Bintuni Minaraya to go public

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)