Banpu's local unit to sell shares

Ika Krismantari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

PT Indo Tambangraya Megah (ITM), a local unit of Thailand's largest coal miner, Banpu, will offer 20 percent of its enlarged shares to the public later next month to help finance its operation and expansion plan.

ITM president director Somyot Ruchirawat said here Tuesday the company planned to sell 225,985,000 new shares in the initial public offering (IPO) at a price of between Rp 11,000 (US$1.18) and Rp 15,000 per share.

The company expects the IPO will generate between $267.2 million to $364 million in proceeds. The shares, which will be offered to the public from Dec. 10 to Dec. 12, will be listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) on Dec. 17.

PT UBS Securities Indonesia will act as the lead underwriter of the IPO.

"Seventy percent of the proceeds will be used for business expansion, including future acquisition of coal and power projects, while the remaining 30 percent will be used for general corporate purposes, including debt repayments," Ruchirawat said.

He said ITM planned to spend between $40 million and $50 million on upgrading one of its ports in Bontang, East Kalimantan, and also to increase its stockpile to 650,000 tons from 350,000 tons.

He added the company also planned to spend around $95 million to expand its coal mining sites in its two subsidiaries - PT Indominco Mandiri and Bharinto Ekatama.

Currently, the company has five subsidiaries - PT Indominco Mandiri, PT Trubaindo Coal Mining, PT Bharinto Ekatama, PT Kitadin and PT Jorong Barutama Greston which are all involved in coal-mining operations.

ITM, the country's third-largest coal producer, has estimated coal reserves of about 1.5 billion tons.

In the first six months of 2007, the company posted $22.7 million in net profit, almost equivalent to the net profit for 2006 which was 24.9 million. The company expected net profit would be higher thanks to surging coal prices.

As well as higher net profit projection, ITM finance director Edward Manurung said total production would be lower this year due to a higher level of rainfall than expected. The company hopes to produce 18.6 million tons this year, slightly less than last year's 19.6 million tons.

"We hope to increase production to 20.5 million tons in 2008 as Truba's coal mines in Kalimantan will start commercial production," he told The Jakarta Post.

At present, ITM is 99.9 percent owned by PT Centralink Wisesa, with PT Sigma Buana Cemerlang (SBC) owning the remaining 0.01 percent.

Centralink Wisesa is 95-percent owned by Banpu Public Company Limited, Thailand's largest coal producer.

After the IPO, the public will hold 20 percent of the company's shares and Centralink will hold 77.6 percent, while SBC will own 2.4 percent.