3/6/11
Prelude to a kiss
Malaysia AirAsia to take over Jakarta-Kinabalu route from Indonesia AirAsia
Indonesia AirAsia president director Dharmadi said Sunday as quoted by kompas.com that the takeover will enable AirAsia to serve passenger during the daytime.
“We usually fly at night for the route, but Malaysia AirAsia will be able to fly at noon,” he said.
Dharmadi said the airplanes used to serve Jakarta-Kinabalu route will be allocated to fly from Jakarta to Phuket, Thailand.
Rich people buying Premium 'humiliating': minister
“It is a problem that when the price of Pertamax rises, they [rich people] buy [subsidized] fuel not intended for them. Please write about this; it is humiliating. If I become an affluent person, I won't do such a thing,” Darwin told the press on Wednesday in Jakarta.
“Pertamax follows the movement of the market prices. That should be okay for affluent people; they should dare to buy it,” he added, as quoted by kompas.com.
Permata Bank wins most awards for call center
“For six months, we have made phone calls to monitor the quality of the call centers in Indonesia,” Carre-Center for Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty CEO Yuliana Agung said Friday.
Permata Bank won in the priority banking, regular credit card and regular banking categories.
Other category winners included BRI Syariah Phone Banking, Commonwealth Comm Center, Astra Credit Companies Call Center and Honda Customer Care.
FedEx Customer Service, Sony Ericson Contact Center, Telkom 147, LG Customer Information, PLN 123, Garuda Call Center, Blue Bird Call Center, Adira Care and Careline Telkomsel also grabbed awards in their respective categories.
Yuliana added that the number of call centers had increased each year in the seven years since the awards had been held.
AirAsia Indonesia targeting $200m from IPO
"Funds raised will be used to procure new airplanes, to boost capital, to finance long-term operational costs and speed up corporate growth," AirAsia Indonesia chief executive officer Dharmadi said Thursday.
The company has nominated two underwriting firms to handle the offering.
"We've appointed two reputable underwriting companies, Credit Suisse and CIMB," he said.
The company has also targeted to increase its revenue by 15 percent this year, thanks to an expected increase in its load factor to 80 percent this year, compared 77 percent last year.
Pertamina airplane fuel sales up by Rp 5 trillion in 2010
“This increase is accompanied by an increase in sales from a volume point of view,” Pertamina aviation marketing manager Rifky E Hardijanto said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.
Pertamina sold 2.8 million kiloliters of airplane fuel in 2009.
This year, Pertamina has targeted a sales figure of 3.3 to 3.4 million kiloliters of airplane fuel and Rp 17 trillion in sales.
The sales figure is similar to last year’s target given the assumptions of the average Indonesian Crude Price (ICP) at US$80 per barrel.
BI defends Riady’s banking comeback
In response to concerns raised by legislators and analysts, BI deputy governor Halim Alamsyah said Friday that as the supreme banking authority, BI guaranteed the eligibility of a person or an institution to acquire a bank.
“If the person or institution has a negative track record, they will not be allowed to own a bank, the plan will fall through. I guarantee that,” Halim said.
Legislators and analysts raised doubts after BI last week granted a license to Kharisma Buana Nusantara (KBN) and Pikko Group to acquire shares in Bank Nationalnobu. Lippo controls 60 percent shares in KBN, with the rest held by Yantony Neo, CEO of Pikko Group.
Lippo will spend Rp 60 billion for a 60 percent stake in the bank while Pikko will hold the remainder.
Pikko is the founder of Bank Pikko, which later merged with Bank Danpac and Bank CIC to become Bank Century — later renamed Bank Mutiara after receiving a Rp 6.76 trillion bailout in 2008.
Critics said the comeback of Riady’s empire reminded them of the country’s worst banking crisis following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which led to the government injecting Rp 144.5 trillion in bailout funds and BI blacklisting more than 400 bank owners, commissioners and executives for unscrupulous practices.
Riady’s Lippo Bank was among the domestic banks receiving Rp. 6 trillion in government sustenance in exchange for a 59 percent stake in the bank. Although considered by many to be responsible for the bank’s failure, Riady’s remained commissioner until 2005.
In 2008, after series of acquisitions, Malaysia’s CIMB Group undertook the merger of Bank Niaga with Lippo into CIMB Niaga, the country’s fifth largest bank by assets.
