Property stocks lead local equity market

JAKARTA. Property shares turned in as the best performers on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) as most sought mining and commodity stocks faltered during the first half of this year.

Based on figures from the IDX, stocks of companies in the property sector increased by 20.23 percent in the first half of the year, outperforming the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI), which only rose 3.5 percent during the period.

The index lagged compared to Thailand’s SET Index, which has gained 14.32 percent from January to June, the highest level in the Southeast Asia region. The JCI closed at 3,955.58 last Friday, up 1.75 percent compared to a day earlier. The index plunged to 3,654.6 on June 4, 9 percent lower than its peak of 4,021 on May 2.

“There has been an apparent increase of stocks in property, basic industry and infrastructure sectors since the begining of the year, following the passage of land acquisition law last year,” Reza Priyambada of Indosurya Asset Management said.

Shares in property developer PT Bumi Serpong Damai (BSDE), for example, gained 20.4 percent to Rp 1,180 (US$0.126) at the close on Friday from Rp 980 on the last day of trading last year.

PT Ciputra Surya, another example a part of property business of Ciputra family, saw its shares rose 119 percent so far this year to Rp 1,910 from Rp 870 at the end of 2011.

The basic industry stocks increased 5.06 percent so far this year. One of companies included in basic industry sector is cement producer PT Semen Gresik, whose stock was relatively stable to close at Rp 11,300 last Friday, a 0.1 percent slip from Rp 11,450 at the end of December, last year.

Semen Gresik’s competitors performed better. The second largest cement producer, PT ndocement Tunggal Prakarsa’s shares rose slightly 0.17 percent while third larget producer, PT Holcim Indonesia, rose 11 percent.

Along with an increase in property stocks, shares in companies running business in infrastructure development gained 12.3 percent, according to the IDX’s figures.

The biggest infrastructure company by market capitalization as PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, saw its shares rose 15 percent to close at Rp 8,150 last Friday. Shares in toll roads developer giant PT Jasa Marga rose even higher at 28 percent to close at Rp 5,400 last week, which was due to the company’s massive development of new toll roads.

On the back of strong domestic demand — in line with the country’s economic growth — shares in companies included sectors of trade and consumer goods rose 14.29 and 14.03 percent respectively.

Fashion retailer leader PT Mitra AdiPerkasa’s shares rose 38 percent to close at Rp 7,150 on last Friday. Shares in PT Unilever Indonesia, the leader of consumer goods market, increased by 21 percent from January to June this year to reach Rp 22,900.

“From last year and early this year, we have recommended investors to hold shares in construction companies, cement, infrastructure and property to anticipate a gloomy outlook. Consumer based shares can balance a portfolio because the stocks are usually less affected by global economy due to their strong domestic support,” Edwin Sebayang from MNC Securities said.

The worst performers in the first half of the year were mining stocks, which fell 19.23 percent, according to IDX’s figures for shares in companies running mining business.

Shares in state-owned coal producer PT Bukit Asam dropped 15 percent during the first six months of the year to stand at Rp 14,650 last Friday. Another coal producer PT Bayan Resources reported further shares’ price drop at 35 percent this year, to close at Rp 11,700 last Friday.

Falling coal selling price, which make investors think twice on the companies performance, contributed to the declining shares price of coal miner.

According to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s directorate general of mineral and coal, the reference price of coal (HBA) stood at $96.65 per metric ton in June, which was a 5 percent drop from $102.29 in last January.

Crude palm oil (CPO) producer also saw a drop in their shares’ prices as a consequence of declining CPO prices. Palm oil lost 12 percent this quarter and is set for its worst performance since the period ended March last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. September-delivery futures gained 0.7 percent to 3,020 ringgit a metric ton on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange last week.

Shares in PT Astra Agro Lestari fell 7 percent during January to June period to close at Rp 20,050 on Friday.

“CPO price is actually an agreement beween buyer and seller, not necessarily coming with global commodity prices. However, market players usually assume that the agreed price will follow the decline of CPO price in the future exchanges,” Reza said.