NEWS HIGHLIGHT

Maybank is expected to conduct tender offer for Bank International Indonesia (BNII) shares held by public today, as Indonesian financial market regulator Bapepam-LK has accelerated the effective statement for the bank's tender offer in a bid to improve liquidity in the stock market. Indonesia's largest listed private bank Bank Central Asia (BBCA) announced its 9M08 loan growth of 52.9% YoY, rising to Rp104tr. The bank expected strong earnings stemmed from the loan growth as well as increase in value of marketable securities.

Indonesia's largest telecom operator Telekomunikasi Indonesia (TLKM) may review its expansion plan and capital expenditure initially budgeted at US$2.5bn, given current tight liquidity in the financial sectors. TLKM may put on hold several acquisition plans, in order to
focus more heavily in its core business. State-owned construction Adhi Karya (ADHI) announced its mixed 9M08 results: revenues upped 22.2% but operating profit and earnings slipped by 27.9% and 49.9%, respectively, on a yearly basis. This, however, was above our analyst expectation, as ADHI lowered its corporate tax rate to below 20%.