Sat, 10 Jan 1998

Makindo makes favorable capital market debut

JAKARTA (JP): PT Makindo, one of the country's major securities companies, made a successful capital market debut yesterday, with its shares gaining 15 percent during the first day of their listing on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX).

The company's share price gained Rp 150 to close at Rp 1,125 from Rp 975 at the opening despite unfavorable conditions in the overall market.

Makindo announced yesterday that it listed all 943 million of its shares on the JSX and the Surabaya Stock Exchange (SSX) yesterday.

About 500 million of the shares are owned by the founders while the remainder are held by public shareholders.

Makindo, the third securities company listed on the JSX and SSX after Lippo Securities and Bhakti Investama, offered 377 million shares, each with a par value of Rp 500 each, to the public during its initial public offering (IPO) last month.

Makindo president Gunawan Yusuf said the company raised about Rp 367.57 billion in fresh funds from the IPO.

About 70 percent of the IPO's proceeds would be used to increase the company's working capital and the remaining 30 percent to support institutional investors and to improve the company's information technology.

The company said in a statement yesterday that it posted an unaudited net profit of Rp 80.3 billion in 1997, up 8.8 percent from the previous projection of Rp 73.8 billion in early 1997.

The statement said the operating income contributed to about 75 percent of the company's net profit in 1997 and nonoperating income accounted for the remaining 25 percent.

Makindo, set up in 1973, deals with stock underwriting and selling, securities trading and brokerage, and private placement.

Some stock analysts have said that any IPO in this bearish market would only result in failure as most foreign investors, which accounted for about 65 percent of total trading transactions in the local stock market, had stayed away from the market fearing possible corporate bankruptcies in the country due to monetary crisis. (aly)