Blitz, Bakrie to try their luck on the exchange

JAKARTA. Cinema operator PT Graha Layar Prima and Bakrie-related firm PT Intermedia Capital will try their luck on the Indonesian stock market in 2014 as they consider selling their shares to the public.

Both companies held presentations before the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) management on Wednesday to discuss their plans.

Graha, the operator of the popular Blitzmegaplex cinema chain, was accompanied by the management of Indo Premier Securities during its mini expose.

It is considering going public through an initial public offering (IPO) to fund its business expansion, according to Graha director Brata Perdana, who declined to reveal the amount of funds his company was targeting from the planned IPO or the amount of shares it was planning to offer to the public.

Brata said Graha was using its Sept. 2013 financial report as the basis for its upcoming bookbuilding process, and it would stand a big chance of becoming the first publicly listed cinema operator in the first quarter of 2014 if all went well.

Established in 2006, Graha currently operates 10 cinemas — with around 90 to 100 screens — in Balikpapan (East Kalimantan), Bandung and Bekasi (West Java), Batam (Riau Islands), Serpong (Banten) and Jakarta.

This year, it is looking to operate four more cinemas, with a total of 20 screens.

Graha marketing director Dian Sunardi previously said, as quoted by Kontan newspaper, that it usually took around US$2 million of funds to open one cinema equipped with around four to six screens.

According to Brata, the business offers bright prospects, supported by thriving domestic consumption and the growing middle-class.

The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry data shows that the number of cinemas and screens has been rising steadily from 142 cinemas and 458 screens in 2004, to 325 cinemas and 1,037 screens by
Dec. 23, 2013.

The lucrative prospects of the business, which remains closed to foreign investors until now, has also lured the conglomerate Lippo Group, which plans to open its first cinema in 2014.

Son Young, president director of PT Cheil Jedang Indonesia, part of South Korea’s CJ Group, previously said that his company would be interested in investing in the business if the Indonesian government allowed it.

CJ Indonesia currently acts as technical consultant for Graha. CJ E&M Film Division, a subsidiary of CJ Group, is now the largest film distributor and investor in South Korea.

Meanwhile, Intermedia was accompanied by Ciptadana Securities and Sinarmas Sekuritas when it met with the IDX management.

Intermedia is 99.9 percent owned by publicly listed media firm PT Visi Media Asia (VIVA) — part of the Bakrie Group — that runs the tvOne and ANTV television stations, and the VIVAnews online portal.

Intermedia itself is the holding company of PT Cakrawala Andalas Televisi or ANTV.

VIVA president director Erick Thohir told reporters after the presentation that funds generated from the IPO would be used for ANTV’s business expansion.

Ciptadana president director Ferry Budiman said that Intermedia would release 15 percent of its enlarged shares during the IPO. About 7.5 percent of the shares would be generated from existing shareholders’ stakes, while the rest from the issuance of new shares.

Separately, First Asia Capital stock analyst David Sutyanto said that Graha’s niche market would be a plus for the firm when it offered the shares to potential investors. “But [...] it has to provide proof that the business has been profitable,” he said.

Commenting on Intermedia, David said that VIVA’s performance on the stock exchange since 2011
would play a big role in influencing investors.

“So far, its stock market performance has not been stable.”