Bank Bahari to offer 50 million shares to public

JAKARTA (JP): Bank Bahari will sell around 50 million new shares to the public early next month to strengthen its capital structure.

Bank Bahari's president Santoso Sumali said Wednesday the new shares, which have a nominal value of Rp 500 (U.S. 20 cents) a share, would account for 19 percent of its enlarged capital.

"The shares would be listed on the Jakarta and Surabaya stock exchanges on July 1," he said following a public presentation of the bank's initial public offering (IPO) plan.

Santoso said the price of the shares had not been fixed.

Around 65 percent of IPO proceeds would be used to increase the bank's credit portfolio, 15 percent to expand its network branches, another 15 percent to expand its computer and automated teller machines systems, and 5 percent to develop its human resources.

Santoso said the bank would distribute 30 percent of the net profits as dividends if the net profit reached Rp 30 billion.

"If our net profit exceeds Rp 30 billion, dividends would be around 35 percent of the net profit," he said.

PT Trimegah Securindo Lestari will underwrite the public offering.

At present, Bank Bahari is 92.88 percent owned by PT Sumber Artha Karunia and 7.12 percent by PT Tatagraha Adikarsa. The IPO would reduce Sumber Artha's stake to 75.15 percent and Tatagraha's to 5.77 percent.

Santoso said Bank Bahari, established in 1967 as Bank Bhumy Bahary, booked a net profit of Rp 7.01 billion last year, over twice as much as its profit in 1995 of Rp 3.11 billion.

The bank's credit grew by 50 percent last year to Rp 538.63 billion last year from Rp 357 billion in 1995, he said.

Of last year's total credit amount, Rp 393.67 billion was loaned to retail and smaller firms, and the remaining Rp 148.91 to larger firms.

The bank's assets also rose to Rp 737.89 billion last year from Rp 476.65 billion in 1995, he said. The company collected Rp 514.58 billion in public funds last year, up from Rp 359.87 billion in 1995, he said.

"Our capital adequacy ratio (CAR) was 13.9 percent last year," he said.

Santoso said the bank expected to book Rp 32 billion in net profit this year. The rise in profit would partly result from the increase in funds from the IPO, he said.

The bank forecasts its assets to rise by 41 percent to Rp 1.43 trillion this year and its credit to grow by 51 percent, he said.

Bank Bahari, which now has 24 branches, plans to open new branches in Jakarta, Semarang (Central Java), Surabaya (East Java), Bandung (West Java), and Denpasar (Bali) this year. (das)