• Ace Hardware Indonesia Plagued by Weak Rupiah & Purchasing Power

    Ace Hardware Indonesia, one of Indonesia's leading retail companies that is engaged in the markets of home improvement and lifestyle products, is expected to show modest (single-digit) growth in 2016. Same store sales growth is estimated to grow in the range of 8-10 percent year-on-year (y/y). This modest performance is caused by weak purchasing power in Indonesia amid sluggish economic growth and due to the fragile rupiah (against the US dollar).

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  • Indonesia's United Tractors Plagued by Weak Demand for Heavy Equipment

    United Tractors, the largest distributor of heavy equipment in Indonesia, is still facing challenges due to persistently weak demand for heavy equipment amid low commodity prices. Business activity in the agribusiness, mining and infrastructure sectors have slowed This context is expected to lead to slowing net profit for the company in both 2015 and 2016. The company, a subsidiary of Astra International (Indonesia's largest diversified conglomerate), controls a market share of around 40 percent in Indonesia's heavy equipment market.

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  • Bank Central Asia (BCA) to See Slower Credit Growth than State Banks

    Bank Central Asia (BCA), one of the leading commercial banks in Indonesia, is estimated to continue posting growing net profit and rising credit growth in the years ahead despite the persistently sluggish domestic economy. However, contrary to the state-controlled banks - such as Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) - BCA will most likely not see double-digit credit growth in the near future as BCA's customers mostly originate from the private sector. The state-controlled banks, on the other hand, have the advantage of being involved in the government's push for infrastructure development and government spending.

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  • Indonesian Mining Firm Aneka Tambang (Antam) Still in Troubled Waters

    New funds obtained from a rights issue and the revaluation of its assets will have a positive impact on Aneka Tambang (Antam), a diversified mining company in Indonesia. The miner, majority-owned by the Indonesian government, is engaged in all activities ranging from exploration, exploitation, processing, refining to the marketing of nickel ore, ferronickel, gold, silver, bauxite, coal and precious metals refining services. However, its corporate earnings remained disappointing so far in 2015.

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The views expressed in these business columns are the views of the authors or the interviewed persons only and therefore do not necessarily reflect the views of Indonesia Investments. The authors are free to ventilate their opinions about the Indonesian business climate. Facts presented in these columns are the result of the author's own research or indicated sources, read disclaimer
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