Sampoerna may issue bonds this year
Sampoerna may issue bonds this year
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta
Publicly listed PT HM Sampoerna, the country's third largest
cigarette producer in terms of market share, may sell bonds by
the end of this year, in a bid to refinance debt maturing in
January next year.
Sampoerna's 25-year-old president director, Michael Sampoerna,
said the company would refinance Rp 1 trillion (US$106 million)
of its debts probably in the next couple of months or in the next
quarter.
"We are looking at various options to finance our debt, in the
form of bonds possibly. We have to refinance it at some point,"
Michael told reporters after a company presentation for investors
and the media on Friday.
Michael said that by the end of this year, the company had
projected its market share to increase due to stronger demand for
its cigarettes. In the next couple of years, the company is
expected to have a 30 percent market share.
During the presentation, Sampoerna director Angky Camaro said
the surge in cigarette sales this year would be mainly driven by
a more stable pricing environment and to a lesser extent the
windfall from general election activities.
"After facing a tough year in 2003 due to unfavorable excise
policy, cigarette sales this year are expected to recover due
mostly to election spending," said Angky without giving any
figures for the projected increase in sales.
Angky said that the company would still rely on the popular
Dji Sam Soe and A Mild clove cigarette brands as the two pillars
for sales growth. The company also expects its Sampoerna Hijau
clove cigarette brand to become the third growth pillar.
Sampoerna shares on the Jakarta Stock Exchange, which are
included in the blue-chip list, ended unchanged on Friday's
trading at Rp 5,050.
According to AC Nielsen's first quarter report on the
country's cigarette industry, Kediri-based PT Gudang Garam is
still the country's largest cigarette producer with a 29.9
percent market share, followed by PT Djarum with 21.5 percent,
Sampoerna with 19.2 percent, PT Philip Morris Indonesia with 4.5
percent, PT Bentoel with 3.2 percent and PT British-American
Tobacco Indonesia with 2.6 percent.