Indosat qualified for dual listing of its shares

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)