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.