Antam to divest stake in subsidiaries

IDX-listed mining firm PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) plans to divest stake in subsidiaries to strategic investors as part of efforts to increase performance this year, Investor Daily reported on Thursday.

The paper quoted Antam President Director Tedy Badrujaman as saying that the company would sell shares in subsidiaries that have high value to lure investors.

?If we offer (to investors) subsidiaries with small value, probably none will be interested. But if we offer those with high value, many investors will be interested,? he told the paper recently, but did not provide further details.

As has been reported by this portal earlier, Antam plans to sell part of its shares in PT Indonesia Chemical Alumina (ICA) to its Japanese partner Showa Denko KK. Antam Finance Director Wikan Pramudhio as saying that while the company has yet to decide the amount of ICA shares to be divested, Antam is comfortable of having only 50 percent shares.

Antam currently holds 80 percent shares of ICA, while the remainder 20 percent is held by Showa Denko.

ICA, which processes bauxite ores into chemical grade alumina in Tayan, West Kalimantan, started production last year, and the company is seeking to ramp up output this year, according to Dimas. ICA has an installed production capacity of 300,000 tons per year.

Tedy said that aside from ICA, Antam will also sell shares in other subsidiaries to strategic investors.

According to its financial report, Antam has a number of subsidiaries which have been commercially running including Asia Pasific Nickel Pty Ltd, PT Indonesia Coal Resources, PT Antam Resourcindo, PT Cibalung Sumberdaya, PT International Mineral Capital, PT Citra Tobindo Sukses Perkasa, and PT Nusa Karya Apindo.

Antam last year suffered a net loss of Rp 1.4 trillion amid the lingering weak commodity prices. (*)