JSX may delist Texmaco and Bukaka

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta

The Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) plans to delist four high- profile companies this year for failing to comply with the capital market regulations or because of difficulties with their business operations.

JSX listing director Harry Wiguna said the four companies comprised automotive and machinery producer PT Texmaco Perkasa Engineering, construction company PT Bukaka Teknik Utama, plastic producer PT Wahana Jaya Perkasa and textile and infrastructure company PT Siswani Makmur.

"Shares of the four firms are currently under suspension, but we are still giving them a grace period until the end of this month or this year to settle their problems," Harry said after a seminar held by the Indonesian Listed Companies Association (AEI) on Friday.

The JSX suspended trading in shares of the companies last year, Harry said.

He explained that the JSX planned to delist the companies because of chronic problems with their financial accounts or because of their gloomy business operations, which were unlikely to be maintained.

However, Harry refused to elaborate on the problems faced by each of the companies, saying that the bourse would officially disclose that to the public next week.

The four companies on the verge of being delisted all are closely linked with high-profile tycoons.

Texmaco Perkasa, for instance, is a unit of the Texmaco Group which was founded by businessman Marimuttu Sinivasan, while Bukaka is linked to vice presidential candidate Jusuf Kalla, who is the running mate of the country's leading presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. (According to JSX website, members of the Kalla family sit on the board of directors and commissioners).

Siswani Makmur was founded by tycoon William Soeryadjaja, the founder of automotive giant PT Astra International, while Wahana Jaya still links Texmaco.

Elsewhere, JSX president Erry Firmansyah said that there was not much of a chance that the bourse would delist Texmaco because the company was still undergoing some restructuring, and that a delisting would not benefit the company and would cause losses to investors.

"We need to examine all the problems thoroughly. If we delist Texmaco Perkasa, who will benefit from it? The investors for sure will be sacrificed, forcing us to provide protection for them. We don't want to be too hasty about kicking people out," said Erry.

It is also unclear whether the JSX would delist other Texmaco units such as textile producer PT Texmaco Jaya, whose shares had been suspended by the JSX for more than one year.

The Texmaco Group, which has fixed assets totaling more than US$2 billion, owes more than $3 billion to the government and about $1.4 billion to overseas creditors. The government has several times failed in an attempt to sell its interest in the company to investors.

The company's assets are currently being managed by government-sanctioned PT Perusahaan Pengelolaan Aset (PPA), which was recently set up to deal with the unsold assets previously managed by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA). IBRA's operating mandated ended in February this year.