UPDATE 1-Indonesia Telkom to review its overseas listings Wed Dec 21, 2005 01:22 AM ET (Adds quotes, buyback approval, details) JAKARTA, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Indonesia's largest telecommunications company, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (TLKM.JK: Quote, Profile, Research) , will review its share listings in New York and London due to high costs, its president said on Wednesday.
Telkom (TLKMq.L: Quote, Profile, Research) (TLK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , the largest company on the Jakarta exchange with a market capitalisation of $12.3 billion, listed in New York and London 10 years ago along with an initial offering of its shares on the Jakarta Stock Exchange . Around two years ago, Telkom faced problems with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission when the U.S. regulator said it did not acknowledge its auditors and caused Telkom to rework its financial report for 2002. Discussions on whether Telkom should delist its shares from the overseas bourses have intensified since then. "The management has conducted a review on the cost and benefits of multilisting in New York and London and the result is the compliance requirement to be listed in those bourses is too complicated, and costs (us) significantly more money," Arwin Rasyid told a shareholders meeting. "The management will appoint an independent party to conduct further review on the listing in those places." Rasyid also said the limited number of auditors who fulfil the requirements of the London and New York exchanges was another reason for considering delisting from the overseas bourses. Telkom's shareholders also approved the company's planned 5.25 trillion rupiah ($533 million) share buyback programme on Wednesday. Telkom had said that it wanted to return excess free cash to its shareholders through the buyback. Its shares had gained more than 24 percent since the start of the year until its closing price on Tuesday of 6,000 rupiah each. Since the company announced the buyback plan on Sept. 30, Telkom shares have gained more than 12 percent. Reuters Consensus Estimates pegged the target price of the state-run firm at 6,156.7 rupiah. The dominant fixed-line operator is also the controling shareholder of the country's largest mobile phone operator, PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel). Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (STEL.SI: Quote, Profile, Research) holds a 35 percent stake at Telkomsel while Telkom owns the rest. At midday Wednesday, Telkom shares were traded 0.83 percent higher at 6,050 rupiah ($0.61) while the overall market inched 0.04 percent lower to 1,162.59 points. ($1 = 9,845 rupiah) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Try Online Currency Trading with GFT. Free 50K Demo. Trade 24 Hours. Commission-Free. http://us.click.yahoo.com/RvFikB/9M2KAA/U1CZAA/zMEolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/obrolan-bandar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
