Top Airline Joins Record Rush of Indonesian Firms Planning IPOs

(Bloomberg) -- Indonesia’s largest private airline is among the more than two dozen local companies planning to sell shares for the first time as investors overlook a selloff in the broader market to lap up stocks from initial public offers.

PT Lion Mentari Airlines, miners PT Ginting Jaya Energi, PT Dana Brata Luhur and PT Ifishdeco and developer PT Alamanda Investama may sell shares in the final quarter, according to I Gede Nyoman Yetna, director of listing at the Indonesia Stock Exchange.

Investor appetite for shares of newly listed companies have already spurred 40 firms to tap the market this year, setting the exchange on course for a record number of IPOs this year. Lion Air began preparations for an initial public offer early this year and is targeting about $1 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said in March.

Lion Air spokesman Danang Prihantoro declined to comment on the share sale plan on Wednesday.

Lion Air has mooted the possibility of listing as far back as 2005, though the plans have been delayed multiple times due to a flagging Indonesian economy and other issues. A $1 billion share sale would be Indonesia’s third-largest IPO on record, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“Most of the companies hitting the market are small firms to raise small amounts,” said Octavianus Budianto, president director of PT Kresna Sekuritas. “They are unaffected by the broader market condition unlike the big firms looking to raise large sums.”

Eight of the 10 best performing stocks on the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index were sold this year with PT Citra Putra Realty surging 2,860% since its listing in January, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The benchmark, which has fallen 9.3% since hitting a 14-month high in April, is headed for the first annual loss in three years.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fathiya Dahrul in Jakarta at fdahrul@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Thomas Kutty Abraham at tabraham4@bloomberg.net, Tassia Sipahutar

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