19th May 2015 17:14
LONDON (Alliance News) - Asia Resource Minerals PLC Tuesday said it is taking all reasonable steps to regain control of its subsidiary, PT Berau, and said its former chief executive continues to remain in his position at the subsidiary, something that the company does not support.
On May 5, the company said its Indonesian subsidiary, PT Berau, which owns the company's primary asset, had its shares suspended after Sambodo released "misleading announcements" about the subsidiary despite leaving the company.
Sambodo had released the misleading announcements on behalf of PT Berau into the Indonesian market regarding the results of an extraordinary general meeting that was held at the end of April.
Sambodo handed in his resignation to Asia Resource on March 25, before releasing the "misleading" news into the market, Asia Resource said. The company added that Sambodo was responsible alongside Ari Ahmad Effendi, who "is invalidly purporting to act as the corporate secretary of PT Berau".
At PT Berau's EGM held on April 30, all resolutions were duly passed and the meeting was conducted "in good order". It added the meetings were held with the assistance of a notary, legal consultant, and the company's share registrar, all of which are all registered with the Indonesian Financial Services Authority.
Asia Resource said as a result of the meeting, Mangantar Marpaung was appointed as the new president commissioner, replacing Bob Kamandanu, and Iskak Indra Wahyudi was appointed as the new president director to replace Sambodo. Melli Darsa was also appointed as a new commissioner.
However, the company said the Indonesian Stock Exchange had taken the view that the conflicting statements being released to the market was creating confusion, leading to the subsidiary's shares being suspended.
On Tuesday, Asia Resource said the newly elected board, with the full support of PT Berau's two existing directors, is continuing talks with the Indonesian Financial Services Authority and the Indonesian Stock Exchange to try and eliminate any confusion or uncertainty about PT Berau and the extraordinary general meeting.
Asia Resource said group production of coal remains unaffected by the ongoing issues.
The minutes from the meeting are due to be field by the notary to the the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights. The company said the lodgement is out of its control and in the hands of the notary.
Sambodo purports to continue to remain in his position as president director and is engaging in conduct that is "wholly unsupported by the company and to the detriment of the ability of the company to maintain adequate supervision and control of the PT Berau Group," it said Tuesday.
The newly elected board are also being denied access to the PT Berau office and only has "limited access" to the subsidiary's information technology and accounting and bank systems.
"The company continues to take all reasonable steps to maintain and regain where possible control over the company's procedures, systems and controls in relation to PT Berau and the remainder of the Asia Resource Group that is controlled by PT Berau. The company retains a reasonable expectation of a prompt return to normalcy. In particular, the company believes that PT Berau will be in a position to remove Amir Sambodo from all group premises and facilities once the notary's minutes of the extraordinary general meeting have been lodged with Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights," said the company.
Asia Resource shares closed up 0.9% to 40.50 pence per share on Tuesday.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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