Astra shares surge 6% on speculation of coming big buying
Astra shares surge 6% on speculation of coming big buying
JAKARTA (JP): Shares in car maker Astra International leaped 6
percent yesterday to close at Rp 4,250 (US$1.81), up from Rp
4,000 on Monday, as investors took position to anticipate
forthcoming big buying, dealers said.
Several dealers contacted by The Jakarta Post said that the
trigger for investors' speculation was a report that businessman
Putera Sampoerna may increase its ownership in Astra from the
current level of 9.8 percent, in addition to PT Nusantara Ampera
Bakti's (Nusamba) plan to acquire big stake in Astra this week.
"I think investors are just trying to take position before
Nusamba gets into the market," a senior dealer from PT Pentasena,
A. Sumirat told the Post.
Astra recorded a trading volume of 11.5 million shares
yesterday, of which around six million shares were traded on the
regular board.
A dealer with PT Asian Development Securities said several
brokerage firms, including PT Makindo, PT Peregrine Sewu
Securities and PT SBC Warburg, made big transactions on Astra
yesterday.
The dealers, however, said there was no indication that
Nusamba already started to accumulate Astra shares yesterday.
"I would also say that the active buying on Astra was
supported by a foreign fund inflow in late afternoon," Sumirat
added.
The dealers said that the come-back of foreign investors also
helped boost trading on the cigarette maker HM Sampoerna,
supported with a positive report that it will sell its 2.8
percent stake in Astra.
HM Sampoerna's financial director, Eka Dharmadjanto, was
quoted by Bisnis Indonesia daily yesterday as saying that the
company is willing to sell Astra shares currently owned by its
fully subsidiary, Sampoerna Financial Corporation.
Eka also said that Putera may also increase its stake in
Astra.
HM Sampoerna's share price continued to increase yesterday to
close at Rp 20,475 after hitting Rp 21,000, up by 9.6 percent
during the last two days.
The dealers, however, viewed differently on the major reason
for such an increase. Some said that HM Sampoerna got a positive
support from its plan to sell its shares in Astra while other
pointed HM Sampoerna's stronger third quarter result as the main
reason.
They said that the plan to sell its Astra shares is a positive
action and therefore helped Sampoerna to regain investors'
confidence.
HM Sampoerna's director of corporate development, Jonathan
Zax, confirmed yesterday that the company recorded a 29 percent
increase in its net revenue from Rp 449 billion in the third
quarter of last year to Rp 583 billion in the same period of this
year, with major contribution coming from the sales of its "Dji
Sam Soe" cigarettes and the new brand "A Mild".
Commenting on the statement made by HM Sampoerna's financial
director, Jonathan said that the statement should not be
interpreted as an announcement of an action but an intention.
"We are preparing to sell our stake, meaning that we will sell
it if there is an attractive offer to buy," Jonathan told the
Post.
"We didn't say that we are going to sell our shares."
He declined to comment on a market speculation that HM
Sampoerna might have negotiated with Nusamba for the planned
transaction by saying "I'm not in a position to comment on such a
speculation."
Active buying on Astra and HM Sampoerna, however, failed to
lift up the JSX Composite Index, which declined by 0.56 point to
571 points due to slight correction on other heavyweights
including Gudang Garam, Indosat and Semen Gresik. (alo)