BI deputy governor Muliaman Hadad gave assurances that Riady was not among the individuals on BI’s blacklist. BI spokesman Difi Johansyah told The Jakarta Post that Riady passed the test for eligibility to own a bank “but with conditions”. He did not elaborate further.
The fit and proper test procedures answered previous concerns by observers and economists who worried that Mochtar’s history with Lippo Bank could repeat itself with Bank Nationalnobu.
“It is important for the central bank to let people know the criteria when it grants a license to a person who did not have a positive record in the past. The central bank must be tough with the criteria, because it relates to customers’ trust in the bank,” economist Yanuar Rizky said.
Bank customers save Rp 26 trillion last week
Based on this data, the total amount of third party funds, including savings, deposits and current accounts, was Rp 2,243.63 trillion, reflecting a 13.86 percent increase throughout the year.
Meanwhile, on a yearly basis, third party funds grew by almost 17 percent.
A significant increase was also seen in lending last week.
National banks disbursed Rp 14.69 trillion loans in the fourth week of December, bringing the total amount of outstanding loans to Rp 1,722.84 trillion.
Lending has grown 20.46 percent so far this year, compared to the 22-24 percent targeted by the central bank. On a yearly basis, however, it grew by 22.35 percent.
BI spokesman Difi Johansyah said Wednesday that the central bank was upbeat that lending could grow by 22.41 percent by the year end.
“[That's] based on the assumption that loan growth until the end of 2010 will be as much as it was in the same period last year, or Rp 27.86 trillion.”
RI's foreign exchange reserves drop by $2.6b
Bank Indonesia deputy governor Budi Mulia acknowledged that the central bank spent some amount of foreign exchange to arrest the fall of the rupiah, which on Thursday broke the 9,200 level against the U.S. dollar.
Budi Mulia also said that the fall in the foreign exchange reserves was caused by the government's increased foreign exchange spending to pay its obligation related to the Muslim haj pilgrimage to Mecca.
"The decrease in foreign exchange reserves has nothing to do with the trade deficit in July," Budi was quoted as saying by Tempointeraktif.com on Friday.
Data at Bank Indonesia shows that the country's foreign exchange reserves hit a new record of US$60.56 billion as of the end of August, or enough to finance 4.7 months of import needs.
Reserves may get $120b by year-end
BI Governor Darmin Nasution said Friday the estimated amount would be well above the sufficient level of $90 billion. Darmin predicted the forex reserves to surpass $100 billion at the end of the first half before topping $120 billion in December.
“We actually have calculated the estimate — because there’s no exact formula to count it — of $90 [billion]. That’s actually enough,” he told reporters after a news conference at the Finance Ministry.
The reserves currently stand at $98 billion, Darmin said, up 2 percent from 2010’s year-end of $96.2 billion. Last year’s foreign currency reserves increased by 45 percent compared to a year earlier, while the projected $110 billion to $120 billion reserves by year-end reflected a 14 to 25 percent increase.
Higher foreign reserves will allow BI to stabilize the rupiah in stemming imported inflation. The central bank has expressed concerns over surging inflationary pressures this year as soaring food prices have brought January headline inflation to reach a 21-month high of 7.02 percent.
Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo also said high forex reserves could be used to calm volatility of bond markets at times when foreign investors sell-off Indonesian assets, which may destabilize the country’s economy.
Darmin said the rupiah would continue its upward trend this year, mainly if global imbalances persisted, and BI would continue to follow the “market’s dynamics”.
“We definitely will follow the market’s dynamics. We will follow the fundamentals so that the fundamentals do not sacrifice our economy,” he said.
“We are definitely keeping eyes on the payment balance to avoid exports disincentive due to the [strengthening] rupiah.”
Darmin considered the current rate of about Rp 8,800 to Rp 8,900 was “in line” with the country’s economic fundamentals, saying the currency “has not yet been” overvalued.
Capital inflows push forex reserves past $100b
BI spokesperson Difi Johansyah said in a statement that the latest forex figures held by the central bank represents 6.2 months of import and government foreign debt payment bills, and was higher than the standard level.
The forex reserves reached $99.6 billion on Feb. 28 and swelled to $101.8 billion on Mar. 3, showing a $2.2 billion increase in three days, he said.
“Capital and financial transactions are still expected to book a surplus in line with strong capital inflows, including in direct investment,” Difi said.
Foreign investors pumped Rp 27 trillion into the nation’s debt market of government bonds and BI certificates through February, appreciating the rupiah by 2.5 percent to a four-year high of Rp 8,818 against the US dollar as of Feb. 28.
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