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Jasa Marga to rely on new funding sources in toll road projects
State-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga can heave a sigh of relief as it now has new sources of financing to support its infrastructure projects this year
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tate-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga can heave a sigh of relief as it now has new sources of financing to support its infrastructure projects this year.
The firm is constructing 31 toll roads targeted to open by 2019 and with a sizeable amount of financing needed, it has been seeking alternative funds other than bank loans.
It is preparing to issue revenue securities and project bonds, both to be carried out this year.
Jasa Marga will issue revenue securities with coupon rates of 8 percent to 9 percent in a bid to raise Rp 2 trillion (US$150 million). The proceeds are set to support the Jakarta-Bogor-Ciawi (Jagorawi) toll road project.
“We will only let go of 70 percent of the Jagorawi toll road’s revenue of Rp 400 billion per year for five years, so the total amount [of the funds collected] will reach Rp 2 trillion,” Jasa Marga president director Dessy Aryani said last Friday.
PT Mandiri Manajemen Investasi and state-owned lender BRI will act as the investment manager and the custodian bank, respectively, for the asset-backed securities called KIK EBA Mandiri JSMR01.
Jasa Marga eyes institutional investors, such as large international pension funds, to buy the securities that have obtained an AAA grade from local ratings agency PT Pemeringkat Efek Indonesia (Pefindo). The products will be offered in two classes, namely Class A, which will sold through a public offer, and Class B, which will be sold through a limited offer.
In addition to the asset securitization, the publicly listed firm will launch project bonds in September or October to generate Rp 1.5 trillion in fresh funds.
“Our next [corporate action] plan is to issue project bonds. It has been registered with the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Our purpose is to obtain long-term funding with a fixed coupon rate without putting to much pressure on the company’s cashflow,” said Jasa Marga finance director Donny Arsal.
Amid its aggressive push to execute its massive infrastructure projects, Jasa Marga managed to pocket Rp 1.01 trillion in net profits from January to June, up 9.79 percent from the past year.
Such a surge in profit is attributable to a 7.47 percent year-on-year (yoy) increase in its toll revenue and revenues from other businesses to Rp 4.53 trillion in the first half of this year.
The firm is upbeat it can operate toll roads spanning 210 kilometers by the end of this year.
Among the projects it is working on are the Surabaya-Mojokerto toll road (15.50 km), the Medan-Kualanamu-Tebing Tinggi toll road (41.69 km), the Solo-Ngawi toll road (90.25 km), the Ngawi-Kertosono toll road (25 km) and the Gempol-Pasuruan subsection of the Rembang-Pasuruan toll road section (6.60 km).
Jasa Marga has also revealed that it plans to participate in the bidding to operate the trans-Java toll road built by state-owned construction firm PT Waskita Karya, which Jasa Marga deems as having a high traffic potential.
Waskita hopes to divest its assets in nine toll roads, namely the Kanji-Pejagan toll road, the Pejagan-Pemalang toll road, the Pemalang-Batang toll road, the Batang-Semarang toll road, the Semarang-Pasuruan toll road, the Pasuruan-Probolinggo toll road, the Probolinggo-Solo toll road, the Solo-Ngawi toll road and the Ngawi-Kertosono toll road.
“It [the bidding process] is still ongoing,” Jasa Marga operations I director Mohammad Sofyan recently said.
