Bintuni to sell ships to pay bond interest
Bintuni to sell ships to pay bond interest
JAKARTA (JP): The annual shareholders' meeting of fishery
concern PT Bintuni Minaraya agreed on Friday to sell part of the
company's shipping fleet to meet bond interest payments.
"The meeting has decided to authorize management to sell ships
if the company's cash flow cannot meet payments on bond
interest," Bintuni investor relations officer Dixi Satianagara
told a press conference.
According to Dixi, Bintuni owned a fleet of some 700 ships.
He said that the company would sell 10 to 20 ships to pay the
US$11.25 million in bond interest due in June and again in
December next year.
Bintuni's bonds worth some $270 million will mature in 2007.
Dixi however, did not explain whether the $11.25 million in
interest included fines on previous deferred interest payments.
Bintuni is part of the Djajanti Group, a fishery and
plantation concern that is one of the largest debtors with the
Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency (IBRA).
The meeting further agreed plans to relocate Bintuni's
operations base from its current location in Maluku to Irian
Jaya.
Religious fighting in Maluku has prevented Bintuni from
operating at 100 percent.
"Because of disturbances at the operations site, the company
suffers a deficient in working capital ... if security situations
do not improve it will affect the company's continuing
operations," Bintuni's press statement said.
The Djajanti group owns another fishery in Irian Jaya where it
has established a processing plant.
But according to Dixi, relocating the operations base would
cost the company some $30 million.
"We don't know yet where we will get the funds to relocate our
operation," he said.
Bintuni has also blamed the riots in Maluku for having caused
a delay in submitting the company's 1999 financial report, which
resulted in it being delisted from the Jakarta Stock Exchange
(JSX).
The JSX then fined Bintuni and its subsidiary PT Daya Guna
Samudra Rp 117 million each, for the late submission of their
1999 financial reports.
Auditors further gave the company a disclaimer for its 1999
financial reports due to uncertainties related to Bintuni's
continuing operations.
Bintuni booked a net loss of Rp 444.4 billion in 1999 as
against 1998's net profit of Rp 375.9 billion.
Dixi said the company and its affiliate, Daya Gun, planned to
relist their shares on the JSX.
He said that although there was no schedule for Bintuni, he
expected to see Daya Guna traded again at the JSX sometime next
month.
The shareholders' meeting further agreed to appoint Johnson
Sihombing as Bintuni's new president, replacing Rudy Lengkong.
Rudy is the company's new commissioner along with Franciscus
Xaverius Sudjasmin. Both men replaced BRM Mardjono Poerbonegoro
and Anwar Pulukadang as commissioners.(bkm)