Govt reject PT Timah?s appeal not to pay dividend
Wednesday, March 13 2002 - 02:51 AM WIB
Director General for Financial Institutions Darmin Nasution said in Jakarta on Tuesday that as the company?s final dividend had been included in the state budget, it was impossible for the company to cancel the dividend payment.
He said that if PT Timah continued to delay the dividend payment, it would be required to pay interest as the fine of the delay. "We therefore urge the company to soon disburse the dividend," he added.
PT Timah has appealed the government, which owns 65 percent of the tin mining company, to cancel the payment of the final dividend for 2000 financial year in order to help reduce the company?s serious financial problem.
The company, which is the largest tin producer in the world, reported a serious problem in its financial performance last year due to the sharp decline in the price of the tin metal. The company is now in the brink of collapse, as tin prices have showed no improvement since then.
Nasution said that the ministry was aware about the company?s difficulty. But he said that the financial difficulties had nothing to do with the company?s operation for 2000 financial year.
Earlier Timah President Director Erry Riyana Hardjapamengkas said that the final dividend that must be paid by the company for the 2000 financial year reached about Rp 59 billion. He said the company had demanded the dividend payment be reduced to Rp 59 million or Rp 1 per share in order to help the company to remain afloat.
Erry acknowledged on Tuesday that he had been dismissed with respect by the government as the majority shareholder of the company. He denied that he had resigned from his job, which he had held for almost 8 years. (*)