Astra Group's heavy equipment and mining issuer, PT United Tractors Tbk (UT/UNTR), is preparing a capital expenditure (capex) of US$ 1 billion or equivalent to IDR 15.5 trillion in 2023. This amount increased by 26.9% from this year of Rp 11.49 trillion.

UT Corporate Secretary Sara K. Loebis said that guidance on next year's financial performance could not be delivered. However, next year's capital expenditure allocation is estimated to be US$ 1 billion.

"Of that amount, around US$ 800-900 million is used for the coal mining contractor segment to replace and recondition heavy equipment. The rest will be divided to meet the infrastructure needs of the company's gold and coal mines," Sara said to Investor Daily, Wednesday (28/12/2022).

The source of capex funding, he said, comes from internal cash. However, UT will look ahead, whether it is necessary to take out loans to finance the 2023 capex.

Until the third quarter of 2022, the company earned a net revenue of IDR 91.53 trillion, an increase of 36.82% compared to the same period last year of IDR 57.82 trillion. In detail, sales of goods reached IDR 55.14 trillion and service revenue of IDR 36.38 trillion.

In that period, UT's net profit reached IDR 15.86 trillion, soaring 50.7% compared to the same period last year of IDR 7.81 trillion. The company's cash flow reached Rp 25.2 trillion, based on RTI data.

Next year, UT projects Komatsu's heavy equipment sales to be around 5,500-5,750 units, up 9% compared to the 2022 projection of 5,000 units. As of November 2022, UT sold 5,457 units of Komatsu heavy equipment. In detail, 61% contributed sales to the mining sector, 11% from the forestry sector, 19% from the construction sector, and 9% from the plantation sector. In November 2022, the company posted Komatsu heavy equipment sales volume of 370 units, with a market share of 28%.

Sara K. Loebis stated that next year, the company projects coal production and overburden removal of its subsidiary PT Pamapersada Nusantara to increase by 5-6% to 124 million tons and 1.028 billion bank cubic meters (bcm).

"Coal sales from the mine itself are targeted at 10.3 million tons. As of November 2022, UT's coal production reached 9.15 million tons. Gold sales are projected to reach 125 thousand ounces (oz) next year," said Sara.

Image source: UNTR/Perseroan

Source: https://investor.id/market-and-corporate/317749/united-tractors-alokasikan-capex-us-1-miliar-tahun-depan