State firms book profits of Rp 9.32t

State firms book profits of Rp 9.32t

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned companies recorded significant
improvements in their financial performances last year, with
combined pre-tax profits rising by 20.5 percent to Rp 9.32
trillion (US$4.05 billion) from Rp 7.73 trillion in 1994.

The Ministry of Finance's Director General for State
Enterprises, Bacelius Ruru, said yesterday that the financial
improvement came from increased efficiency.

Speaking at a hearing of Commission VII of the House of
Representatives, for finance and trade, Ruru said the improvement
in the financial performances also reflected the increase in the
number of state companies categorized as very healthy.

Tax payments from state companies increased to Rp 2.02
trillion in 1995 from Rp 1.93 trillion in 1994, Ruru told the
commission.

Dividends paid by the state firms to the government increased
to Rp 1.48 trillion last year from Rp 1.39 trillion in the
previous year, he said.

Ruru said that the number of state companies classified as
"very healthy" increased to 92 last year from 85 in 1994, while
those categorized as "unsound" declined to 86 from 97.

He explained that the total number of the country's state
firms declined to 178 last year from 182 in 1994 as the result of
the government's consolidation programs.

In 1994, for example, PT Pengelola Kawasan Berikat Nusantara
merged with PT Kawasan Berikat Nusantara, while PT Semen Tonasa
in South Sulawesi and PT Semen Padang in West Sumatra were
consolidated into the East Java-based cement plant, PT Semen
Gresik.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry directly oversees 33 state
companies, the Ministry of Agriculture 22, the Ministry of
Finance 29, the Ministry of Transportation 17, the Ministry of
Public Works 19, the Ministry of Mines and Energy seven, the
Ministry of Post, Telecommunication and Tourism seven, the
Ministry of Forestry six, the Ministry of Defense and Security
two, the Ministry of Health four, the Ministry of Information
four, the Ministry of Manpower one, the Ministry of Education one
and the Strategic Industry Supervising Board 10.

Some other state-owned companies are overseen by Bank
Indonesia and non-ministerial offices.

The Ministry of Finance, by law, is the sole shareholder of
the state-owned companies, which had total assets of more than Rp
358 trillion at the end of 1994, but their daily activities are
overseen directly by related ministries or government offices.

Ruru explained that the government would continue
restructuring programs in the state-owned companies to allow them
to operate as efficiently as private firms.

He said the programs include the consolidation of their
operations and management into other, related, companies and
privatizations through local and offshore stock exchanges or
through direct placement.

Ruru said the government is now preparing the initial public
offering of the shares of a number of state companies, including
Bank Negara Indonesia, toll operator PT Jasa Marga, subsidiaries
of the electricity company PLN, steel corporation PT Krakatau
Steel, port management firm PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II, PT
Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia, a diversified business group, state
plantation firms and the national flag carrier PT Garuda
Indonesia.

Ruru told the House members that state companies which go
public or sell their shares to the public should meet certain
criteria, such as booking profits in the past two consecutive
years. Furthermore their paid-up capital should be at least Rp 50
billion, with a minimum rate of return on equity of 7.5 percent.
The debt equity ratio should be a maximum of 7.3 for life
insurance companies, 4.8 for those operating in the property
industry, 19 for those involved in banking activities and 1.8 for
those operating in other business sectors. (hen)