'Plans to list Minamas on track'

'Plans to list Minamas on track'

Dow Jones, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian plantation group Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd. on Wednesday
said plans to list its Indonesian unit are on track given the
unit's improved pretax profit and production levels.

Kumpulan Guthrie Chief Executive Abdul Khalid Ibrahim said
2002 pretax profit at its Indonesia-based Minamas Plantations,
was up 30 percent over 2001, at 57 million ringgit.

For the first quarter of this year, the company's pretax
profit was 36 million ringgit, he added. Production also rose at
the Indonesian company in 2002 from a year earlier, he said.

Guthrie purchased Minamas for US$330 million in November 2000,
but only took over the management in April, 2001.

"In 2001, production was much lower, but today, on average, it
is exceeding Malaysian production," Abdul Khalid said at a press
conference following the group's annual shareholders' meeting.

"We are now preparing the groundwork for that listing," he
added, noting the group will likely decide on the timing in the
middle of next year.

He added the timing will depend on the political and economic
climate in the country, and will likely follow the Indonesian
presidential election in 2004.

Previously, the group had targeted mid-2005 for a listing.

Following a listing, around 30 percent of Minamas Plantations
will be in public hands, he said.

As part of its 2000 purchase negotiations with the Indonesian
Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) around 10 percent of the company
will be available to Indonesian investors and employees when
Minamas is listed, he said.

Late on Tuesday, the group announced it had refinanced Islamic
bonds issued to fund the purchase with a $218 million loan
facility. The refinancing will reduce funding costs by around 2
percent per year, the CEO said on Wednesday.

Guthrie recently announced a sweeping restructuring of its
Malaysian plantation operations which will result in taking two
units private and lowering the shareholding of the government-
linked fund Permodalan Nasional Bhd. to just over 60 percent,
from 73 percent now.

Abdul Khalid also said shareholders were informed that the
group remains at the forefront of tissue culture palm oil
technology. At present, Guthrie has around 1,003 cloned trees and
is working on reducing a genetic aberration rate of around 30
percent to less than 5 percent.

On a separate topic, the CEO noted the group's planned Guthrie
Corridor Expressway, a 25 kilometer 6-lane highway linking
several Guthrie housing estates under development close to Kuala
Lumpur, will be ready soon. Land purchases have delayed the
project, however the civil works are on track, he said.

"We hope by the middle of next year or at least the third
quarter of next year, the expressway will be ready for public
use," Abdul Khalid said.