JAKARTA (Bisnis): ING Barings - financial advisor of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) for divestment of Bank Lippo 52.05% share - is sending teaser letter to prospective strategic investors today. "I think ING Barings is sending teaser letter to more than 20 strategic investors today," one Bisnis source said here yesterday. Teaser letter is invitation for prospective investor to take part in the divestment tender. ING Barings targets to send all of them before this weekend for the divestment process to soon on conduct. Asked about the prospective investors identity, he still could not name them as ING Barings itself is still in the list making process.

Meanwhile IBRA Deputy Chairman for Bank Restructuring I Nyoman Sender said Bank Lippo still have some time to sell the taken over assets (AYDA) worth IDR2.4 trillion but it should not be made at low price. "ING Barings is appraising Bank Lippo book value with AYDA brought into calculation. They will later make objective picture on Bank Lippo condition," he said yesterday. He admitted the AYDA forces IBRA to make adjustments to the bank book value. "The amount of AYDA will affect Bank Lippo price." He further emphasized that Bank Lippo management must release the AYDA to make the bank value be more objective.

However it should not be forced in a way causing the bank to bear losses that the assets is considered as assessment component. Bank Lippo management spends some IDR300 billion to IDR400 billion as carrying cost for the AYDA while it is no longer productive. The cost would return if AYDA were invested into other investment product. The bank CAR position currently stands at 21.1%, but it shall plunge to less than 8% if AYDA really goes on sales. Sender also affirmed that Mochtar Riady - the previous shareholder - is welcome to the divestment since he is not included in the list of censured people (DOT). "Investment Management Performance Agreement (IMPA) allows previous shareholder to join in recapitalizing the bank and Mochtar Riady did that. We have no ground to prevent him from returning to Bank Lippo," Sender cited. (mmh/wiw)

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JAKARTA (Bisnis): PT Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia (RCTI) appointed PT Andalan Artha Advisindo Sekuritas (AAA) and PT Mandiri Sekuritas to underwrite the issuance of IDR550 billion bond of the television company. "RCTI has appointed AAA and Mandiri Sekuritas as the underwriters of RCTI bonds to be issued October this year," said Amiruddin (one name) director of AAA. Edwin Kawilarang, Finance Director of Bimantara, the holding company of RCTI, confirmed that RCTI would issue some bonds. "RCTI will issue some bonds with the tenor of five years," he said.

Amiruddin said that RCTI would use the fund to refinance its medium term notes (MTN). One source of Bisnis Indonesia said that RCTI would also use the MTN as the additional working capital for the company. RCTI has just issued gradually some IDR700 billion MTNs, underwrote by AAA Securities. Hidajat Tjandradjaja, vice president director of Bimantara, explained to the Capital Market Supervisory Board (Bapepam) that RCTI issued such bonds gradually at the fix interest rate. "On July 15 the issuance of the MTN had been signed," he wrote to Bapepam.

He added that the company would use the fund to invest in some media listed in the Jakarta Stock Exchange. Amiruddin said that among those IDR700 billion, RCTI had issued IDR100 billion MTNs. But he failed to mention the tenor and the interest rate of the MTN. The financial report of Bimantara showed that the company owned 69.82% of the shares of RCTI. RCTI got a market share of 22% in 2002, with an income of IDR1.002 trillion, representing an increase of 38.18% from IDR724.9 billion in 2001.

The increase of the income was mainly due to the increase of advertising revenue as much as 38.56%. RCTI harvested a net profit of IDR228 billion in 2002 compared to the net profit of 2001 as much as IDR52.6 billion. In 2002 the company got some profit margin of 22.7% compared to 7.25% profit margin in 2001. The margin had improved due to the efficiency in getting the advertising, especially in the period of the World Cup. (wiw)

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