Indonesia's Astra Sedaya plans 1 trln rph bonds

JAKARTA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Indonesian automotive financing company PT Astra Sedaya Finance plans to offer 1 trillion rupiah of bonds in late February to raise working capital, the company said on Wednesday.

PT Indo Premier Securities, DBS Vickers Securities Indonesia and Mandiri Sekuritas, have been appointed to underwrite the bonds, which will be offered between Feb. 27-29, Astra Sedaya said in a prospectus published in a newspaper.

The bonds will be divided into six series with maturities ranging from 370 days to 42 months.

The company, 47-percent owned by General Electric Services, a unit of General Electric Co (GE.N), has not decided the coupon rate for the bonds.

Indonesia's largest automotive distributor, PT Astra International Tbk (ASII.JK), holds a 44.3-percent stake in the company while PT Sedaya Multi Investama controls the rest.

Astra Sedaya has more than 2 trillion rupiah worth of outstanding bonds, which will mature between March 2008 and June 2011.

The Indonesian automotive sector is recovering from a slowdown in 2006 following a government decision to sharply increase domestic fuel prices in October 2005.

Vehicle sales are estimated to have increased around 36 percent to 434,000 units in 2007 as the industry recovered from a slowdown following a hike in fuel prices, and in 2008, sales volume is expected to top 500,000 units. (Reporting by Harry Suhartono, editing by Sugita Katyal, Valerie Lee)