World’s Third-Largest IPO This Year Ends Flat in Jakarta Debut

PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy ended flat in its Jakarta trading debut after a 9.06 trillion rupiah ($596 million) initial public offering, Indonesia’s largest over the past year.

(Bloomberg) — PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy ended flat in its Jakarta trading debut after a 9.06 trillion rupiah ($596 million) initial public offering, Indonesia’s largest over the past year. 

The shares closed unchanged at the listing price of 875 rupiah, after tumbling earlier to hit the lower daily limit of stock movement set by the exchange. 

The Indonesian company sold 25% stake in the IPO, or 10.35 billion shares, making it the second-largest in Asia since the start of 2023 and the third-largest in the world.  

Geothermal’s first-day performance may not bode well for upcoming listings planned by the government this year. The firm is the geothermal unit of energy company PT Pertamina, and the first of a series of mid-to-large size offerings by state-owned firms lined up for 2023. 

“Overall, on the positive side, Pertamina Geothermal has long-term dollar denominated contracts in place and has little margin fluctuations which provides stability for future earnings,” said Sumeet Singh, head of equity research, IPOs and placements at Aequitas Research Pvt who publishes on Smartkarma. 

“However, it also lacks growth, which makes it almost like buying a government bond and hence, we wouldn’t be willing to buy it at an earnings yield which is much ahead of the 10-year risk free rate,” Singh said. 

The government of Southeast Asia’s largest economy is selling stakes in state-controlled firms to raise funds while reducing their reliance on the state budget. 

Deputy State-owned Enterprises Minister Pahala Mansury declined to comment on Geothermal’s share performance and pointed out the company’s strong fundamentals. 

The IPO attracted major investors, including UAE’s main renewable energy company Masdar, according to a company statement Friday. 

Before Geothermal’s debut, only 29% of the 21 companies that listed in Jakarta over the past decade after raising over $100 million finished their debut session lower than the listing price, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The average decline for those firms in their inaugural day was 8.6%.

PT Garuda Indonesia Persero Tbk, the flag carrier that began trading in 2011 following a $524 million IPO, slumped 17% in its first session. In contrast, state controlled PT Waskita Beton Precast jumped 10% in Sept. 2016 debut after its $395 million IPO.

Solid Pipeline 

Geothermal’s IPO is the largest in Jakarta since GoTo Group’s $959 million listing in April last year. The strong lineup of deals in the Indonesian capital in 2023 is in contrast with a slow start in Asian hubs such as Hong Kong, Seoul and Singapore.

PT Pertamina Hulu Energi, the upstream unit of Pertamina, and plantation firm PalmCo. are next to go public this year. 

Prior to Friday’s debut by the Geothermal company, only four alternative-energy firms sold shares though IPOs in Indonesia since 2013, raising combined proceeds of about $40 million, the data show.

PT CLSA Sekuritas Indonesia, Credit Suisse Group AG and PT Mandiri Sekuritas were the arrangers of the IPO.

(Updates stock performance at clost)

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