TEMPO.CO, Jakarta- State-Owned Enterprises Minister, Rini M. Soemarno on Thursday, September 3, has reiterated that state-owned companies can still contiue with their program to buy back shares by adjusting the program, based on their share prices in the stock exchange.

“[The buyback program] will continue. However, each state-owned company must conduct a total analysis," she said after witnessing the signing of a cooperation agreement among state gas company PT PGN, state shipping company PT Pelni and state-owned seaport operator PT ASDP to use gas for sea transportation at the State Enterprises Ministry building.

She said among the state-owned companies, which are ready to buy back large quantities of shares, are Bank BRI, Bank BNI, Bukit Asam, and Waskita Karya.

"They are ready to buy back the shares by adjusting their program to the price earning (PE). How much is the drop? Some companies saw it falling by 45 percent. But it has increased again to 5 percent. This must be analyzed," she said.

The minister added that state-owned companies might drop their plan to buy back shares in the capital market after the prices of their shares rebound.

"Last week, we had proposed a buyback. Several companies were ready for it and had arranged to spend Rp10 trillion. But when they were about to buy back the shares, the share prices rebounded," she pointed out.

Late last month, the government announced that 16 state firms would buy back their shares to prevent the composite share price index (IHGS) of the Indonesia stock exchange from declining. The composite share price index had tumbled 172.224 points or 3.97 percent to 4,163.729 points on August 24.

The 16 state firms considering buybacks were Bank BTN, Bank BRI, Bank Mandiri, Semen Baturaja, Jasa Marga, Wijaya Karya, Bank BNI, Krakatau Stell, Garuda Indonesia, Adhi Karya, Perusahaan Gas Negara, Kimia Farma, Semen Gresik, Aneka Tambang, Indo Farma, Timah, and Bukit Asam.

ANTARA