Govt. to sell 14% Aneka Tambang stake in 2004
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government plans to sell some of its shares in state mining firm PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) next year to cap the budget deficit, a senior official said on Friday.
Deputy State Minister of State Enterprises Mahmuddin Yasin was quoted by Dow Jones as saying that the government plans to sell a 14 percent stake in the company. The government still has a 65 percent stake in Antam.
However, Mahmuddin said the government had not decided on the sale mechanism.
"We haven't decided whether the sale of Aneka Tambang will be through a block sale or a strategic investment sale," Mahmuddin said.
The 2004 state budget put the budget deficit at around Rp 24.41 trillion or 1.2 percent of the total budget. The State Ministry of State Enterprises aims to collect around Rp 5 trillion from the sale of assets in state-owned companies.
The government has said it also plans to sell another 10 percent stake in PT Bank Mandiri, 15 percent in coal producer PT Tambang Batu Bara Bukit Asam, up to 14 percent in tin mining company PT Timah and up to 30 percent in PT Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI).
It also plans to sell a stake in PT Merpati Airlines, finance company PT Danareksa Persero and airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I.
Eko Endriawan, Antam's investor relations officer said the company had not been informed that it was on the government's privatization list for next year.
"The management is not aware of a government plan to privatize Aneka Tambang. If there is such a plan, it is the decision of shareholders," Eko told The Jakarta Post.
He added that so far, the management and the government had not met to discuss the planned privatization.
Eko said the company expected to post strong growth this year spurred by high production and the high price of nickel and gold, the company's main products.
For the first nine months of this year, the company posted an operating profit of Rp 320 billion, up 83 percent from Rp 175 billion in the same period last year. The company's net profit rose Rp 167 billion in the first nine months, up 36 percent from Rp 123 billion in the same period last year.
Nickel sales were up 23 percent in the first nine months from 5,552 tons last year to 6,853 tons while the price of nickel rose from US$2.97 per pound to $3.72 per pound. Revenue from nickel sales was Rp 484 billion in the first nine months of this year.
The company sold 3,613 kilograms of gold in the first nine month this year and revenue from the sales was Rp 353 billion.
The company is constructing a new smelter at its nickel mining site Pomalaa, in South Sulawesi to increase production to 15,000 tons a year. Antam currently produces 11,000 tons of nickel annually from the two existing smelters.