Nusantara Aiming to Gain $2b in Projects

Jakarta. Nusantara Infrastructure, an Indonesian company engaged in toll roads, sea ports, clean water treatment and telecommunication towers, targets to secure several infrastructure projects valued at roughly $2 billion over the next several years.

“We have at least $2 billion worth of potential projects in our pipeline that are currently under review,” said Ramdani Basri, president director at Nusantara Infrastructure, after the company’s shareholders general meeting on Tuesday.

Ramdani said around $1.4 billion, or 70 percent, of the total project value will deal with toll-road construction, while the remaining 30 percent includes several telecommunication towers and water treatment facilities.

“We are still discussing which projects to take on,” he said.

The president director added that the company will use the Rp 500 billion ($42.3 million) it has set aside for this year’s capital expenditure, as well as bank loans to finance its various ventures.

Nusantara’s total cash assets stands at Rp 816 billion as of March this year, according to the company’s filing to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in April.

The company is affiliated with Rajawali Corporation, a business conglomerate founded by tycoon Peter Sondakh, Indonesia’s ninth-richest person with a net worth of $2.5 billion, according to Globe Asia magazine.

Through one of its subsidiaries, Telekom Infranusantara, Nusantara expanded its telecom tower business by acquiring a 39.55 percent stake, valued at Rp 598 billion, in Tara Cell Intrabuana, known as Towerco, in January this year.

As of December last year, Towerco owns and operates telecommunication towers in Java, Sumatra and Batam

Nusantara also controls and operates two Jakarta-area toll roads — the Bintaro-Bumi Serpong Damai toll road and the Jakarta Outer Ring Road in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta — as well as two toll roads in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Under Potum Mundi Infranusantara — which the company acquired in 2011 — Nusantara’s operations in the country’s water sector include clean water concessions in Cikokol, Tangerang and in Medan.

Net income at Nusantara quadrupled to Rp 15.5 billion in the January-March period of this year, from Rp 3.7 billion during the same months last year. The significant jump is in line with its 52.4 percent increase in revenue to Rp 104.7 billion.

By Antonia Timmerman on 07:53 pm Jun 11, 2014