Antam forms audit committee to ensure good corporate governance
Monday, October 14 2002 - 03:06 AM WIB
?The formation of the committee was to show Antam?s commitment to the implementation of good corporate governance,? Antam?s chief commissioner Firman Tambun was quoted as saying.
Firman said the newly formed audit committee was not fully independent because its members included representatives of State Audit Agency (BPK).
Firman said the audit committee had authority to select independent consultants to examine the financial performance of Antam, and that the consultants could be used for a certain period of time before being replaced by others.
Antam, which is listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange and an Australian bourse, might use Ernst & Young as its auditor, Firman said. The consulting firm so far had never audited his company, he added.
The company said recently it had consolidated net income of Rp53 trillion (US$5.6 million) and earnings per share (EPS) of Rp27.99 for the first half of 2002. It was an 80 percent decrease compared to the Rp263 billion and EPS of Rp137.90 of the same period in 2002.
Antam also said that a German financial consortium led by IKN Hermes would disburse a loan of $240 million to it in March 2003. The loan would be repaid within 13 years and would be used for developing Antam?s third ferronickel plant, FeNi III, in Southeast Sulawesi, which was valued at some $375 million, the company said.
Antam signed in September an agreement with nickel miner PT International Nickel Indonesia Tbk (INCO) to form a joint venture for nickel reserve development and nickel processing.
It said it was considering to increase its stake in PT Weda Bay Nickel, a fully owned subsidiary of Canadian listed nickel miner Weda Bay Minerals Inc, from the current 10 percent to 25 percent. (*)