Indonesia's Kalbe "Remains Premier Blue Chip"

Over the past 12 months, Indonesian drugmaker Kalbe Farma's shares have outperformed the Jakarta Stock Exchange by 32.5%, note analysts at Lehman Brothers in London, who say that this superior performance reflects several factors fundamental to the company.

Foremost, they point out, Kalbe Farma is Indonesia's largest and best-known manufacturer of prescription and over-the-counter medicines, and is particularly strong in OTCs. Given that Indonesia's OTC market is one of the fastest-growing in the world, the analysts consider Kalbe Farma's number one position in this market to be a solid basis for future growth.

In addition, the overall drug market in Indonesia has advanced at over twice the rate of growth of the economy, which the Lehman's Asian economic team estimates will expand at about 6.7% in 1994, 6.9% in 1995 and 7.4%-7.5% in 1996.