Jardine Matheson faces pain in Indonesia

The effect of the pandemic weighed on its local automotive distribution unit.

Jardine Matheson Holdings, one of Hong Kong’s last remaining British trading houses, is facing a new challenge in Indonesia, reports Bloomberg.

The conglomerate, whose operations span property, retail, hotels and motor vehicles, has warned investors of “increasingly difficult conditions” in Indonesia, where the fatality rate from COVID-19 is the highest in the region. This weighed on Jardine’s local automotive distribution unit and the second-biggest profit contributor, PT Astra International.

Indonesia’s auto industry association almost halved its 2020 vehicle sales forecast, dimming the outlook for Astra, which sells cars and trucks from Toyota Motor to Isuzu Motors. With Indonesia’s economic growth set to cool to the slowest in almost two decades this year, Astra’s other businesses, including heavy machineries and palm oil, are also feeling the hardship.

Read more from Bloomberg.

The people you want to reach are already in this room.

Every quarter, SBR lands on the desks of the founders, CFOs, and directors running Asia's most consequential companies. Every day, they open our newsletter and read our website. It's a room that took twenty years to build — and it's the one most of our partners are trying to get into.

The good news is that the door is open. We work with companies on thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The shape of the right partnership depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.

If you have something this room should know about, tell us. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia