In the General Meeting of Shareholders it was decided that Bank Mandiri, Indonesia’s largest financial institution by assets, will pay dividend of IDR 199.33 per share to its shareholders. Total dividend that will be paid amounts to IDR 4.65 trillion (US $479.4 million), which equals about 33 percent of the bank's net profit in 2012. Bank Mandiri, which is 60 percent owned by the Indonesian government, reported a 26.6 percent increase in net profit last year.

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In Indonesian media it was reported today that the Blue Bird Group, Indonesia's largest taxi services group, picked Credit Suisse AG and UBS AG as underwriters for its initial public offering (IPO), which is assumed to take place in the second or third quarter of this year (initially the IPO was planned for the first half of 2013). Through this IPO, in which 20 to 40 percent of its equity will be sold to the public, the taxi company targets to collect about US $250 million.

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Although Indonesia's January cement sales showed robust growth of 15 percent to 4.65 million metric tons (year-on-year), the country's cement sales in February slowed to 8.2 percent (4.39 million metric tons) compared to a year earlier; The slowest pace of growth in six months. Strong annual GDP growth has caused a rise in property and infrastructure projects but a delay in some government projects might be behind the slower cement sales growth in February.

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PT Wijaya Karya Tbk, a state-controlled engineering and construction company that is better known to the general public as Wika, posted net profit of IDR 505.12 billion (US $52.07 million) in 2012, a 29.20 percent increase compared to the previous year. Net profit per share rose from IDR 60,59 to IDR 76,01 per share. According to the financial report that was released today, the growth in net profit was mainly due to a 26.79 percent increase in sales.

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Today, Jakarta was hit again by floods, brought on by heavy rainfall, that reached up to 50 centimeters at some locations and paralyzed part of Jakarta's traffic. Barely two weeks ago, Indonesia's capital city had experienced sustained floods that took the lives of more than 20 people and resulted in losses totaling US $3.3 billion. It might not be Jakarta's last day of floods as the rainy weather conditions are forecast to continue in February.

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Several Indonesian media reported that a deal has been reached between the governments of Singapore and Indonesia that will foresee in an increase of flights (accompanied by a lowering in fares) between Singapore and several big cities in Indonesia (including Jakarta, Surabaya and Medan). The route Jakarta-Singapore is one of the busiest airline routes in Asia, mainly due to business traffic because of (growing) trade and investments flows between the two countries.

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State-controlled toll road constructor and operator Jasa Marga is expected to post rising revenue and net profit in the years to come as its toll road network is expanding amid the government's drive to push for infrastructure development, including toll road development. Recently Jasa Marga was awarded four toll road projects - all on the island of Java - with a total length of 262.3 kilometers (valued at IDR 18.4 trillion). Up to 2017 Jasa Marga plans to commission some 313 kilometers of toll road.

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After Japan was disappointed by not being awarded the contract to build a high-speed railway between Indonesia's capital city of Jakarta and Bandung (West Java), the Indonesian government now plans to offer the revitalization of the northern Java railway to Japan. Another project that is expected to be offered to Japan is the Patimban seaport project in Subang (West Java). Indonesian President Joko Widodo is currently in Japan for a two-day visit to attend the Group of Seven summit on invitation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

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It is estimated that Indonesia will need some USD $450 billion in funds to finance the government's infrastructure development plans for the 2015-2019 period. However, through the state budgets the government can only deliver USD $230 billion, or roughly 50 percent of required funds. The remainder should originate from the private sector (30 percent of total funds) and state-controlled enterprises (20 percent). However, is it likely that the private sector (both foreign and domestic) is to come up with USD $141 billion for investment in infrastructure up to 2019?

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With the Indonesian government showing its commitment to push for infrastructure development, the property sector of Indonesia is expected to get a boost as infrastructure development opens access to new areas. For example, Indonesia's first high-speed train project that is to connect Jakarta and Bandung (in West Java) is expected to give rise to new economic centers and cities along the 142 kilometers-long railway. Moreover, existing property in the proximity of a new infrastructure project should lead to significantly rising property prices.

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The Indonesian government plans to offer 10 toll road projects - with a total length of 520.83 kilometers - to investors before the end of the year. The projects are estimated to have a total value of IDR 109.58 trillion (approx. USD $8.3 billion). The offering of these projects are in line with the government's efforts to boost infrastructure development across the country. Such development will enhance inter and intra island connectivity, thus curbing the nation's high logistics costs and offer a more attractive investment climate to (potential) investors.

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Two state-controlled companies (both listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange) are expected to feel the positive impact of the light rail transit (LRT) in Palembang (South Sumatra), a transportation project currently under construction. These two companies are construction firm Waskita Karya and cement producer Semen Baturaja. These two companies are heavily involved in the LRT project that is estimated to cost around USD $520 million. This LRT track is supportive infrastructure for the 2018 Asian Games, to be held in South Sumatra in August 2018.

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Indonesia's economic growth in the first quarter of 2016 was rather disappointing at 4.92 percent (y/y), below analyst estimates that averaged around 5 percent (y/y), due to slowing household consumption, private investors being in a wait-and-see mode, and relatively weak government spending (a usual phenomenon at the year-start). Indonesia's construction sector also grew weakish in Q1-2016. However, the construction sector still has good prospects in the years ahead on the back of the government's infrastructure projects.

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If we look back on the month of April, two important matters - related to the economy - occurred in Indonesia this month: (1) in the first week of April, the Indonesian government managed to complete the Revised 2016 State Budget (RAPBN-P 2016), and, one week later, (2) the central bank (Bank Indonesia) announced it will adopt a new benchmark monetary tool per 19 August 2016 - the so-called seven-day reverse repurchase rate - that is to replace the existing BI rate (which fails to influence market liquidity effectively).

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Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), one of the leading banks in Indonesia, is expected to maintain rising net profit figures in the years ahead due to its decision to focus on (corporate) credit disbursement for domestic infrastructure development projects. In fact, according to RHB OSK Securities, BNI may become the state-controlled bank that benefits most from the government decision to raise its infrastructure budget to IDR 313.5 trillion (approx. USD $24 billion) in the 2016 State Budget. Last year, growth of credit disbursed by BNI to infrastructure projects climbed 116.2 percent (y/y). This year infrastructure credit may grow by another 19 percent.

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Public spending on infrastructure development in Indonesia is not optimal. Sofyan Djalil, Indonesia's National Development Planning Minister as well as Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), says immature and non-integrated planning between ministries and other government agencies as well as between the central and regional governments cause inefficient and non-optimal infrastructure spending. Non-optimal infrastructure development implies that Indonesia's overall economic growth as well as social development cannot achieve its full potential.

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