ABM?s Cipta Kridatama reports stronger Q1 performance

By Brigida Ernestina Elu Wea

IDX-listed integrated mining company PT ABM Investama Tbk said that its coal mining services company PT Cipta Kridatama delivered a stronger performance in the first quarter of this year on higher over burden removal (OBM) volume.

ABM President Director Adrian Erlangga said on Wednesday that OBM volume in the first quarter of this year increased by 27.82 percent to 31.7 million bank cubic meters compared to 24.8 million bmc in the corresponding period of last year.

He said that the higher OBM volume was attributed to higher demand from clients, mostly affiliated coal mines, and better performance of equipment.

For this year, Cipta Kridatama has set a higher target of OBM removal at 140 million bmc, compared to 131 million bcm last year.

He added that as coal mining services account for the largest source of the group?s revenue, efficiency on the use of fuel and in operation will continue to be a focus this year to help cope with the current coal mining downturn.

?We?re not concerned with the capacity of our equipment, but more on the market which is currently slowing down,? Adrian said.

Elsewhere, Adrian said that ABM aims to divest part of its assets, particularly non-productive assets, to repay debts in a bid to lower debt to equity ratio, which remained relatively high at 2.5x as per end of March of this year.

Aside from asset divestment, the company will also seek refinancing and restructuring deals with creditors.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak