Bintuni Minaraya to go public

JAKARTA (JP): Fishing and canning company PT Bintuni Minaraya said on Friday it planned to offer about 50 million new shares to the public next month to raise funds for strengthening its working capital and the operations of its subsidiaries, PT Biak Minajaya and PT Hasil Tambak Amboina.

The company said it expected to raise about Rp 70 billion (US$8 million) from the initial public offering (IPO), the first IPO in Indonesia for over a year.

The new shares will be sold at a price earning ratio of between 4 and 6 times their 1999 net profit, the company said in a statement.

It said that PT Dinamika Usahajaya will act as the underwriter for the public offering.

PT Bintuni, which produces a wide range of frozen and processed shrimp, skipjack, tuna and fishmeal, exports most of its products to Thailand, China, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Europe and the United States.

The company, which operates 657 fishing vessels in the Arafura Sea and China Sea and six processing plants in eastern Indonesia, booked Rp 2 trillion in total sales for the first nine months of 1998, up from Rp 879 billion in all 1997. (hen)