Farm commodity producer to go public

JAKARTA (JP): PT Prasidha Aneka Niaga, an agriculture commodity processor and exporter, will offer 30 million shares or 25 percent of its total common stocks to the public later next month.

"The offering price will amount to less than 15 times the company's price earning," said J.J. Figgins, the president of PT Standard Chartered Indonesia, which will act as the lead underwriter of the share issue.

Prasidha Niaga has seven subsidiary companies operating in the processing and exporting of such agricultural commodities as coffee, cocoa, black pepper, vanilla, crumb rubber and tapioca chips.

The company is now 53.3 percent owned by PT Aneka Bumi Prasidha and 46.7 percent by PT Aneka Agroprasidha. But after the public offering, PT Aneka Bumi's share ownership will decrease to 40 percent and PT Aneka Agropprasidha's to 35 percent with the remaining 25 percent will be owned by the investing public.

The company's president, Mansjur Tandiono, told a meeting with securities analysts and brokers on Friday that 35 percent of the funds to be raised by the share issue would be used to finance the construction of a coffee processing plant, 30 percent for funding the establishment of a feed mill and the other 35 percent to repay debts and strengthen its working capital.

The shares, which will be offered at between Rp 3,500 to Rp 4,000 per share, will be listed on the Jakarta and Surabaya stock exchanges.

The company registered total assets of Rp 187.88 billion (US$86 million) as of last year, up from Rp 116.78 billion in 1992.

It posted Rp 2.7 billion in net profits in 1993, up from Rp 900 million in 1992 and Rp 870 million in 1991.(yns)