Sat, 26 Aug 2000

Bintuni, Daya Guna Samudra finally submit their financial reports

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed fishery companies PT Bintuni Minaraya and PT Daya Guna Samudra (DGS) said on Friday they had submitted their 1999 financial reports to the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) after months of delays.

"Yesterday, on Aug. 24, 2000, the financial audits on PT Daya Guna Samudra Tbk and PT Bintuni Minaraya Tbk were completed, both receiving a disclaimer opinion," Daya Guna commissioner Johnson Sihombing said during a public expose.

The delay in the 1999 financial reports, which should have been submitted to the JSX in April, caused the suspension of the two companies' shares on the exchange.

Daya Guna reported a net loss of Rp 418 billion (about US$49 million) on its 1999 balance sheet while its parent company Bintuni suffered a net loss of Rp 444.4 billion.

Daya Guna booked a net profit of Rp 375.9 billion in 1998 while Bintuni registered a net profit of Rp 315.7 billion.

According to the newly issued financial report, Daya Guna's net sales dropped to Rp 1.3 trillion from Rp 2.23 trillion in 1998.

Its assets fell to Rp 3.45 trillion in 1999 from Rp 4.03 trillion in the previous year.

Meanwhile, Bintuni's net sales dropped to Rp 1.76 trillion last year from Rp 2.8 trillion in 1998 while its assets also decreased to Rp 4.89 trillion from Rp 6.08 trillion in the same period.

Johnson blamed the poor 1999 performance on continuing unrest at its Ambon operation in the province of Maluku.

It said the evacuation of key personnel within the operational and management staff had hampered the two companies from operating as normal.

Johnson said that auditor PriceWaterhouseCoopers gave the two companies a disclaimer opinion because of security uncertainties in Ambon and their unclear debt restructuring process with the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

Daya Guna and Bintuni belong to the Djajanti Group, a fishery and plantation concern. The business group is one of IBRA's largest debtors, with debts totaling Rp 2.4 trillion.

JSX threatened to delist the two companies along with PT Dharmala Sakti Sejahtera and PT Super Mitory Utama on Sept. 12, after they failed to submit their financial reports on time. The shares of the four companies remain suspended from trading.

But upon instruction from the Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam), JSX delayed the delisting plan, pending Bapepam's investigation on whether the four companies had violated market regulations.

JSX said it had sent the two companies eight warning letters from early May to July 24, to which it did not receive acceptable responses.

"We've received only four warning letters," Johnson said, adding that the companies had tried to contact JSX through the companies' corporate secretaries.

He further blamed the violence in Maluku for hampering the work of their auditor and thereby causing the delay.

"The bad condition in Maluku disrupted the data supply to and from Ambon," Johnson said.

He said the companies were preparing a policy to cope with the volatile condition in Maluku.

For instance, he said, the companies were considering improving equipment on their fishing boats, and perhaps moving their operational base.

"However, these efforts require massive capital and the companies' financial condition needs to be taken into consideration," he explained. (bkm)