Wed, 26 Nov 1997

Bintuni Minaraya to sell 400m shares

JAKARTA (JP): Integrated fishing company PT Bintuni Minaraya, plans to sell 400 million new shares, or around 24.5 percent of its total shares, early next year to raise funds for financing its expansion program.

Company president Anwar Pulukadang said yesterday the shares, each at a par value of Rp 500, would be sold at about Rp 900 (about 25 U.S. cents).

"The price-earnings ratio will be about five to seven times of the earning per share projection for 1998," he said, adding that the company expected to raise around Rp 360 billion (about US$105 million) from the initial public offering.

Pulukadang said that about 90 percent of the initial public offering's proceeds would be earmarked for the expansion of its tuna processing facilities in Biak, Irian Jaya, and for the purchase of new fishing vessels. The remaining 10 percent would be for the expansion of its seafood processing center in Seram, Maluku.

The listing is scheduled to take place on Jan. 23, 1998 in the Jakarta Stock Exchange and the Surabaya Stock Exchange.

Its 520 fishing boats operate in the Arafura, Banda and South China Seas and in the country's Exclusive Economic Zone in the Pacific Ocean.

The company produces a wide variety of processed fish such as ebyfry, buttered and breaded shrimps, shrimp cocktails, canned skipjack, frozen tuna fillets, katsuobushi (smoked fish), frozen shrimps and whole frozen fish, surimi as well as fishmeal.

Founded in 1994, Bintuni exports 98 percent of its production to the United States, Europe, Thailand, China, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The company, which is now 100 percent owned by the Burhan Uray family, operates a 520-strong fleet of fishing vessels and five fish processing plants in the eastern part of Indonesia.

With assets totaling around Rp 1.59 trillion as of June this year, Bintuni booked a total of Rp 535 billion in sales last year, rising from Rp 397 billion in 1995.

In the first half of this year, sales reached Rp 280 billion while net profit totaled Rp 60.4 billion. (jsk)