Stocks likely weak on lack of incentives<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Several analysts predicted a weak performance on
\nthe Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) this week, to be triggered by a
\nfurther decline in Astra International's share price and high
\nconcentration on the upcoming public offering of the state-owned
\nBank Negara Indonesia 1946.<\/p>\n
\"There is no more incentive even on Astra because business
\ntycoon Bob Hasan should have realized his \"takeover\" plan this
\nweek,\" a director of the joint-venture PT Bakrie Securities,
\nDandossi Matram, said.<\/p>\n
\"We will see lack of buying interest as investors will prefer
\nto sideline while waiting for BNI's share offering,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Dandossi told The Jakarta Post over the weekend that many
\ninvestors had stopped speculation on Astra because they believed
\nthat Bob Hasan's PT Nusantara Ampera Bhakti (Nusamba) would not
\nbuy more Astra shares next week.<\/p>\n
According to Dandossi, investors had also reduced their
\nactivities on most counters last week following the announcement
\nof BNI's share offering price.<\/p>\n
BNI announced on Thursday that the Ministry of Finance's
\nprivatization team had established the final price for the
\nplanned public offering of the bank's 1.08 billion shares at Rp
\n850 (36 U.S. cents) per share. The shares will have a nominal
\nvalue of Rp 500 each.<\/p>\n
\"It's a very encouraging pricing policy. We previously
\nspeculated that the final price would range between Rp 1,000 and
\nRp 1,100 per share,\" Dandossi said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, an analyst with a foreign brokerage said that the
\nmarket is now waiting for Nusamba's next move on Astra before
\nmaking any decision on whether to buy back or sell more of their
\nAstra shares.<\/p>\n
He said that although Bob Hasan has stated that Nusamba is
\nwanting to create a synergy with other shareholders to increase
\nshareholders value, there is strong speculation in the market
\nthat the government should have backed up Nusamba's move for
\npolitical purposes.<\/p>\n
Nusamba is a diversified conglomerate established by three
\nfoundations headed by President Soeharto.<\/p>\n
\"It seems to me that the government needs a controlling power
\nover Astra to help it handle the national car dispute in the
\nforthcoming World Trade Organization's meeting,\" the analyst
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Japan, the United States and the European Union have filed
\ncomplaints with the World Trade Organization for Indonesia's
\nnational car policy allowing a company owned by Soeharto's son
\nHutomo Mandala Putra to develop a national car with an exemption
\nof import duties and luxury tax.<\/p>\n
The analyst added that by controlling Astra, which produces
\nand sells Japanese vehicles, the government is now in a more safe
\nposition to bargain with Japan.<\/p>\n
Dandossi also predicted that Astra's share price, which was
\ndown Rp 50 last week, may decline further to the level of Rp
\n3,000 this week.<\/p>\n
JSX share prices slightly rose by 0.2 percent last week with
\nits composite index closing 1.13 points higher at 571.33 points,
\ndue mainly to the strong performance of cigarette maker HM
\nSampoerna.<\/p>\n
HM Sampoerna's share price increased by Rp 2,500 last week to
\nclose at Rp 21,050 after hitting a high of Rp 21,825 on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
One of the two analysts said that HM Sampoerna's strong
\nperformance was closely related to its decision to sell its Astra
\nshares.<\/p>\n
Total trading volume during the week were 583 million shares
\nvalued at Rp 1.4 trillion.<\/p>\n
Foreign buy transactions amounted to Rp 737 billion as
\ncompared to sell transactions of Rp 621 billion.<\/p>\n
Astra was recorded as the most active stock with 68 million
\nshares traded at Rp 289 billion. Its share price decreased by Rp
\n50 to Rp 3,950.<\/p>\n
The newly-listed PT Daya Guna Samudra came second with a
\ntrading value of Rp 156 billion.<\/p>\n
Other most active stocks in value were Sampoerna (with a
\ntrading value of Rp 132 billion), Medco Energy (Rp 92 billion),
\nTelkom (Rp 74 billion), Bakrie & Brothers (Rp 44 billion),
\nBhuwanatala (Rp 39 billion), Argha Karya (Rp 38 billion), Rig
\nTenders (Rp 25 billion) and Gudang Garam (Rp 25 billion). (alo)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/stocks-likely-weak-on-lack-of-incentives-1447893297",
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