Bumi group’s stocks dive further on poor H1 results

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Shares in London-listed Bumi Plc., along with its subsidiaries listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), dived deeper due to their poor financial performance during the first half of the year.

Bumi Plc.’s shares were closed at 365.9 pence on Thursday, declining 1.11 percent compared to a day earlier. The stock has fallen about 57 percent so far this year.

Bumi Plc.’s 29.2 percent owned subsidiary PT Bumi Resources, which is listed on IDX under the code BUMI, saw its shares plunge by 3.53 percent to Rp 1,090 (11 US cents) at the end of the first trading session on Friday. It closed unchanged from Rp 1,130 a day earlier.

Meanwhile, Bumi Plc’s 85 percent owned subsidiary PT Berau Coal Energy’s share price saw a free fall of 6.66 percent to Rp 280 the end of the first trading session on IDX from Rp 300 a day earlier. It closed at Rp 305 on Friday.

Shares in Bumi Resources and Berau have slumped 50 percent and 32 percent so far this year, respectively.

Ongoing net losses in the first half of the year contributed to the decline.

Bumi Plc. remained at a net loss of $106 million in the first half of the year, which was actually an improvement on the company’s net loss in the same period last year, which reached $296 million. The company reaped higher revenues of $770 million during the January-to- June period of the year, a 61 percent jump compared to $478 million in the same period last year.

“Our financial performance was impacted by the loss we recorded at associate level, mainly due to high interest payments and derivative losses at Bumi Resources,” Bumi Plc. chief executive Nalin Rathod said in a written statement.

Bumi Resources has not filed its financial results of the first half of the year to the IDX. However, Bumi Plc. noted that the subsidiary suffered a net loss of $111 million in the first six months of the year, a significant setback as the company maintained a net profit of $41 million in the same period last year.

Bumi Resources reaped a higher revenue of $568 million during the January to June period of the year, massively increasing by 72 percent compared to $329 million in the same period last year. The company failed to translate growth in revenue to its operating profit, which stood at $5 million in the first half of the year, declining 88 percent compared to $42 million in the same period last year.

In line with its sister company, Berau also showed a poor performance in the first half of the year. Berau’s financial report submitted to the IDX showed that the company booked $39.42 million in net loss in the first half of the year, a significant drop as the company booked a net profit of $90.31 million in the same period last year.

Berau reported growing sales to $770.45 million the first half of this year, increasing by about 5 percent compared to $729.06 million in the same period last year. However, the modest growth could not compensate higher costs, including the cost of goods sold, which was up 19.47 percent to $515.12 million. Moreover, the company also suffered from surging financial costs of 30 percent to $75.08 million during the first half of the year. (tas)