Karunia to Sell Harum Energy Shares: Source

ID/Jauhari

Karunia Bara Perkasa, a company owned by Indonesian tycoon Kiki Barki, plans to sell a 7.4 percent interest in coal miner Harum Energy, Finance Asia reported on Tuesday, quoting a source.

The report said Karunia, which currently controls a 70.3 percent stake in Harum Energy, offered 200 million shares at a price between Rp 6,000 and Rp 6,100. This would translate into an offering of about Rp 1.2 trillion ($125 million), according to Investor Daily calculations.

An Investor Daily source confirmed the report, saying that Karunia Bara aims to sell the shares via private placement, or share sales to designated investors.

Antonio Gunara, president director of Harum Energy Ray, did not respond to a request for comment.

However, Harum corporate secretary Alexandra Mira denied confirmation of the share sale, saying: “We still don’t know [about the share sale]. We have not yet received confirmation or a written report. We are unable to comment further as it involves other parties.”

Harum Energy is part of Tanito Harum Group. Lawrence Barki, the son of Kiki Barki, is listed as the company’s president commissioner.

Harum Energy is one of the top thermal coal producers in Indonesia, with operations in East Kalimantan. The group owns a combined area of 47,000 hectares and sells coal to buyers from Asian countries under both multi-year and spot contracts.

Goldman Sachs gave a “buy” recommendation for Harum Energy stocks with a price range of up to Rp 7,800 per piece, banking on strong coal production volume.

Coal production rose to 6.1 million metric tons in the period from January-June 2012, up 39.5 percent from the same period last year. Harum’s average coal selling price increased to $90.2 per ton, up from $90.1 per ton.

Strong production volume and stable coal prices led the company to post a strong 23 percent increase in net income to $89.62 million. Revenue surged 71 percent to $583 million in the period. Earlier this year, the company announced it had set aside $30 million to help finance expansion in coal production in 2012.

Shares of Harum rose 3.17 percent to Rp 6,500 on Wednesday. The company is one of the top miners in Indonesia, the world’s second-biggest shipper of thermal coal, with 20.8 billion tons of proven coal reserves, according to the government estimate.