Telkom To Buy Stake In Cos In Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka

JAKARTA -(Dow Jones)- PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Thursday said it plans to buy a minority stake in call center and content provider companies in Singapore and Malaysia and in wireless companies in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

"We expect to complete the stake purchase in the four companies later this year," Telkom President Commissioner Tanri Abeng told reporters.

The purchase is aimed at developing Telkom's business in the information and technology services, Abeng said.

He didn't give the names of the companies or the value of the purchases.

He said he expects Telkom's 2007 net profit to be around IDR12 trillion, up 9% from IDR11 trillion the previous year.

Telkom, the nation's largest telecommunication company by subscribers and assets, is expected to announce its 2007 earnings in May.

-By Linda Silaen; Dow Jones Newswires; 62 21 3983 1277; edhi.pranasidhi@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Posted to the site on 10th April 2008