CMNP to pay bond interest as scheduled
CMNP to pay bond interest as scheduled
JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed toll road operator PT Citra
Marga Nusaphala Persada (CMNP) pledged on Thursday to pay the
interest on its U.S. dollar and rupiah-denominated bonds in
August as initially scheduled.
Newly appointed finance director Ilham W. Siregar said that
the interest amounted to Rp 54 billion, based on the assumption
of an exchange rate of Rp 8,000 per U.S. dollar.
"We're determined to pay the interest charge in August ... our
cash flow is fine as traffic volume has now increased," he told
reporters in a gathering.
He said the annual interest of the company's foreign and
domestic bonds was Rp 108 billion. Interest on its foreign bonds
is paid semiannually, while interest of its local notes is paid
on a quarterly basis.
Ilham said that CMNP's outstanding foreign loans totaled
US$116.8 million, comprising $79 million in Eurobonds and $37.8
million in floating rate notes (FRNs).
He said both debts matured in 2002.
The interest rate on the Eurobonds was fixed at 7.25 percent,
while that of the FRNs is 1.5 percentage points above the London
Inter Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR).
He added that the company also issued some Rp 224 billion
worth of domestic bonds with maturity in 2004.
Ilham said the company was devising options, particularly on
how to repay its outstanding foreign loans.
"We're now making the calculations. We're looking at our cash
flow and studying the market conditions."
CMNP was cofounded by foundations linked to former president
Soeharto and several state companies. The company's first toll
road went into operation in 1989.
The company is now 38 percent controlled by public
shareholders, including foreign enterprises. The remaining
shareholders include the Soeharto-affiliated foundations (11
percent), PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa (8 percent), PT Citra
Lamtoro Gung Persada (2.9 percent), with the remainder in the
hands of state-owned steel firm PT Krakatau Steel and toll road
operator PT Jasa Marga.
Citra Lamtoro is owned by Siti "Tutut" Hardijanti Rukmana, the
eldest daughter of Soeharto.
Ilham said traffic volume on CMNP's toll road in Jakarta in
1999 increased 13 percent from 260,000 cars per day in 1998.
He expected that revenue from domestic toll road operations
during the year would reach Rp 275 billion.
He declined to disclose the 1999 net profit level, saying the
company was still awaiting the results of its toll road
investment in Manila.
Traffic volume in 1998 dropped from 320,000 cars per day in
1997 due to widespread unrest before and following the
resignation of Soeharto in May 1998.
Ilham said that as the economy moved toward recovery and the
capital returned to normal, traffic volume increased again.
However, he said CMNP proposed to the authorities to raise the
tolls by an average Rp 500 from the current Rp 3,000.
The company's tolls were last increased in 1996 based on a
presidential decree.
Elsewhere, Ilham said that CMNP had not yet decided when to
resume development of its 36-km toll road in East Java, which was
put on hold when the country's economic crisis struck.
He said the company was still looking into new ways to make
the project cost effective.
Total investment was projected at Rp 1.3 trillion before the
crisis started in mid-1997.(rei)