Update: Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food's Shares Plunge after Rice Scandal
Shares of Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food, an Indonesian company that is engaged in food processing, rice processing and the palm oil business, tumbled by a whopping 24.92 percent on Friday (21/07) to IDR 1,205 a piece. This huge loss followed after the raid and sealing of a factory owned by Indo Beras Unggul, a subsidiary of Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food.
On Thursday evening (20/07) Indonesia's Food Task Force sealed the rice factory that is owned by the subsidiary of Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food, following allegations of fraud. Reportedly Indo Beras Unggul secretly replaced premium rice by the lower quality subsidized rice and sold it on the market as if it were premium rice. Indonesian police seized at least 1,161 tons of the firm's rice at the Indo Beras Unggul plant in Bekasi (West Java). In the raid, Police Chief Tito Karnavian was accompanied by Indonesian Minister of Agriculture Amran Sulaiman and Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) Chairman Syarkawi Rauf.
Desilina, Corporate Secretary of Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food, confirmed on Friday afternoon that its subsidiary Indo Beras Unggul was inspected by the Food Task Force, and promised to cooperate fully (and transparently) with authorities' investigation.
Stock Quote Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food - AISA:
The company's shares were the worst performer in Indonesia today. So far this year shares of Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food, listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, have declined 38.05 percent.
The poor performance of Tiga Pilar Sejahtera Food's shares put additional downward pressure on Indonesian stocks. On Friday (21/07) the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index fell 1.03 percent to 5,765.42 points.