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Coal miner Bukit Asam to invest Rp 4t this year, mostly on infrastructure
Almost Rp 800 million in capital expenditure will be used to develop a 1,240-megawatt coal-fired mine-mouth power plant in South Sumatra – the largest such plant in Indonesia.
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PT Bukit Asam finance director Mega Satria (second left) talks to president director Ariviyan Arifin (third left) at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday. (JP/Norman Harsono)
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ublicly listed state coal miner PT Bukit Asam has allocated Rp 4 trillion (US$283.34 million) in capital expenditure this year, most of which will go into developing a power plant and coal transportation infrastructure.
Bukit Asam finance director Mega Satria said on Wednesday that, of the total capital expenditure, almost Rp 800 million would be used to develop a 1,240-megawatt coal-fired mine-mouth power plant in South Sumatra – the largest such plant in Indonesia.
The Jakarta-based company will also channel Rp 700 million into increasing the operational capacity of coal transportation railways and seaports around Sumatra Island, where the company operates, he said.
“For exploration, we didn’t allocate much because we are not yet exploring other locations,” he told reporters in Jakarta.
The company, he continued, would invest around Rp 300 billion into developing its subsidiaries, whose services vary from financial to medical, and Rp 200 billion into routine investments.
Developing the $1.68 billion power plant is one of Bukit Asam’s investments in developing a downstream mining industry at the behest of the Indonesian government. The state-owned miner is also working on a $3.2 billion coal gasification facility slated for commercial operation in 2024.
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Bukit Asam president director Ariviyan Arifin said Wednesday that the company would finance this year’s investments from its cash reserves, which closed at Rp 7.4 trillion last year.
“Our investment needs can mostly be covered by our internal cash reserves. We have no plans yet to fundraise unless we, at some point, need them for our projects,” he said.
The company’s stocks, traded at Indonesia Stock Exchange with the code PTBA, rose 4.22 percent on Wednesday against the Jakarta Composite Index’s (JCI) increase of 2.38 percent. The shares traded at Rp 2,500 apiece, having lost 37 percent in the past year, underperforming the index’s 12.5 percent decline.
