Maharani to sell 58.8m shares

JAKARTA (JP): PT Maharani Intifinance, a multifinance company, will sell 58.8 million shares or 49 percent of its total stock to the public to improve its capital structure.

Maharani's director Stefanus Ginting said yesterday his company would launch an initial public offering (IPO) through the Jakarta and Surabaya stock exchanges later this month.

"The shares, each with a nominal value of Rp 500, would be sold at between Rp 550 (US$0.22) and Rp 650 a share," Stefanus said.

Sixty percent of the proceeds from the IPO will be used to improve the company's business, thirty percent to repay its debts, and the remaining ten percent to expand its branch network and improve operational technology.

Maharani, which operates in factoring, consumer financing and leasing, expected to raise Rp 35 billion to Rp 40 billion in fresh funds from the IPO, Stefanus said.

The company was previously called PT Minsuco, before Maharani Paramitra of the Maharani Group acquired half of the company's stake last April.

Minsuco now owns 40 percent of the company and businessman The Tje Min the remaining 10 percent.

The public offering will change the ownership composition to 49 percent for the investing public, 25.5 percent for Maharani Paramitra and the remaining 25.5 percent for both Minsuco and The Tje Min.

This year, the company planned to shift its focus to consumer financing from factoring, Stefanus said.

"Within five years, we expect to increase the portion of consumer financing in our business to about 40 percent," he said.

Factoring currently made up at least 60 percent of the company's business, leasing about 30 percent, and consumer financing the remaining 10 percent, he said.

"We could provide more retail financing for customers by cooperating with their employers," he said.

He said he saw a bright prospect of consumer financing for middle-income customers despite the 20 percent interest rate charged by his company.

"People here tend to be impulsive buyers. They are concerned more about their buying power than the interest rate," he said.

The company booked slightly over Rp 1 billion in net profit last year, he said. Its assets totaled Rp 153 billion and its equity Rp 18.3 billion.

Stefanus said his company expected its net profit to rise by four to five times this year as a result of the fresh funds from the IPO and from the business expansion.

He said Maharani had booked Rp 1 billion in net profit in the first quarter of this year. (das)