Telkom to offer bonus shares to local investors

JAKARTA (JP): The state-owned telecommunication company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), which plans to sell its shares domestically and internationally later this month, is offering incentives to Indonesian retail buyers.

"Telkom will provide additional shares as incentives for investors who qualify under certain terms and conditions," said an operator at the company's toll-free telephone number which is providing information on its initial public offering.

However, the operator refused to give further information on the terms and conditions.

According to one source, incentives will be given in the form of bonus shares to individual Indonesian investors who keep their shares for at least one year.

"The incentives may be in the form of one or two additional bonus shares for every 10 shares owned by Indonesian citizens for at least one year," the source said.

The initial public offering of Telkom shares is scheduled to be held from Oct. 27 to Nov. 1. About 25 percent of its shares will be listed on the New York and London stock exchanges and another 10 percent on the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

The source, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the offering of the incentives is to encourage more individual investors to get involved in stock investment in this country.

To disseminate information on the initial public offering of its shares, Telkom created a toll-free phone number (0-800-22- 1995) which is available everyday from 06:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

The operators, however, will not give information on the total number of the shares to be offered to the public, nor their value or price.

Objectives

Telkom's president, Setyanto Prawira Santosa, said in a statement yesterday that he wants to give opportunities to Indonesian citizens by offering them incentives.

"Our objectives in offering the incentives are to educate people to invest over a long-term period, which in turn will help develop the Indonesian capital market and to involve as many Indonesian citizens as possible in the ownership of the state- owned telecommunication company," he said.

The source said that Telkom will be the first public company to use the newly inaugurated Jakarta Automated Trading System (JATS) at the Jakarta Stock Exchange in its share offering to investors throughout the country.

He said the number of domestic investors in the capital market is currently only about 200,000, or 0.1 percent of the Indonesian population of about 195 million.

The statement said that information about the shares offering will also be available through selling agents, distribution banks and post offices.

Setyanto said the funds to be obtained from the share issuance will be used to update the technologies of Telkom's facilities, to diversify products as well as to expand its telephone networks," he said.

The company, according to the statement, has restructured and rationalized management, consolidated operations and systems and enhanced human resources' skills.

Another source, who is managing the domestic public offering, said yesterday that Telkom is slated to conduct road shows in Jakarta on Oct. 9, in Surabaya, East Java, on Oct. 10, in Medan, North Sumatra, on Oct. 11, in Semarang, Central Java, on Oct. 12 and in Bandung, West Java, on Oct. 13.

The source said that the initial public offering of the shares will be conducted by two settlement banks -- Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia (BDNI) and Citibank.

BDNI will appoint its counters in Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Medan, Ujungpandang (South Sulawesi), Bandar Lampung (Lampung), Denpasar (Bali) and Balikpapan (East Kalimantan), while Citibank will appoint its counters in Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya.

Nine other banks will also participate as distribution banks in some cities to provide information and assist investors on the purchase of shares. The distribution banks are Bank Bali, Bank Bumi Daya, Bank Dagang Negara, Bank Internasional Indonesia, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Umum Nasional, Bank Niaga, Unibank and Lippo Bank.

Apart from the distribution banks, the team of the initial public offering will also set up counters to provide application forms for the shares in nine cities. The counters are the Air Force Headquarters in Jakarta, Bank Internasional Indonesia and Bank Rakyat Indonesia in Bandung, the Diponegoro soccer field in Semarang, the Gedung Gita Tamtama in Surabaya, the Merdeka field in Medan, the Karebusi Basket Hall in Ujungpandang, the Forestry Ministry Guest House in Bandar Lampung, Radio Republik Indonesia in Denpasar, the Balikpapan Permai Complex in Balikpapan. (kod)