Jasa Marga plans to launch IPO in November
Jasa Marga plans to launch IPO in November
Rendi A. Witular
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
State-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga may sell 40
percent of its shares to the public via an initial public
offering (IPO) in November after the conclusion of the general
election, a senior official said.
Jasa Marga president Syarifuddin Alambai said the company's
recent general shareholders meeting had agreed in principle to
the plan to become a publicly listed company, and that now the
government's privatization committee was making preparations to
realize the plan.
"Our target for the IPO is November... We hope to gain around
Rp 1.5 trillion (US$178 million) in proceeds from selling 40
percent of our shares to the public," said Syarifuddin on
Tuesday.
Syarifuddin was talking to the press on the sidelines of a
hearing with the House of Representatives Commission IV for
public infrastructure, transportation and communications.
He explained that most of the proceeds would be used for the
company's working capital in order for the company to participate
in the government's 1,486-kilometer toll road project that would
link Merak in Banten with Banyuwangi in East Java. Part of the
proceeds would also be used to refinance the company's debt.
The toll road project, which is estimated to cost Rp 77.3
trillion, is divided into three phases with the first phase the
construction of a 64-kilometer toll road for the unfinished
Jakarta outer ring road (JORR) and the Cikampek-Padalarang stage
II, in West Java.
The first project is estimated to cost Rp 3.25 trillion.
The second phase will be the construction of a 356-kilometer
road, comprising a road that will connect Cikampek with Cirebon,
Semarang with Demak, Surabaya with Mojokerto and Madura and SS
Waru and Tanjung Perak. This stage will cost around Rp 16.57
trillion.
The third phase will be the construction of a 1,066-kilometer
road at an estimated cost of Rp 57.5 trillion. The JORR part II
project, Bogor ring road, Probolingo-Banyuwangi, Solo-Mantingan
and Pejagaan-Pemalang are included in this category.
All of the projects are scheduled to start this year and
continue until 2009.
Elsewhere, Syarifuddin said that the company had recorded a 38
percent increase in revenue to around Rp 1.3 trillion last year
from around Rp 941 billion in 2002, with an increase in net
profit of about Rp 250 billion from Rp 165 billion in 2002.
As for this year the company expected toll road traffic
revenue to increase by 5 percent to Rp 4.7 billion per day from
Rp 4.5 billion last year, with a consolidated revenue this year
targeted to reach around Rp 1.7 trillion, he said.
Jasa Marga manages 383 kilometers of the country's total 520
kilometers of toll roads. The remaining roads are managed by
other investors.
The government is relying on proceeds from the privatization
program to help cover the state budget deficit, which for this
year has been set at Rp 24.4 trillion or 1.2 percent of the
country's gross domestic product (GDP).
Syarifuddin's plan to use all of the IPO proceeds for the
company's benefit will likely be challenged by the government.