Wahana still pursuing share offering

Novia D. Rulistia ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 04/25/2008 12:15 PM  |  Business

PT Wahanaartha Harsaka, one of Honda's main motorcycle dealers, is determined to continue with an initial public offering (IPO), despite the cancellation of its previous IPO plan earlier this year.

The company will re-register with the Financial Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK) before conducting the IPO, president director Robbyanto Kurniawan said Thursday.

The company is currently looking for new underwriters to complete the IPO this year.

"It's very unlikely we will use the same underwriters and consultants for the next IPO, as that would delay our plans for the IPO, which may be held during the second quarter," he told reporters.

Robby said the company expected to finish selecting its new underwriters in May.

Earlier this week, after the IPO was canceled, Bapepam revoked the licenses of Wahana's IPO underwriters, BNI Securities and PT Investindo Nusantara Sekuritas, for three and six months respectively, for failing to follow proper procedures in canceling the IPO.

The cancellation did not affect the company's financial performance, Robby said.

In the first quarter, the company saw net sales rise 19 percent to Rp 576 billion from Rp 466.56 billion in the same period last year.

Its gross profit was up by 101 percent to Rp 11.3 billion from Rp 5.6 billion a year earlier.

According to a recent survey by Nielsen Media Research Indonesia, motorcycle ownership in the country has jumped by 125 percent over the past seven years, from 10.5 million in 2000 to 23.7 million in 2007.

In the first quarter of this year, 59 percent of the population in nine major cities, or 25 million people, used motorcycles for transport, the survey said.

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