Bintuni Minaraya expands

JAKARTA (JP): PT Bintuni Minaraya, the largest integrated fisheries company in Eastern Indonesia, will become the first company to launch an initial public offering (IPO) on the domestic stock exchanges since last June.

Benny Sudrata, a director of PT Dinamika Usaha Jaya, which is underwriting the issue, said on Tuesday that Bintuni, which operates 675 fishing boats in the South China, Arafura and Maluku seas and the Pacific Ocean, will offer 50 million shares at a price of Rp 1,325 (15 U.S. cents) a share between March 29 and April 1.

Sudrata expressed optimism about the offer despite the depressed market condition.

He said because Bintuni exports 99 percent of its products to Asia, Europe and the United States, the company is not affected by Indonesia's economic depression.

He added Bintuni, the parent company of publicly listed PT Daya Guna Samudera, booked an operating profit of Rp 1.36 trillion in the first nine months of 1998. The profit was almost three times more than the Rp 493.8 billion earned for the whole of 1997 and an astonishing increase from Rp 231.2 billion 1996 profit.

"The international market for Bintuni's products such as frozen fish and shrimp, canned tuna, tuna loin and fish fillets and skipjack is virtually insatiable," Sudrata said.

He added that fresh funds from the IPO would be invested to expand its fishing operations and tuna and shrimp processing plants in Eastern Indonesia.