Indosat qualified for dual listing of its shares

JAKARTA (JP): PT Indosat, the state-owned international telecommunications company, qualifies for the dual listing of its shares on both the domestic and foreign capital markets, Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave says.

Joop told a hearing with Commission V of the House of Representatives yesterday that the government has never barred an Indonesian company from launching a combined offering.

Indosat, which is overseen by Joop's ministry, will offer 25 percent of its shares to the public through the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and another 10 percent through the domestic market.

Joop was apparently responding to criticism that the government had recently banned PT Tri Polyta, a polypropylene resins manufacturer, from selling its shares domestically as well as on the Nasdaq capital market in New York.

Tri Polyta announced last week that it generated net funds of US$127 million from the sale of 29 percent of its shares through Nasdaq. The company, after the share sales, is now 32 percent owned by the Bimantara Group, a group of companies controlled by a son of President Soeharto, 8.9 percent by businessman Prajogo Pangestu, seven percent by Henry Pribadi, 5.5 percent by Ibrahim Risjad and 5.5 percent by Sudwikatmono, a cousin of Soeharto.

Joop told the commission that based on the appraisal of a team comprising senior officials and executives from the Secretariat General and legal department of the Ministry of Finance, the Capital Market Supervisory Board (Bapepam), the Jakarta Stock Exchange, the Directorate General of State Firms and the state- owned securities firm Danareksa, Indosat qualified for the dual listing.

Share price

According to Venny Zano, a spokesman for Indosat, the company will offer between 80.25 million and 103.55 million shares at a maximum price of Rp 7,000 ($3.22) on domestic stock exchanges. The offered shares will carry a nominal value of Rp 500 (23 U.S. cents) each, half of the usual nominal value of shares listed on the domestic market. The investing public will be reimbursed if the initial offering price on the New York market is lower than the price offered here.

The public offering on the domestic market will be conducted from Oct. 4 to 11 and the shares will be listed on both the Jakarta and Surabaya Stock Exchanges on Oct. 19, and on the NYSE on Oct. 18.

Indosat's net profits increased steadily from Rp 208.5 billion in 1991 to Rp 237.3 billion in 1992 and Rp 251.5 billion in 1993. The company gained Rp 127.6 billion in net profits over the first six months of this year. The company's assets totaled Rp 789.1 billion as of June 1994.

Indosat's cumulative pre-tax income over the last three years is estimated at Rp 1.08 trillion ($500 million), far above the minimum standard set by the NYSE. (icn)