Barito issues Rp 400b in bonds to refinance loans

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed PT Barito Pacific Timber will issue five year bonds worth Rp 400 billion (US$166.66 million) later this year to refinance loans.

Chief commissioner Prajogo Pangestu said yesterday most of the proceeds would repay the company's loans from two state-owned banks, Bank Bumi Daya (BBD) and Bank Dagang Negara (BDN).

Prajogo said his company owed the two banks Rp 369.4 billion as of December 1996.

"Barito's debts to BBD are about Rp 170.8 billion and BDN Rp 198.6 billion," Jusran, the company's vice president said.

He said the company's total loan were Rp 421 billion as of December 1996.

The bonds, which will be listed on Surabaya Stock Exchange, were given a triple B+ rating by the country's rating agency PT Pemeringkat Efek Indonesia (Pefindo).

Gunawan Jusuf, president of Makindo Securities -- the lead managing underwriter for the bonds issuance -- said the bonds' interest rate had not been fixed.

But he said the average market rate for a bonds issuance ranged between 14 percent and 15.5 percent.

Barito Pacific, one of the country's largest timber companies, booked a 16.3 percent increase in net sales last year to Rp 951.3 billion, from Rp 817.8 billion in 1995.

Jusran said the company's net profit also surged by 22 percent to Rp 87.3 billion in 1996, from Rp 70.1 billion in 1995.

Barito Pacific, which had total assets of Rp 2.66 trillion as of December 1996, had 723.250 hectares of timber estates of which 346.808 hectares had been planted, he said.

Early this year, Barito Pacific's subsidiary PT Tanjung Enim Lestari Pulp and Paper secured a US$991 million syndicated loan from 25 foreign banks to finance its pulp mill near Palembang, South Sumatra.

Total investment for the pulp mill was US$1.2 billion of which around US$379 million derived from the company's equity and US$883 million from bank loans.

The pulp mill will have an annual production capacity of 450,000 tons by the end of the first phase in 1999.

Jusran said the company would spend US$44 billion on development, US$1.06 billion on construction and US$150 million on financial charges during the mill's construction.

PT Tanjungenim is jointly owned by Barito Pacific (51 percent), Sumatra Pulp Corporation (33 percent) and PT Tridan Satriaputra Indonesia (16 percent). PT Tridan Satriaputra is controlled by President Soeharto's daughter Mrs. Siti Hardijanti Rukmana.

Sumatra Pulp Corporation is a joint venture between Marubeni Corporation, Nippon Paper Industries and Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) of Japan. (09)