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Coal miner Bukit Asam to disburse ‘biggest payout ratio' in company history
The dividends amounted to 90 percent of company profits booked in 2019.
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Bukit Asam president director Arviyan Arifin (front row, second right) at an annual shareholders meeting in Jakarta on Wednesday (10/6). (Bukit Asam/Bukit Asam)
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oal mining heavyweight PT Bukit Asam is set to pay Rp 3.65 trillion (US$258.7 million) in dividends — claimed as the biggest payout ratio in the company's history — to its shareholders, mainly its heavily indebted parent company, MIND.ID.
The dividends amounted to 90 percent of company profits booked the previous year, also known as the payout ratio, Bukit Asam president director Arviyan Arifin said on Wednesday.
“This is the biggest payout ratio in Bukit Asam’s history and maybe, in the history of publicly listed companies,” he said during an online press conference.
Arviyan assured that the payments would not affect Bukit Asam’s cash flow. The coal miner is still pocketing Rp 8 trillion in cash reserves from 2019 and expects to gain more liquidity this year.
Bukit Asam, publicly listed at the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) as PTBA, saw its profit slump to Rp 4.06 trillion last year, down 19.1 percent from the previous year, amid weakening coal demand and prices globally.
Read also: Bukit Asam, Adaro profits fall on weak coal prices
Meanwhile, PTBA’s parent company, MIND.ID, a state-owned mining holding company, saw its debt triple year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 78.3 trillion in the third quarter of 2019, following the acquisition of gold and copper mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI).
The mining holding company, which operates under the name PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum), raised $2.5 billion from a global bond offering in May. The bonds were oversubscribed by a factor of 6.4, indicating strong investor appetite.
Bukit Asam also announced its new board of directors and commissioners on Wednesday. Notably, the company promoted Hadis Surya Palapa to operations director and appointed Irwandy Arif as commissioner.
Hadis, who was formerly Bukit Asam’s corporate secretary, will be replacing Suryo Eko Hadianto, who was appointed MIND.ID’s business transformation director late last year.
Irwandy Arif is a special advisor on mining with the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. He also chairs the Indonesian Mining Institute (IMI) think tank.
PTBA stocks declined slightly by 0.84 percent from the previous trading day to Rp 2,370 apiece on Wednesday.
