JSX still undecided over Telkom's delisting
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta
The Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) has yet to decide on whether to delist telecommunications firm PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) from the exchange, following the firm's inability to submit an audited 2003 financial report by the required deadline.
JSX listing director Harry Wiguna told The Jakarta Post on Friday that the bourse was still investigating why Telkom had failed to submit its report on time.
Harry said that the JSX would also need time to consult with the Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam), before deciding on what to do with Telkom.
"We will decide Telkom's fate (on the exchange) before June 6. All of the action taken by JSX should be approved by Bapepam. This is a serious case because there's a possibility for the JSX to violate its own regulation," said Harry.
Telkom, which also has its shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange, failed to submit the reports on time after spending over a year settling its 2002 financial report, which was initially rejected by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as deficient.
Telkom settled the problem in February and is currently racing to finish its 2003 report.
In a press statement on Friday, Telkom said that it was unlikely to meet the June 6 deadline set by the JSX for submitting its 2003 financial report, due to the limited time available to finish its audit.
"It is expected that Telkom's consolidated 2003 audited financial report will be submitted in the fourth week of June," said Telkom corporate secretary Adek Julianwar in the statement.
Telkom shares on the JSX ended higher by Rp 50 at Rp 7,400 on Friday.
Harry said that the bourse would try to check whether the delay in Telkom's audit report was caused by an irregularity found in the audit, or whether it was merely caused by an operational problem.
"We need some time to make a decision on the company because Telkom is the largest counter on the bourse. We are still calculating whether delisting them will bring a positive or negative impact on overall trading at the JSX," he said.
Telkom has around 20 percent of the market capitalization on the bourse.
Harry's explanation is contrary to his statement earlier this month. Harry said at the time that "there will be no grace period given to companies failing to meet the deadline in submitting the 2003 audited financial report, including Telkom".
The JSX issued a second warning letter to 35 firms a couple of weeks ago for failing to submit their audited financial reports, with a risk of being suspended or delisted from the bourse. The JSX imposed a Rp 10 million (US$1,160) fine against the companies.
The second warning letter came after the companies failed to submit their financial reports by the April 30 deadline. The bourse sent its first warning letter to the companies in early April after they failed to submit their reports by March 31.
Harry said that of the 35 companies, only 20 had not yet finished their reports, including state cement producer PT Semen Gresik, tire maker PT Gajah Tunggal and companies under the Texmaco Group and Sinar Mas Group.
Based on the JSX regulation, the latest letter gave the companies an extension period of 30 days until June 6. The bourse will then suspend trading of the companies' shares for two weeks if they failed to submit their reports after this date.
If they again fail to comply within the two-week suspension period, the JSX has no other choice but to delist them.