Pupuk Kaltim awaits Bapepam approval for IPO

JAKARTA (JP): The registration statement for the initial public offering (IPO) of state-owned fertilizer company PT Pupuk Kaltim has been submitted to the Capital Market Supervisory Agency (Bapepam), a senior government official said on Tuesday.

Secretary to State Minister of Investment and State Enterprises Development I Nyoman Tjager said the company's IPO would be launched as soon as the capital market watchdog gave its green light.

"Pupuk Kaltim will be given the first priority to list its shares on the stock market before other state companies," he said on the sidelines of a seminar on state companies' performances.

He said the fertilizer company would sell 35 percent of its shares on the IPO.

The company recently announced that its unaudited pretax profit for January to May alone reached about Rp 331 billion, well above the initial target of Rp 185 billion.

Located in Bontang, East Kalimantan, Pupuk Kaltim operates three fertilizer plants with a combined production capacity of 1.52 million metric tons of ammonia and 2.41 million tons of urea a year.

Nyoman said the government was close to finalizing the preparations for the IPO of two other state companies, chemical manufacturers PT Indo Pharma and PT Kimia Farma.

The government expects to privatize 10 state-owned companies: general mining company PT Aneka Tambang; airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II; coal mining company PT Bukit Asam; plantation companies PT Perkebunan Nusantara III and IV; fertilizer producer PT Pupuk Kaltim; pharmaceutical manufacturers PT Indo Farma and PT Kimia Farma; surveyor firm PT Sucofindo; and trading company PT Kerta Niaga.

It expects to raise some Rp 6.5 trillion (US$722 million) from the sales of 10 firms during the April-December 2000 fiscal year.

Nyoman said many foreign investors had shown interest in particular companies offered in the program.

"Like the asset sales plan for state-owned plantation firms, many foreign companies, especially from Malaysia, have come to see me to talk about it," he said.

He said the government had also revived a tender to sell 50 percent of its stake in an airport management company, which had been delayed for several months.

Nyoman said Dutch Schipol Airport management and French Aeroport de Paris, for example, would continue their bidding for the airport operator.

Angkasa Pura II, which reported a pretax income of Rp 287 billion in 1999, currently manages nine airports in the western part of Indonesia, including Soekarno-Hatta and Halim Perdanakusuma in Jakarta and Polonia in Medan, North Sumatra.

Nyoman said other progress in the privatization plan was also seen in the preparation for the sale of stakes in Sucofindo.

He said Sucofindo's existing foreign partner, Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS), had expressed interest in buying five percent of the government's stake in the company to raise its ownership to between 25 percent and 30 percent.

If the proceeds from the sale of shares in the 10 companies is not satisfactory, the government will sell its shares in nine other state-owned companies: listed telecommunications operators PT Telkom and PT Indosat; retail store PT Sarinah; hotel management company JIHD; mining company PT Tambang Timah; strategic industry holding BPIS, fertilizer company PUSRI as well as hotel and office operators PT Wisma Nusantara and PT Perhotelan dan Perkantoran Indonesia. (cst)