PT Telkom completes share placement

The recent listing of Thailand's PTT, followed by the Indonesian government's Rp3.1 trillion ($300m) share placement of PT Telkom stock last Friday has sent a clear signal that global investors are starting to become less risk averse and look for outperformance stocks among Asia's lesser MSCI-weighted markets. Just under 50% of investors in the 1.2 billion share deal were said to be returning to the Indonesian equity market for the first time since the financial crisis, with PT Telekom giving them the perfect opportunity to re-position themselves in one of the few stocks that international accounts feel comfortable holding.

As a result of the deal, which priced at Rp2,600 per share, a 3.7 discount to the previous day's close, the government's shareholding has dropped from 66% to 54%. Since the government has always said that it wants to maintain majority ownership of the telecoms company, the deal removed the last overhang of its privatization programme and allowed investors to focus on value considerations instead.