Decreasing Profit, Will PERTAMINA Cut Its Dividend?
The CEO of PT. Pertamina (Persero) is currently proud of three achievements. First, they were able to restore the national oil and gas balance. Second, they managed to reduce the foreign exchange. Third, they contributed in stabilizing the IDR against the USD.
How did they do that?
Last January Pertamina was able to reduce the crude oil import as much as 25%. KKKS (Kontraktor Kontrak Kerja Sama), who used to portion only a few to Pertamina, is now selling most of their crude oil to them. They can get up to 115,000 barrels a day from the total of 225,000 barrels that KKKS exports, which is expected to be fully absorbed in the second semester of this year. The result would be the decreasing of foreign exchange. The state-owned companies, including them, are generally responsible for enhancing the national economic condition, specifically to increase the nation’s income. Therefore, the government expects them to reduce the import and push the current account deficit, which will then strengthen the IDR.
However, Askolani Director General of Budget explained that their profit last year was decreasing.
Thus, their 2018 earnings deposit is predicted to be decreasing as well. Therefore, the governments claimed to keep this year dividend ratio of PT. Pertamina (Persero) around 30 percent. Although Pertamina was always the most generous dividend contributor, the government will not force them to pay as much as last year, which total was IDR 8.57 trillion. If they do that, the payout ratio will be around 50-60 percent, and the result will be such imbalances. Therefore, to secure PT. Pertamina’s financial condition, the government also claims to keep all of the oil and gas state-owned companies dividend ratio the same as last year. Still, the companies who get higher profits will have to increase their payout ratio to compensate others.
Although decreasing, the President stated that Pertamina’s profit for 2018 still reaches IDR 20 trillion. They are currently in the process of auditing, and the CEO has announced that they will release the 2018 financial report on March 8th, 2019. Will they cut their dividends? We’ll see.
Source
Hamdani, Trio. 2019. Umumkan Laporan Keuangan 2018 Bulan Depan, Laba Pertamina Rp 20 T?. detikFinance. https://finance.detik.com/energi/d-4438345/umumkan-laporan-keuangan-2018-bulan-depan-laba-pertamina-rp-20-t
Editor. 2019. Pemerintah Akui Setoran Pertamina ke Negara Bakal Turun 2019. CNN Indonesia. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/ekonomi/20190221111529-92-371339/pemerintah-akui-setoran-pertamina-ke-negara-bakal-turun-2019?.
Ihsan, Muhammad. 2019. Nicke Widyawati: Pertamina Bantu Stabilkan Rupiah. Warta Ekonomi. https://www.wartaekonomi.co.id/read216630/nicke-widyawati-pertamina-bantu-stabilkan-rupiah.html.
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