Merpati's losses rise further, to Rp 93b

Merpati's losses rise further, to Rp 93b

JAKARTA (JP): The balance sheet of Merpati Nusantara Airlines (Merpati), a subsidiary of flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, deepened further into red, with losses continuing to increase to Rp 93.12 billion (US$40.66 million) last year from Rp 88.93 billion in 1994.

Merpati president Budiarto Subroto said yesterday that the losses incurred as the result of large investments made in the last five years in addition to a continued deficit in Merpati's services for "pioneering" routes.

Merpati received financial aid from the government to cover flight costs in 37 pioneering routes -- those with small numbers of passengers -- in Irian Jaya and other eastern provinces, he said.

He said that the government's financial assistance is insufficient to offset the high flight costs in the pioneering routes.

Despite the financial losses in the last years, Merpati's dividends paid to the government continued to increase to Rp 53 billion in 1995 from Rp 47 billion in 1994 and Rp 46 billion in 1993.

He said Merpati needs additional funds of Rp 653 billion to strengthen its capital structure, said Budiarto.

He said the additional funds would be required from the Ministry of Finance.

"We want the government to increase its equity participation in Merpati," Budiarto told a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission V for transportation.

Budiarto, who was recently appointed to replace Ridwan Fataruddin, said that the new equity funds would be used to repay Merpati's loans, which were used to purchase three F-100 aircraft, 15 CN-235 planes and a CN-235 simulator recently.

"The new equity funds would be also used to amortize the credits used by Merpati to buy 17 used F-28 airlines from Garuda Indonesia," he said. (hen)