JSX delists Tri Polyta, gives Kopitime 3-month grace

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Shares in petrochemical company PT Tri Polyta were delisted from the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) on Monday because the firm failed to comply with listing regulations and standards, the bourse said in a press statement.

The JSX said that trading in the shares of Tri Polyta had not been active, and that the company had also booked losses and had not paid dividends over the past five consecutive years.

Tri Polyta shares were suspended from trade on Feb. 3 because the company had not reported its financial statement for the first nine months of 2002.

Tri Polyta, which is controlled by businessman Prajogo Pangestu, is the first company to be delisted from the JSX this year.

The JSX management said that the bourse had warned the company in June of the possibility that its shares would be removed from the exchange for the abovementioned reasons.

Tri Polyta is also facing problems with its foreign creditors.

As reported by Dow Jones Newswires, Tri Polyta creditors had just filed a bankruptcy suit on Monday with the Jakarta Commercial Court, seeking foreclosure on the petrochemical company's assets.

U.S. bondholders, led by OCM Fund Opportunities LLP, claimed that Tri Polyta had stopped paying interest on its US$185 million-worth of bonds four years ago.

The creditors said that the bond indenture allowed a foreclosure on the company's assets in lieu of repayment.

A U.S. federal court order issued in April declares that Tri Polyta must repay the principal and default interest, but the company countered, persuading an Indonesian district court the same month to block any foreclosure action.

The seven-year bonds sold in November 1996 were aimed at funding the expansion of a polypropylene factory in Serang, near Jakarta.

Tri Polyta and information technology company PT Kopitime Dot Com had been warned by the JSX in June to comply with its requirements to avoid delisting.

Only Kopitime responded, to whom JSX decided to give a three- month extension period for the company to fix its performance.

The bourse requested that Kopitime submit its 2002 audited financial report and its first quarter performance within the three-month extension period.

JSX also urged Kopitime to announce its operational conditions and its business prospects publicly.

If Kopitime fails to fulfill all the requirements, the JSX will delist its shares, effective Sept. 30.