Indonesia’s national oil company (NOC) Pertamina is preparing to take at least one of its business units public during the second-half 2021.
Pertamina is planning to restructure dozens of subsidiaries into five sub-holdings for upstream, refining, power, gas and trade, to improve efficiency. Gas sub-holding PGN is already listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX).
It is not yet clear which business unit will be listed later this year, but the NOC’s managing director, Nicke Widyawati, has previously hinted that the upstream unit, Pertamina EP, would be the next subsidiary to carry out an initial public offering (IPO).
She said that the aim of the IPO is to increase transparency, as more public financial reporting will be required, as well as to boost funds for Pertamina’s investment plans.
The company reported a net profit of $1 billion, or around 14 trillion Indonesian rupiah, in 2020. Widyawati is confident that the NOC will double net profits in 2021, due to rising oil prices, coupled with increasing production and sales.
She said the company is working hard to increase productivity of its upstream and downstream operations. Pertamina is slashing operating costs by 30% and prioritising its investment budget.