Gajah Tunggal projects 20 percent growth in 2004<\/p>\n
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Publicly listed tire maker PT Gajah Tunggal is projecting a 15
\npercent to 20 percent growth in sales in 2004, said Mulyati
\nGozali, the company's new president commissioner, on Friday after
\na shareholders' meeting, the first in five years.<\/p>\n
Mulyati, as quoted by Detik.com, said the audited 2003 sales
\nwere also estimated to have increased by 15 percent to 20 percent
\nfrom 2002.<\/p>\n
The company's latest report shows that in the first nine
\nmonths of 2003, its sales declined by 4.7 percent to Rp 4.35
\ntrillion (US$511 million) from Rp 4.56 trillion in the same
\nperiod the previous year.<\/p>\n
In 2002, the company's audited sales reached Rp 5.56 trillion,
\na decline from 2001's Rp 5.74 trillion in sales.<\/p>\n
Mulyati did not specify the company's profit target for 2004
\nor its estimated profit for 2003.<\/p>\n
Last year's balance is being audited and will be announced in
\nJune, she said.<\/p>\n
According to its latest financial report, Gajah Tunggal had a
\nnet income of Rp 1.07 trillion in the January-September period of
\n2003, a 61.82 percent drop from Rp 2.81 trillion in the same
\nperiod in 2002.<\/p>\n
The company booked an audited Rp 3.8 trillion net profit in
\n2002, a jump from the loss of Rp 1.234 trillion it suffered in
\n2001.<\/p>\n
It has not been decided whether the 2003 profits will be
\ndistributed as dividends, said Mulyati, adding that a decision
\nwould be made at a shareholders' meeting in June.<\/p>\n
It was decided during the shareholders meeting on Friday,
\nwhich was held to review and legalize the company's balances from
\nthe fiscal years 1999 to 2002, not to distribute the profits from
\n2002 as dividends, considering the immense debts of the company.<\/p>\n
Including the debts of its subsidiaries, the company's total
\ndebts as of 2003 amounted to $550 million, which had been
\nrestructured and can be paid off over the next six years, Mulyati
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Gajah Tunggal is the largest tire maker in Southeast Asia. It
\nwas founded by business tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim, who handed the
\ncompany over to the Indonesia Banking Restructuring Agency (IBRA)
\nas collateral for the Rp 40 trillion liquidity assistance
\ninjected into his now-defunct Bank Dagang Negara Indonesia
\n(BDNI).<\/p>\n
In addition to the tire company and the bank, Sjamsul also had
\nto surrender PT Gajah Tunggal Petrochem Industries and shrimp
\nfarm PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja to IBRA.<\/p>\n
The government raised Rp 11.5 trillion from the sale of BDNI's
\nassets and has received some Rp 572 billion in cash from Sjamsul.
\nThe rest of the liquidity assistance was to be recovered from the
\nsale of the other companies.<\/p>\n
In April 2001, Sjamsul was declared a suspect in a corruption
\ncase involving liquidity funds and fled to Singapore, claiming he
\nrequired medical treatment. He remains in Singapore.<\/p>\n
In a bid to recover the rest of the liquidity funds, IBRA
\nagreed late last year to sell its 78 percent stake in Gajah
\nTunggal and 20 percent of Petrochem to Garibaldi Venture Fund, a
\nSingaporean company whose owners are unknown, for Rp 1.83
\ntrillion.<\/p>\n
The move caused Gajah Tunggal's shares to plunge by Rp 125 to
\nRp 575, its largest decline in three years. Share prices have
\nrecovered and now stand at Rp 600.<\/p>",
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