Sahid group plans streamlining move

JAKARTA (JP): Sahid Group, a major hotel chain in Indonesia, plans a major consolidation measure to streamline its activities, the group's chief executive said yesterday.

Setyanto Santosa, the newly appointed president of PT Hotel Sahid Jaya International (HSJI), said an internal acquisition would be an important alternative in the planned consolidation measure.

Jakarta's HSJI, a publicly listed subsidiary of Sahid Group, planned to buy 11 hotels in cities including Solo, Yogyakarta (both in Central Java), Surabaya (East Java) and Manado (North Sulawesi), he said.

These hotels, which are now operated and owned by other Sahid group subsidiaries, will be directly overseen by HSJI under the consolidation move.

HSJI, which at present directly operates and manages the five- star Sahid hotel in Jakarta, aslo plans to acquire its three affiliated companies including Sahid International Hotel Management Consultants and a company that operates an apartment complex in Jakarta.

The plan was likely to be carried out in August or later this year, he said.

"We are still conducting assessments with several finance institutes to see whether the plan could be successfully carried out," Setyanto said following an induction ceremony for new management.

Setyanto, former PT Telkom president, said Sahid was considering alternatives to strengthen its financial structure such as issuing rights shares, bonds or inviting new investors.

"Every possibility is being evaluated now, we may not even carry out the acquisition plan and issue obligations instead, if it will work better for our company," he said.

The consolidation measure would be a priority for the Sahid group's new management, he said.

Sahid Group aims to build 10 more hotels by next year, he said. It operates 17 hotels -- including two in Saudi Arabia -- nine of which are owned by the company.

The hotels have 3,500 rooms and were rated three-star to five- star, he said.

HSJI booked a net profit of Rp 10.39 billion (US$4.25 million) last year, up 38.7 percent compared to 1995.

About 73 percent, or Rp 7.61 billion, was distributed as dividends at Rp 70 a share, a 17 percent rise from 1995. (das)