Freeport postpones its shareholders? meeting

The copper and gold giant PT Freeport Indonesia?s annual shareholders general meeting, which was scheduled to be held last week end, has been postponed due to a bomb blast outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, the Koran Tempo newspaper reported in its Tuesday edition.

Freeport?s office, which is located just opposite to the Australian Embassy, was hit by the bomb blast but no one from Freeport was killed in the incident.

?Freeport?s office was affected by the bomb blast,? Roes Aryawijaya, deputy to the State Minister for State Enterprises, told the Koran Tempo in Jakarta last weekend.

Roes said, the shareholders meeting, which among others will determine the portion of dividend, was postponed until further notice.

At least nine people were killed and more than 180 people were injured in the high-explosive blast on Thursday in Jakarta.

Freeport?s spokesman Siddharta Moersjid confirmed, through telephone, the news of postponement of the meeting.

The government, the owner of 9.36 percent stake in Freeport, is expecting higher dividend for the year 2002. It may ask Freeport to raise the percentage of dividend from the profit.

State Minister for State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi confirmed that the government will ask the Freeport to raise the dividend amount.

?We will ask for 20 percent of Freeport?s profit as dividend,? Laksamana told the House of Representatives last week.

For 2001, Freeport decided to pay 15 percent of its profit as dividend to its shareholders.

The government, as a shareholder received US$4.5 million. (*)