Bayer plans to delist from SSX
JAKARTA (JP): PT Bayer Indonesia will pull out from the Surabaya Stock Exchange (SSX) due to what the pharmaceutical company called a lack of liquidity in the East Java capital's bourse.
The company said the plan to delist from the SSX received approval at its annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday.
The lack of trading liquidity in the Surabaya market and relatively high administrative costs were cited as reasons for the delisting.
The company said it recorded only two share transactions in 1998 and 1999.
Bayer said it would maintain its listing on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX).
Most of the companies listed on the JSX crosslisted their shares on the SSX to provide direct access to local investors. However, investors in the province prefers to buy stocks from the more active JSX either directly or through remote trading facilities.
Bayer, which is owned by Bayer AG of Germany (86.32 percent), PT Bayer Kimia Farmasindo (3.95 percent) and the public (9.73 percent), produces a wide range of pharmaceuticals as well as household and agricultural products in its two factories in Jakarta.
Bayer also announced that it would pay share dividends of Rp 180 and Rp 100 for each preferred share and common share respectively for the 1999 financial year.
"After a year of zero dividends due to substantial losses in 1998, the company will pay dividends to its shareholders for 1999," Bayer said in a statement.
Bayer has 57.3 million common shares and 4.6 million prefered shares.
The company said it was optimistic about the country's economic recovery because it increased gross sales to Rp 715 billion in 1999, from Rp 586.3 billion the previous year.
The company said it expected to book Rp 750 billion in gross sales this year given stable domestic economic and political conditions.
With the growth in gross sales, the company booked a historic high net profit of Rp 41.1 billion in 1999 after experiencing a net loss of Rp 13.5 billion the previous year.
The company attributed its turnaround in 1999 to the lessening of the interest payment burdens which were halved to Rp 26.7 billion in 1999 from Rp 49.8 billion the previous year. (udi)