Bank Universal to go ahead with IPO
JAKARTA (JP): Bank Universal said yesterday it would go ahead with its initial public offering (IPO) despite uncertainties in stock trading activities.
The bank said it had submitted a final application to the Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam) for an initial public offering of 250 million shares at Rp 675 each.
This represents 26.2 percent of the bank's enlarged share capital.
The offering period is expected to start on Sept. 18 and close on Sept. 22, subject to Bapepam approval. The first day of trading is planned for Oct. 7, 1997.
Managing underwriters for the issue are PT Bahama Securities and PT SBC Warburg Indonesia. Co-lead underwriters are PT Astra Securities and PT Mitra Dutasekuritas. The issue has also been underwritten by 45 members of the Jakarta and Surabaya Stock Exchanges.
"We are pleased to announce details of our IPO. After much consideration of current market conditions, we have decided to progress with the issue.
"Both the currency and equity markets appear to be stabilizing which provides us with greater certainty and therefore a better market in which to list," the bank's president Stephen Satyahadi said.
Bank Universal is the flagship of PT Astra International's financial service division. The Astra Group will retain a 70.1 percent shareholding in the bank after the IPO.
"Having said this, we have been realistic and have reduced the size of the issue in light of market conditions," Satyahadi added.
The issue was initially planned to be 300 million shares or 29.9 percent of the bank's equity.
From 1992 to 1996, management achieved compound annual growth rates of 65 percent in net profits after tax and 27 percent in assets.
Bank Universal is one of Indonesia's leading retail banks in the fast growing consumer and commercial niches. Its business strategy is focused on providing value-added banking services to middle-income consumers and mid-sized corporations.
With investment of over Rp 100 billion in infrastructure since 1994, the bank is well-positioned to capitalize on the growth in demand for banking services.
The bank's director of corporate services Jerry Ng said the bank had fared well during the recent turmoil in the financial markets.
"The recent volatility in the currency has, in fact, resulted in significant gains from fees on clients' foreign exchange transactions. At the same time, we have taken a very conservative approach to loans growth with expectations that it will be flat for the remainder of 1997," he said.
Ng said the bank had remained on average a net lender of funds in the Jakarta interbank market over the past two months. Its loan to deposit ratio, as defined by Bank Indonesia, stayed at approximately 95 percent throughout July and August.
As of Dec. 31, 1996, the bank had Rp 3.5 trillion in assets, making it the 12th largest bank in Indonesia among 164 private banks. As of June 30, 1997, its assets had increased to Rp 4.3 trillion. (das)