Corporate News in Brief

CORPORATE NEWS IN BRIEF

January 2009

BENGKULU ENERGI MANDIRI TO BUILD BIODIESEL FACTORY. PT Bengkulu Energi Mandiri plans to invest Rp1 trillion in bio-diesel factory project in Bengkulu to be carried out in two phases each with a production capacity of 200,000 tons of biodiesel a year. In the first phase, the company will invest Rp600 billion to be followed with the second with an investment of Rp400 billion. The factory will be built in the port area of Pulau Baai, where the provincial administration has made available 10-hectare plot of land. Meanwhile, an electric appliance company from Japan, Kojima Electronic , may decide to delay its plan to build bio-fuel plant in Indonesia until 2012. Earlier Kojima said it planned to build a factory processing jetropha curcas into bio-fuel with an investment of US$900 million this year. Agro Chemical Industry Director General Benny Wachjudi said Kojima planned to build the factory with an annual production capacity of 15,000 tons in the first quarter of this year. However, the plan may not be implemented as scheduled over difficulty in securing land to grow jetropha curcas.

TELKOMSEL WINS USO PROJECT VALUED AT RP534 BILLION.. The contry's largest cellular phone operator PT Telkomsel has won tenders for Package II and Package VII of rural telephone networks under the USO (universal service obligation) projects valued at Rp534 billion. Telkomsel defeated other bidders PT Indonusa System Integrator Prima and PT Indosat Tbk in Package II and PT Sampoerna Telekomunikasi Indonesia and PT Indonusa System Integrator Prima in Package VII. Meanwhile, Telkomsel will soon launch Apple Inc.'s much coveted Phone 3G mobile handsets. The company is now in the final preparation to launch the products, Sarwoto Atmosutarno was quoted as saying. Telkomsel which won the license from Apple to distribute the Phone in Indonesia, is set to begin this month selling the second generation Phone which is equipped with the fast 3G communication technology. Telkomsel is 65% owned by the state run PT Telkom , the country's largest telecommunication company with 35% owned by Singapore TelecomMobile Pte Ltd.

SEMEN PADANG & NEDO TO BUILD POWER PLANT . State-owned cement maker PT Semen Padang will build a power plant generating electricity from waste heat from the rotary kilns of its cement factories in West Sumatra. The 8.5 megawatt power plant will be built in cooperation with New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (Nedo) from Japan with an investment of Rp203.6 billion . The project is to be completed in 2011 and it will operate to supply power for the cement factories of the subsidiary of the country's largest cement producer Semen Gresik. NEDO executive director Kazuaki Kaoziwa said five projects with waste heat recovery power generation (WHRPG) technology are being built by NEDO in the country . PT Semen Padang will be the first cement factory in the country to use the WHRPG technology . Currently there are five similar projects developed by NEDO in the country . Semen Padang is a subsidiary of PT Semen Gresik in East Java.

FOREIGN INVESTORS TO COMPETE FOR PEMALANG POWER PLANT PROJECT . At least four foreign companies are competing for a US$2.75 billion contract to build a coal-fired power plant in Pemalang, Central Java. Siemens from Germany, WTL of Malaysia, Areva of France, Huadian Energy Co China, and China Datang Corp China will be among the investors bidding for the project, said Bambang Praptono, a director of the state electricity company PLN , which owns the project. The Pemalang project will have a capacity of 2,000 megawatts , Bambang said. Open tender will be held next month and the project is expected to be completed in 2014, he added. The project is part of a second crash program to be launched after the completion of the first program now being carried out by PLN . The first program to build coal fired power plants with a total capacity of 10,000 megawatts is to be completed in 2010 . Unlike the first program , which will build only coal fired power plants, the second program will also nclude gas-fired, hydroelectric, geothermal power and other types of power plants using renewable energy sources.

YU WON TO BUILD HANDSET ASSEMBLING PLANT Producer of electronic components PT Yu Won LCD of South Korea plans to build An assembling plant for code division multiple access (CDMA) based cellular phone in the country. Yu Won will build the factory this year with an investment of US$10 million in Serang, Banten, an official said. Telecommunication and informatics industry director Ramon Bangun said the Korean company , which is a producer of liquid crystal display module (LCM) components plans to expand business by producing hand phones. Implementation of the project will reduce the country's dependence on imports of hand phones, Ramon was quoted as saying. Ramon said he has sought support from the industry minister to recommend and facilitate the implementation of the project as the products to be launched will have high local content. He said Yucom Cm-100 and CM101 will have a local content of 51.73% valued at US$21.06 per unit and Yucom CF-100 and CF101 will have local content of 52.38% . The company wll also offer after sales service , therefore, Yucom products will be highly competitive, he said.

