Humpuss upbeat despite anti-Soeharto campaign

Humpuss upbeat despite anti-Soeharto campaign

JAKARTA (JP): The Humpuss Group, controlled by former
president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra,
is upbeat about the survival of its businesses, despite the anti-
Soeharto campaign launched by politicians.

"We still have good business prospects," company president
Abdul Wahab said on Tuesday after the shareholders' meeting of
publicly listed subsidiary unit PT Humpuss Intermoda
Transportasi.

Wahab acknowledged that the economic crisis which hit the
country in mid-1997 and criticism from politicians concerning
business interests controlled by Soeharto's family and cronies
had impacted on the company's performance.

But, he said, Humpuss had fared relatively well, and, amid a
wave of layoffs had avoided dismissing any of its 15,000 workers.

Wahab denied the allegation that Humpuss was among the
country's 20 largest debtors which have a total debt of about Rp
50 trillion at state banks, saying the company's debt to the
banks was in the range of "hundreds of billions of rupiah".

He said automaker PT Timor Putra Nasional -- allegedly one of
the 20 largest debtors -- was not part of the Humpuss group,
despite Tommy's control of both companies.

Tommy owns 60 percent of Humpuss with the remaining shares
held by his brother, Sigit Hardjojudanto.

Wahab said Humpuss had repaid some of its debts and was
currently negotiating with the Indonesian Bank Restructuring
Agency to restructure debts taken over by the agency.

"We hope the government will put us in the category of debtors
which still have business prospects and are willing to pay their
debts.

"We most certainly have goodwill to pay all our debts," Wahab
said.

According to Wahab, Humpuss had agreed with its financiers to
restructure the debt early this year.

Humpuss is active in fuel, methanol, liquefied natural gas,
shipping, airlines, property and petrochemicals.

Wahab said Humpuss had offered most of its shares in methanol
producer PT Kaltim Methanol Industry (KMI) to its Japanese
partner Nissho Iwai Corp. but a deal was yet to be reached after
more than a year of negotiations.

"We want a good price for our shares," Wahab said, adding that
Humpuss had offered up to 60 percent of its 70 percent share in
the company.

Nissho Iwai, which is the sole buyer of the plant's output,
currently has 30 percent ownership of the plant.

KMI, which operates the country's largest methanol plant in
Bontang, East Kalimantan, started production early last year with
an annual output of 660,000 tons.

The plant was built with a loan of US$270 million from a bank
syndication led by Japan Export Import Bank and arranged by
Nissho Iwai. (jsk)