc, 1300cc and 1500cc.

Geely has cancelled its plan to assemble cars in Malaysia because it
was required to export its entire production, since it was feared to
trigger sharper competition with local car makers.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Samsung Indonesia optimistic on boosting sales amid slump

JAKARTA, September 28 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - PT Samsung Electronics
Indonesia said it is optimistic that it can reach its target raising
sales of its consumer electronics in the country by 25 per cent this
year despite a market slump.

Marketing director of the company Stefanus Indrayana said in the first
eight months of this year, sales of its household electronics grew by
20 per cent on the average.

Indrayana predicted the market condition will improve in the last
quarter of this year that total sales this year will be more or less
the same as last year.

He acknowledged that sales in the first 8 months of this year fell
compared with the same period last year, but increase was recorded for
certain products.

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Indonesia's Polytama reconsiders US$55.5 mln bond issue plan

JAKARTA, September 28 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - PT Polytama Propindo, a
producer of polypropylene, a plastic basic material, is reconsidering
a plan to issue bonds valued at Rp500 billion (US$55.5 million).

Originally, the subsidiary of PT Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama
(TPPI) planned to issue the bond in the second half of last year, but
the plan was shelved as the market was not favorable.

The plan is now being discussed again as market condition allows, TPPI
commissioner Amir Sambodo told the newspaper Bisnis Indonesia.

The company said earlier the bond fund would be used to refinance a
debt of US$45 million to United Overseas Bank (UOB) and the rest was
to refinance a debt to state Bank Mandiri (JSX:BMRI).

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Indonesia hopes to gain from EU charge on Chinese plastic bags

JAKARTA, September 28 (Asia Pulse/Antara) - Indonesia hopes to gain
from the anti dumping import duty imposed by the European Union on
plastic bags from China and Thailand.

Indonesia could increase its exports of plastic bags to 400,000 tons
annually to the EU in the five years the penalty is effective, the
association of plastic and olefin industry (INAplas) said.

INAplas said the European Union has slapped a 28.8 per cent anti
dumping import duty on plastic bags from China and Thailand for
alleged dumping.

INAplas secretary general Budi Susanto Sadiman said the country,
however, has yet to face strong competition from Malaysia, which also
wants to gain from that opportunity.

The European Union has been one of the main market for Indonesian
plastic bags, Budi said without giving figure.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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