LOTTE MART SET FOR EXPANSION . PT Lotte Shopping Indonesia said it has secured a license form the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) to expand its hypermarket supermarket networks in Indonesia under the name of Lotte Mart. Moon Young-Pyo, President of PT Lotte Shopping Indonesia said the subsidiary of South Korea's Lotte Group will invest Rp9 trillion in the next five years to open 16 new outlets to bring the number of its outlets to 35 units in 2012, to be increased further to 45 units in 2013. The additional outlets will make Lotte the largest retail company in the country eclipsing France's Carrefour, Moon Young Pyo said Lotte Mart now has 19 outlets after the acquisition of Makro Indonesia. PT Lotte Shopping Indonesia acquired PT Makro Indonesia at a price of US$294.6 million from SHV Holdings N.V earlier this year. This year , Lotte is set to chalk up Rp5.7 trillion in sales , up 20% from the sales recorded by the 19 outlets under Makro in 2008. Lotte Group has more than 90 outlets in various countries such as China, Russia, Vietnam, India and Indonesia.

CENTRAL OMEGA TO INVEST RP 1 TRILLION IN COAL MINES . PT Central Omega Resources said it will invest Rp1 trillion (US$90 million) mostly to acquire coal mines in Kalimantan in the next two years. Corporate secretary Stephanus Yoseph Mandagi said the company will receive a capital injection of Rp1 trillion from Jinsheng Mining, its majority shareholder to strengthen its capital. The capital injection from Jinsheng will be used to finance expansion plan of Central Omega until 2010, Stephanus said. Central Omega, formerly operating as a financing firm with the name of PT Duta Kirana Finance, changed its core business late last year to mining sector. The publicly listed company started its new business by acquiring PT Mulia Pacific Resources and PT Mega Buana Resources early this year. Its is 50.14% owned by Jinsheng, 23% by investing public and two local investors have the rest.

ASAHIMAS TO INVEST US$40 MILLION TO BUY NEW TECHNOLOGY . PT Asahimas Flat Glass said it will spend around US$40 million this year to acquire the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technology and to overhaul a number of its machines. Company spokesman Rusli Pranadi said US$24.5 million of the fund will be used for the technology to be used in its factory in Sidoarjo and the rest will be used to overhaul part of its factory machines. Loan will be available from bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UGJ Ltd and Mizuho Bank but the company decided to use its own fund, Rusli said He said PT Asahimas will be the first company in Southeast Asia using the technology to be acquired from AGC Flat Glass , an affiliate in Europe. Marketing manager Muhammad Amien said the company will export up to 85% of CVD glass to countries in Asia Pacific region and the rest will be disposed of on the domestic market. Work is expected to start in March after the shareholders give their approval.

NORTHSTAR ACQUIRE 29% OF ALFARIA. Argo Volantis Pte Ltd , a subsidiary of Northstar Pacific Partners, has taken control of 29,52% of PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya, the operator of Alfamart retail chains in the country. Argo Volantis Pte Ltd became a new shareholder of Sumber Alfaria after converting bonds of PT Cakrawala Mulia Prima , a shareholder of the operator of the retail chains. The 29.52% stake was in repayment of the remaining Rp210 billion (US$19 million) debt of Cakra Mulia Prima in the convertible bond issued to Argo Volantis. With the deal, the shares of Cakrawala in Sumber Alfaria , which operates 2,800 Alfamart outlets in the country, were reduced to 6.48% from 36%. Meanwhile, PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya said it plans to open up to 500 new outlets this year in Java and southern Sumatra. Company Vice President Henry Komala said the new outlets will include franchises and outlets wholly owned by the company. Henry said franchises are to be increased in proportion this year to 30% from 23% at present of its total outlets. The owner of a franchise is required to invest at least US$500 million with a store having a floor space of 100 sq. m. Last year, the company reported sales valued at an estimated Rp8 trillion or an increase of 20% from the previous year.