PT Karwell to offer 20m shares

JAKARTA (JP): PT Karwell Indonesia, a textile producer, will offer 20 million new shares that will account for 30.77 percent of its total common stocks early next month, the company's executives say.

Frans Seda, the firm's chief commissioner, told reporters on Friday that the shares, each with a nominal value of Rp 1,000, will be sold at a price between Rp 2,900 (US$1.3) and Rp 3,000 each.

This means that the shares will have a price earning ratio of 7.2 times, he said.

Karwell's president, Susanto, said that 64.8 percent of the proceeds generated from the share offering will be used to finance the company's expansion plans.

He explained that Karwell, which last year produced and exported 659,405 dozen garments from its three subsidiaries, will build a new plant in Bekasi, West Java, with an annual production capacity of 62,400 dozen.

Susanto also said that the firm will expand the annual production capacity of one of its subsidiaries to 978,000 dozen from 319,000 dozen.

The executive also said that 21.4 percent of the proceeds will be used to pay the company's debts while the remaining 13.8 percent will be allocated to increase its working capital.

The expansion is required to enable the company, which thus far exports all of its products, to penetrate the local market.

In the meantime, finance director Harijanto Witono said that sales grew from Rp 57.7 billion in 1992 to Rp 76.9 in 1993 and reached Rp 68.39 billion in this year's first semester.

The net profit, he said, escalated from Rp 1.6 billion in 1992 to Rp 4.6 billion last year and reached Rp 5.8 billion in the first semester of this year. (hdj)