ANTAM's President Director, Tedy Badrujaman said,
"Despite commodity prices volatility, higher gold sales coupled with continued efficiency efforts resulted in a gross profit in our 9M15 results. Inline with land asset revaluation which is conducted in the third and fourth quarter, our asset and balance sheet will also increase."
In 9M15 ANTAM spent Rp820.43 billion for investments. ANTAM spent Rp153.04 billion for routine investment, Rp644.97 billion for development and Rp22.41 billion for deferred expenses. Amidst commodity prices volatility, ANTAM continued to undertake investments in a prudent manner.
ANTAM posted positive operating results in the first nine months of 2015. Ferronickel production in 9M15 posted a 10% increase over 9M14 to 12,838 tonnes of nickel contained in ferronickel (TNi). Higher ferronickel production was due to increased volume and grade of ore feed from the Pomalaa and Pakal Island nickel mines. Inline with higher production, ferronickel sales in 9M15 also increased by 4% over 9M14 to13,388 TNi. ANTAM's main markets in 9M15 were South Korea, Europe and China. Gold sales in 9M15 jumped significantly by 129% over 9M14 to 12,648 kg (406,643 oz). In addition to gold production from the Pongkor and Cibaliung mines, ANTAM also conducted precious metals processing from third parties in Indonesia.
In the first ten months of 2015 (10M15), the company's efficiency program has exceeded the internal 2015 target. In 10M15 ANTAM saved Rp51.01 billion, exceeding the 2015 target of Rp39.26 billion. ANTAM's cost saving program includes, amongst others, efficiency of consumables at business units and renegotiation of third party contracts.
ANTAM also continued its development initiatives whilst remaining to be prudent in its spending. The development of ANTAM's projects remained on track with the EPC progress of the Pomalaa Ferronickel Plant Expansion Project reaching 96.95% as at October 31, 2015.
In terms of gold business expansion, ANTAM has agreed to cooperate with Newcrest Mining Limited (Newcrest) in the identification of opportunities and development of gold and associated minerals exploration in several new prospective areas in Indonesia. The areas covered in the agreement are West Java, East Java, South Sumatera, Nusa Tenggara, North Sulawesi, Halmahera and Mollucas Islands. ANTAM has also opened its 12th gold boutique located in Denpasar, Bali. The LM Gold Boutique in Bali is located in Teuku Umar Street No. 7, Denpasar, Bali.
In terms of financing, besides the oversubscribed rights issue, ANTAM has received US$100 million loan commitment from PT Bank Maybank Indonesia Tbk (Maybank Indonesia) to finance the Pomalaa Ferronickel Plant Expansion Project (P3FP) as well as general corporate purposes. The pricing on the Sharia loan commitment is very competitive with supportive terms and conditions, which includes 10-year tenor facility, clean basis and on-shore US$ funding with no withholding tax. ANTAM also has received lower interest rate on its US$100 million working capital facility from PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (Bank BRI). The lower interest rate provided ANTAM with cost reduction in its working capital facility.
ANTAM has also received the PROPER awards in PROPER 2015. During the event, ANTAM's Pongkor Gold Mining Business Unit and Precious Metals Processing and Refinery Business Unit received the Green PROPER rating. Meanwhile, ANTAM's Southeast Sulawesi Nickel Mining Business Unit, North Maluku Nickel Mining Business Unit and Tayan Bauxite Mining Business Unit received the Blue PROPER rating. ANTAM's subsidiary PT Cibaliung Sumberdaya and sub-subsidiary PT Citra Tobindo Sukses Perkasa also received the Blue PROPER Rating. In the Mineral dan Coal Mining category, the Pongkor Gold Mining Business Unit received a score of 350.5 and was the only mineral mining entity besides coal miners achieving Green PROPER rating. The Precious Metals Processing and Refinery Business Unit received a score of 350.5 and was one of two mineral processing entities achieving Green PROPER rating.
ANTAM was also one of the Top 3 Publicly Listed Companies in Indonesia which received recognition during the ASEAN Corporate Governance Conference 2015. The event was organized by ASEAN Capital Market Forum (ACMF) and recognized companies with sound good corporate governance implementation. Evaluation was based on the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard which covered rights of shareholders, equitable treatment of shareholders, role of stakeholders, disclosure and transparency and responsibilities of the boards.
