Paper maker Kertas Basuki to pledge assets to get US$58 mln loan

JAKARTA: Paper producer PT Kertas Basuki Rachmat Indonesia Tbk plans to pledge its assets worth IDR800 billion to get a US$58 million ( IDR522 billion) bank loan.The loan will mature in six years with one year's grace period. The assets that will be pledged are plant, machinery, land and other equipment. The plan has pocketed a shareholders approval, Corporate Secretary Tiur Simamora told Bisnis. We hope to seal it in August.Kertas Basuki, she added, was first offered a US$52 million loan by an Indonesian private bank, but a more thorough calculation showed that the company actually needed US$58 million. Approximately IDR15 billion from the fund will be used to maintain PM 1 so its capacity could increase to 11,000 tons per year from the current 10,000 tons per year. The construction of PM 2 is expected to boost production capacity to 150,000 per year. We hope PM 2 could start operating in 2013. We project to book net profit in 2013.In IQ/2011, Kertas Basuki swung to a IDR3.13 billion net loss, or IDR1.58 loss a share, from a net profit of IDR59.90 billion, or IDR62.07 a share, in the same period last year. We might still experience loss this year, Tiur said. In 2010, Kertas Basuki had a IDR436.25 billion loss from IDR20.15 billion profit in 2009 due to narrower foreign exchange gains. (T05/NOM)