BUKIT ASAM TO PAY DIVIDENDS AT RP371.05 PER SHARE

Jakarta, May 29 (ANTARA) - State coal mining company PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) said its shareholders agreed at a general meeting on Thursday to spend half of last year's net profit on dividends at a rate of Rp371.05 per share.

"The total amount of dividends payable is Rp853.5 billion or 50 percent of the company's net profit in 2008 which reached Rp1.707 trillion," PTBA President Director Sukrisno said following the shareholders' meeting.

Sukrisno said the company's performance improved significantly in 2008 with sales jumping to Rp7.216 trillion compared to Rp4.123 trillion a year earlier.

The surge in sales caused net profit to more than double to Rp1.707 trillion in 2008 from Rp760.207 billion the year before, he said.

He said 65.02 percent of the dividend payments would go to the government as the company's majority shareholder.