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)