Going public won't affect Telkom management: Setyanto

BANDUNG, West Java (JP): Chief Executive of PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) Setyanto Prawira Santosa ensures that foreign investors holding the company's shares will not affect its management and policy after the share sales planned for next month.

Setyanto said in his last road-show presentation on the company's privatization program here over the weekend that the firm's statutes do not allow the changing of its policy and management, particularly its boards of executives and commissioners, without approval from the holder of its golden shares, called Series A shares.

He said the government will keep the firm's golden shares, which represent one percent of total shares.

"The statute stipulates that any decision and changing of management should get approval from the holder of the golden shares," he said.

The Bandung-based Telkom, which will sell its shares to the public domestically and overseas next month, conducted domestic road-shows in Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Semarang and Bandung last week to promote the share sales.

Overseas road-shows will be held in New York, London and Tokyo at the end of this month.

The shares will be listed on stock exchanges in New York, London, Jakarta and Surabaya. They will also be offered in Tokyo without being listed there.

Telkom expects to collect about Rp 6 trillion (US$2.6 billion) from the share offering, of which 39 percent will be used to finance network expansion and modernization and the installation of submarine fiber optic lines connecting areas in the eastern part of the country.

Setyanto confirmed that the money to be raised from the share sales will not be used to repay debts.

"Telkom will repay its long-term foreign loans with its operational revenues, not with the money to be generated from the share sales," said Setyanto.

The company's director of finance, Moelyohardjoko, acknowledged at the presentation here that Telkom owes Rp 580 billion to domestic creditors.

A source said that Telkom plans to float about 25 percent of its shares overseas and another 10 percent domestically next month. (pet/kod)