Bank Danamon to hold reverse stock split
JAKARTA (JP): Shareholders of publicly listed PT Bank Danamon approved on Thursday management's plan to conduct a reverse stock split to avoid delisting by the Jakarta Stock Exchange.
Bank Danamon president Arwin Rasyid said the reverse stock split would merge every 20 shares into one share, a move that would boost the price of a share from a nominal value of Rp 5,- (about 0.4 U.S. cents) to Rp 100.
"The reverse stock split is slated for July 17," he said following the bank's annual shareholders meeting.
Bank Danamon is at risk of being delisted with investors trading the bank's shares below Rp 50 for a long period of time.
Danamon was nationalized by the government following the devastating 1997 financial crisis. The government has said that it would divest its ownership in the bank to raise cash to help finance state budget deficit.
Arwin said if the bank was delisted it could jeopardize the government's plan to divest its stake in the bank.
The bank previously split its stocks to lower its share prices in order to improve the liquidity of the shares.
Reversing this process, however, will not guarantee that Bank Danamon's share prices will increase, Arwin said.
He said this was due to the sluggish condition of the market.
The local stock market has been in a dormant condition over the past couple of years due to a combination of economic woes and political instability.
Barito
Meanwhile, publicly listed timber company PT Barito Pacific Timber said on Thursday its bondholders had approved its proposal to reschedule the payment of bond principals worth Rp 400 billion (US$35.1 million) until 2007.
The bonds, which were issued in 1997, will mature in 2002.
Company president Yohannes Hardian Widjonarko said the bondholders agreed with the rescheduling on Wednesday because they believed that the company's woes would be over in the next few years.
The company suffered massive net losses of Rp 1.02 trillion last year due to the rise in non-operating costs, he said,
"We're concentrating on completing the restructuring program this year as we have had no problems with our sales progress," he told reporters after the company's shareholders meeting.
He refused to provide this year's projection.
He added Barito was also negotiating with its foreign creditors including Credit Suisse First Boston, ING Bank N.V., Singapore-based Credit Lyonnais to restructure its debt of $355.7 million.
In the meeting, the shareholders appointed Juhannes Djalimin as the new vice president, replacing Susana Sutanto, who is going to retire.
Prior to his new appointment, Juhannes was one of the company directors.
Humpuss
Separately, publicly listed Humpuss Intermoda Transportasi said Thursday it was confident it would reach its net profit target of Rp 216 billion (US$1.90 million) this year due to strong performance in the first quarter.
Company president Budhi Halim said that last year its net profits stood at Rp 432.89 billion, mainly as a result of the sale of its subsidiary, PT Humpuss Terminal Petikemas.
During the first quarter of this year, the company booked a Rp 65 billion in net profit, or about 30 percent of this year's target, according to Budhi.
"We have received more orders from our clients. Demands are still growing," he told reporters after the company's shareholders general meeting.
Humpuss' business includes sea transportation of liquid cargo, oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and methanol. The company was founded in 1992 by Sigit Harjojudanto and Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, respectively, the eldest and the youngest son of the country's former authoritarian leader president Soeharto.
It has entered into contracts with Pertamina to carry its oil and LNG.
The company, through its subsidiary Humolco Inc., also provides vessel management services to several firms.
In the meeting, the company's shareholders agreed to pay a dividend of Rp 50 per share for the year 2000. (05/bkm)