Indonesian conglomerate PT Elang Mahkota Teknologi Tbk (Emtek) has increased its stake in e-commerce giant PT Bukalapak.com Tbk.
According to a disclosure on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), Emtek bought an additional 9.54% stake in Bukalapak, raising its total ownership to 10.36%. The company purchased the shares at 120 rupiah per share, translating to a total transaction value of 1.18 trillion rupiah ($75.24 million).
A spokesperson for Emtek stated that the transaction is intended as a long-term investment.
Besides the direct investment, Emtek also owns a 24.62% stake in Bukalapak through its arm PT Kreatif Media Karya, the controlling shareholder of Bukalapak.
GIC through Archipelago Investment and Ant Financial through API (Hong Kong) Investment Limited also own Bukalapak stakes worth 9.44% and 13%, respectively.
Bukalapak’s shares saw a surge this week following market buzz of a potential acquisition by Chinese online retailer Temu.
The company’s share price rose 11.2% in the last five days, from 116 rupiah per share on October 4, 2024, to 129 rupiah per share on October 10. It reached a peak of 153 rupiah per share on October 7, 2024. However, the current price is still 84.8% lower than the IPO price of 850 rupiah per share.
Besides market buzz on the potential deal by Temu, the rise in Bukalapak’s share price is also influenced by speculation about the possible divestment of PT Allo Bank Indonesia. Bukalapak has suffered net losses this year largely due to investment losses from its investees, including Bank Allo, according to DealStreetAsia’s recent report.
While market rumours can lift share prices, analysts are closely watching the company’s financial performance, which may fail to cheer investors.
Analysts had said that Bukalapak could potentially miss its 2024 earnings target due to slow performance in the first half of the year. In that period, the company’s net loss widened by 90% to 748 billion rupiah from 394 billion rupiah in H1 2023. However, the adjusted EBITDA losses showed an improvement of 92% in H1 2024 to 26 billion rupiah from 334 billion rupiah in H1 2023.
During April-June 2024, the company also recorded a net loss of 708 billion rupiah, compared with a net profit of 614 billion rupiah in Q2 2023. It posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of 41 billion rupiah in Q2 2024, compared with a positive adjusted EBITDA of 15 billion rupiah in Q1 2024.