Life after the crisis: Asia moves on
Korea: Hanwha Chemical Corporation
Thailand: Total Access Communications
The Asian crisis hit Indonesian conglomerate Astra International particularly hard, contributing to a 90% drop in business. As the leading auto producer in the country it was in the wrong business for a crisis. Indonesians stopped buying cars. And, overloaded with debt and with no-one to borrow from, Astra was up against the wall.
With president Rini Soewandi at the helm, ex-deputy chair of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency, Astra refused to be beaten by these seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Rather than despair, Soewandi saw the situation as a challenge. "The economic crisis that hit Asia created new breakthroughs in the way we do business. We are optimistic that as soon as the situation normalizes, Astra will become one of the leading players in its core business," he says.
To attack the company's debt required making unpopular choices. In August 1998, Astra stopped principal payments to its lenders and in October ceased interest payments as well. In November, it set aside $ million to buy back part of its debt and initiated a voluntary repurchase programme where creditors could sell their debt to Astra at a steep 70% discount.