CMNP put on rating alert

JAKARTA (JP): The country's only rating agency, PT Pemeringkat Efek Indonesia (Pefindo), said Saturday it had put PT Citra Marga Nusaphala Persada's (CMNP) Rp 275 billion bonds and Rp 100 billion commercial paper on rating alert.

Pefindo also put AA- and A2 rating for the toll roads operator's bonds and commercial paper with negative implications.

The agency said the rating was based on CMNP's increasing exposure to the foreign exchange, especially the U.S. dollar.

Another factor was the possibility that its swap contracts with Hong Kong's PT Peregrine Fixed Income Limited (PFIL) may become invalidated as PFIL has filed for bankruptcy.

Pefindo added that CMNP currently had a total foreign debt of US$300 million, consisting of $175 million floating rates notes (FRN) due in December 1998 and Eurobond of $125 million due in 2002.

Pefindo said interest rates exacted on the borrowings had been swapped to the rupiah -- at the 10 percent and 9.6 percent rates -- to ensure they would not affect the company's cash flow.

The agency said that with the rupiah depreciation at the level of about Rp 3,500 to the U.S. dollar, CMNP's foreign exchange loss was estimated to be about Rp 60 billion, which it should be able to cover through its cash flow from operations.

But with the rupiah's depreciation reaching Rp 7,000 to Rp 8,000, CMNP's foreign exchange loss would quintuple to about Rp 300 billion, which would materially affect the company's financial and cash position, Pefindo said. (gis)