Trimegah drops after Northstar’s purchase

JAKARTA. The share price of publicly listed securities company PT Trimegah Securities fell on Thursday following the acquisition of a 49 percent stake by private equity firm Northstar Equity Partners III Ltd.

Shares in Trimegah, trading under the name TRIM, closed at Rp 121 on Thursday, 0.8 percent lower compared to the previous day.

TRIM has risen by 39 percent so far this year, fairly mediocre growth compared to other listed securities firms, such as PT Minna Padi Investama, whose shares have risen by 135 percent, PT Panin Sekuritas with 122 percent growth and PT Kresna Graha Securindo, which has seen its shares drop by only 0.7 percent to date.

Trimegah’s shares dropped slightly following the acquisition of part of the company’s ownership by Northstar, through its subsidiary Advance Wealth Finance Ltd.

Trimegah’s 1.7 billion shares were purchased from funds managed by Spinnaker Capital Limited and Spinnaker Assets Management (SAM Ltd.). The deal was worth Rp 200 billion (US$20.8 million).

“Northstar believes in strong macroeconomic prospects for brokerage and asset management in Indonesia and sees long-term potential in Trimegah. It believes that current management can bring the company onto the next level,” Trimegah said in a written statement submitted to the bourse on Thursday.

Trimegah currently provides services for equity capital markets, investment banking and asset management through 18 branches in 14 cities across the country.

The company reaped Rp 74.54 billion in revenue during the first six months of the year, a 10 percent drop compared to Rp 83.65 billion in the same period last year. The company saw declines in almost all its business, from brokerage commissions to underwriting and selling fees.

However, Trimegah enjoyed higher investment management fees and gains on trading of marketable securities, its financial report showed. The company booked Rp 5.7 billion in net losses during the first six months of the year, a significant setback from net profits of Rp 9.93 billion in the same period last year. (Raras Cahyafitri/ The Jakarta Post)