Bimantara not to issue rights shares immediately

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly-listed conglomerate PT Bimantara Citra said yesterday it will not issue rights shares this year or next to finance the expansion of its subsidiaries.

"We will not conduct rights issues until after next year because we have our own five-year plans, called Relitara, for the 1992-1997 period," the company's vice president, Rosano Barack, said after the annual shareholders meeting here.

Rosano said the company's automotive and broadcasting divisions plan expansions this year. He stressed that Bimantara will use the proceeds from its initial public offering of shares for the expansion programs.

The automotive division, Bimantara Cakra Nusa, teaming up with the Hyundai Motor Company of South Korea, will expand its manufacturing facilities in Cikampek, West Java, to produce 100,000 automotive units by 1999, with a total investment of US$700 million.

The broadcasting division, RCTI, will construct nine new relay stations this year to increase its total number across the country to 39, besides building two more studios for dubbing facilities. These total investments will amount to Rp 85 billion.

Bimantara announced yesterday that it had posted a net profit of Rp 31 billion (US$13.75 million) for the first quarter of 1996, 9 percent higher than the company's target.

The company, however, did not disclose its net profit in the first quarter of 1995.

Rosano noted that the company expected to see its 1996 net profit increase by 31 percent over its 1995 net profit of Rp 117.8 billion.

He added that the company's shareholders had approved the payment of final dividends of Rp 15 per share for 1995. They also approved the company's donation of Rp 317.8 million to the Dana Sejahtera Mandiri Foundation, which will use the money for the government-sanctioned poverty alleviation program.

Bimantara, controlled by President Soeharto's son Bambang Trihatmodjo, has seven core divisions with varying business, interests ranging from media and broadcasting, telecommunications, transportation and cars to hotels and property.

Bimantara also has an indirect nine percent stake in PT Satelindo, one of the only two international gateway providers in the country. Satelindo is also the sole operator of the Indonesian Palapa satellites.

The company said the holding firm, Bimantara Citra, contributed 20.33 percent to last year's net profits, while its media and broadcasting division's share was 33.5 percent, the transportation and automotive division's was 17.68 percent, the chemical industry division's was 11.01 percent and the telecommunications division's contribution was 9.73 percent. (rid)