Listing of PGN?s shares on JSX likely to be delayed

The listing of state gas utility company PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN)?s shares on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) may be postponed to December 12, 2003 from the scheduled date of November 21 as the company still needs some more time to make all the preparations for the initial public offering (IPO), Bisnis Indonesia newspaper reported in a front page story on Saturday.

?The listing of PGN?s shares through IPO may be done on December 12 instead of the scheduled date of November 21, PGN?s president director W.M.P. Simandjuntak told Bisnis on late Thursday.

The delay in listing, according to Simandjuntak, was not caused by some problem but in fact the process of the IPO needed more time.

Meanwhile, Aloysius K. Ro, the deputy assistant for the government?s restructurization and privatization of the agro industries, strategic industries and mining confirmed the delay in listing, saying it would be moved to December because the government is still waiting for the completion of the IPO process including an hearing with the House of Representatives? Commission IX.

?We will have an hearing with Commission IX in the last week of October. After this, we will go ahead with road show to foreign countries, Aloysius said.

Separately, the Investor Indonesia newspaper reported on Saturday that the PGN has not yet applied for the listing of its IPO to the Jakarta Stock Exchange and it is not clear when the gas company would list its shares.

?We have not yet received the IPO?s schedule of the PGN and it has not made any request so far for the listing,? JSX?s director at the listing department Harry Wiguna told Investor on Friday.

Earlier, PGN has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as financial adviser (FA) for its forthcoming IPO.

It expects to raise up to Rp 3.6 trillion or about US$400 million from the sales of its 30 percent stake from the IPO.

PGN hopes that it could retain a half of the proceeds from the sale of the 30 percent shares to finance its expansion plan and to give the remaining 50 percent to the government's coffers.

The government has appointed PT Danareksa Sekuritas, ABN Amro-Rothschild and Credit Suisse Boston as underwriters of PGN's IPO. The percentage of the shares to be sold in the IPO has not officially been announced although PGN estimates that it would be around 30 percent.

PGN has set a net profit target of Rp 300 billion to Rp 400 billion for 2003. (*)