PLN Enjoys Strong Overseas Demand for 10-Year Bond

Last week’s global dollar bond sale by state electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara was oversubscribed by 344 percent from the $1.25 billion on offer, the company announced on Monday.

PLN president director Fahmi Mochtar said the bond, which matures in 2019, was highly sought after by investors in the United States, Asia and Europe.

Asian and American investors bought about 38 percent of the bonds each, while the remainder were bought by European investors. Hedge funds bought about 45 percent, banks 21 percent and insurance companies and retail investors took the remainder.

“The bond, which carries a 7.75 percent coupon, showed that despite the current global economic slowdown, PLN is still attractive to investors,” Fahmi said.

The money generated from the bond would be used to finance PLN’s network expansion plan, among other things, he said.

As well as the US dollar bond, PLN is also planning to sell up to Rp 1.5 trillion ($159 million) worth of rupiah-denominated bonds in November, said PLN’s deputy president director, Rudi Antara.

He said PLN had appointed PT Bahana Securities, PT Danareksa Sekuritas and PT Mandiri Sekuritas to act as the underwriters of the rupiah bond issue.

Last month, PLN reported an unaudited first-half net profit of Rp 5.5 trillion, compared with Rp 1.6 trillion last year.

The company cited increasing electricity sales and the strengthening of the rupiah against the dollar, which had resulted in more than Rp 2.5 trillion in foreign exchange gains. Reva Sasistiya

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