Humpuss Intermoda plans to divest 30 percent stake<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed shipping and transportation
\ncompany PT Humpuss Intermoda Transportasi said on Thursday that
\nit planned to divest up to 30 percent of its stake to strategic
\ninvestors.<\/p>\n
Humpuss president Budhi Halim said that Singapore's Sembawang
\nGroup had expressed interest in acquiring a stake, but had yet to
\nfollow up on it.<\/p>\n
"If they (Sembawang) send us a proposal, we will start
\nnegotiations," Budhi told reporters in a press meeting.<\/p>\n
Humpuss Intermoda operates a shipping fleet for the
\ntransportation of crude oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and
\nmethanol. The company's main client is state oil and gas company
\nPertamina, which is the world's largest LNG exporter.<\/p>\n
Budhi said that the value of the 30 percent stake was still
\nbeing determined by majority shareholder Humpuss Group.<\/p>\n
The group, controlled by President Soeharto's fugitive son
\nHutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra Soeharto, owns 87 percent of Humpuss
\nIntermoda. The remaining 16 percent is owned by the public.<\/p>\n
Tommy has been at large for over a month, after his graft
\nconviction in September.<\/p>\n
According to Budhi, Tommy currently owns a minority stake of
\n5.6 percent in the diverse Humpuss Group.<\/p>\n
He did not explain the formula for the divestment but said
\nthat the funds to be raised from the sale would be used to
\nstrengthen the company's working capital.<\/p>\n
In such a divestment, it is normal to issue new shares to the
\nbuyer. This will cause a dilution in the ownership of existing
\nshareholders.<\/p>\n
For the third quarter of this year, Humpuss Intermoda net
\nprofit surged to Rp 97.6 billion (US$10.27 million) or up 877
\npercent from Rp 11.12 billion in the same period last year.<\/p>\n
The company attributed the improvement to the divestment of
\nits subsidiary PT Humpuss Terminal Petikemas, a non-profitable
\ncontainer service company.<\/p>\n
A weaker rupiah also boosted sales, as the company received
\ndollars for its service.<\/p>\n
For the year, Humpuss Intermoda expects net profit to climb to
\nRp 160 billion.<\/p>\n
For next year, it expects earnings to reach Rp 215 billion
\nassuming continued strong dollar earnings.<\/p>\n
Budhi said that Humpuss planned to realign its business
\nstrategy to the upcoming new oil and gas law, since Pertamina
\nwould no longer hold the monopoly over the distribution of oil
\nand gas products.<\/p>\n
He admitted that the company's operations depended on
\ncontracts with Pertamina.<\/p>\n
But the law, he said, would allow Humpuss to directly offer
\nits services to Pertamina's production sharing partners.<\/p>\n
"However, Pertamina's shipping division will then turn into a
\ncompetitor," he added.<\/p>\n
Pertamina's production sharing partners would also have the
\nopportunity to offer their shipping services here.<\/p>\n
"We've talked to several oil and gas companies and some
\nalready own shipping fleets," he explained.<\/p>\n
According to him, oil and gas companies like Beyond Petroleum
\n(BP) and Shell are bound to enter the Indonesian shipping
\ntransportation business.<\/p>\n
Budhi said he hoped the government would protect the local
\nshipping industry from domination by foreign fleets.(bkm)<\/p>",
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