Here comes La Niña
Past studies suggested that the effect of the La Niña event on CPO prices is greater than that of the El Niño event. According to a new update from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), there is likely to be a swing back to La Niña conditions later this year. Unfortunately, shares of palm oil producers listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) haven’t gained ground this year.
Squeezed margins of Merdeka Battery
PT Merdeka Battery Materials (MBMA), a nickel-to-EV battery company co-owned by Boy Thohir (older brother of Erick Thohir, minister of state-owned enterprises), booked net profit of US$3.7 million in the first quarter of 2024 against loss of US$7 million in the corresponding period last year.
The renewable bubble (2)
Shares of Barito Renewables (BREN) and Pertamina Geothermal (PGEO) ended substantially lower by 10% and 4.1% respectively Friday (May 31), whilst on different reasons. BREN was on correction mode, which should have taken place many months ago, while PGEO suffered from broad market sentiment.
Prabowo’s Economic Team (1)
An event on Friday (May 31) at ministry of finance is interesting in the context of who are key persons in Prabowo-Gibran administration. The so-called Task Force for Synchronisation of Prabowo-Gibran met minister of finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
Weaker Results of Indika Energy
Coal miner Indika Energy (INDY), co-owned by Lasmono Sudwikatmono family and Wiwoho Basuki family, booked profit attributable to owners of US$20.2 million in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, fell 65.5% y/y, as revenue fell 37.4% y/y to US$567.3 million.
The Undervalued United Tractors
United Tractors (UNTR)—a subsidiary of Astra International engaged in construction machinery supply, coal mining contracting, own coal business, gold mining, power generation, and civil construction—is among undervalued stocks in the market despite efforts to enter...
Q1/24 Results of Darma Henwa & GEMS
Coal mining contractor Darma Henwa (DEWA), controlled by Bakrie Group, booked net profit of Rp7.98 billion in the first quarter of 2024, flat compared to the corresponding period last year. DEWA consistently reported the lowest profit margin in the industry. DEWA...
Waskita’s Worsened Financials
State construction firm Waskita Karya suffered loss of Rp1.06 trillion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, significantly widened from Rp395.36 billion loss in the corresponding period of 2022, as finance charges rose 56% year on year (y/y) to Rp1.09 trillion. Worse, revenue fell 20.5% y/y to Rp2.17 trillion.
Renewable bubble
Renewable energy companies and projects in Indonesia, especially those involved in geothermal, solar panel, biomass, and hydropower, have been main targets of global investors in recent years. We noticed growing project financing and acquisition in the sector, whilst not as crazy as the tech startup bubble few years back.
PLN Financials
State electricity utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) has just released its full year 2023 audited financial report on Tuesday (May 28). The company booked net profit of Rp22.07 trillion in 2023, grew 57% year on year (y/y), but mostly attributable to Rp3.7 trillion gain from foreign exchange (forex) translation. In 2022, PLN recorded a Rp19.8 trillion forex loss.