AMRT X BANK Joined Forces to Increase Financial Inclusivity
PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya Tbk, the retail manager of Alfamart, held the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (GMS) on Thursday (5/6). There are a number of agendas at this annual GMS, including the annual report and the ratification of the company's annual financial statements for the 2020. However, in the midst of this difficult situation, the Company managed to maintain its performance by posting a net income of Rp75.83 trillion, growing 3.95% from Rp72.94 trillion in 2019. This increase was driven by sales growth and the addition of the companies and subsidiaries' outlets throughout 2020 which grew by 8.70% or 1,405 outlets, bringing the total outlets to 17,538 outlets consisting of 15,434 Company outlets and 2,104 Subsidiary outlets. In addition, after the emergency Micro-Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM), this policy has not disturbed the expansion plan of PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya Tbk (AMRT). PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya Tbk (AMRT) plans to expand by targeting the opening of new outlets around 650 to 850 outlets. Furthermore, during this emergency PPKM, AMRT share actually went up. At the close of trading on Tuesday (7/6), AMRT's shares rose 7.6% to a position of Rp1,345 per share. Continuing at the closing market on Wednesday (7/7) and Thursday (7/8) at Rp1,340 and Rp1,335 per share, respectively.
The increase in shares came from the recent positive sentiment of PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya Tbk (AMRT) that also synergizes with PT Bank Aladin Syariah Tbk (BANK) for payment systems and remittances. As of Tuesday (7/6), the two new companies have signed a memorandum of agreement (MOU). However, AMRT Director of Corporate Affairs, Solihin, stated that the company's collaboration would be the same with other bank collaborations. "We recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for general collaboration, such as payment, and nothing exceptional. We can't discuss technical collaboration because it's still an MoU." Solihin stated. Up to this point, there has been no official announcement from the shareholders of AMRT retail network regarding investment in BANK. Nevertheless, this collaboration would definitely benefit consumers and customers in terms of convenience in the future. Basuki Hidayat, Operations Director of Bank Aladin, said that the collaboration will support financial inclusion in Indonesia through banking services that combine online and offline elements and would digitize access to the partner ecosystem into banking products.
The main goal of this synergy is a strategy for AMRT to increase financial inclusion, particularly in Indonesia. With financial inclusion, everyone in a society can receive basic financial services regardless of the amount of their savings or income. With its primary focus on economically underprivileged people, this breakthrough is undoubtedly needed in an emerging market such as Indonesia, where many people in the households are considered unbanked because they don't use banks or financial services. According to research conducted by E-Conomy 2019, among its peer in South East Asia, Indonesia ranked first with 92 million unbanked populations, which then followed by Vietnam with 44 million and Philippines with 42 million. Synergizing with BANK is another form of great strategy considering the fact that a majority of AMRT users are Muslims and the growing numbers of sharia bank users prove this collaboration provides a suspension for sharia banking omnichannel service. Despite the transcendent prospects and great possibilities in these circumstances, there are still negative sentiments that need to be considered. AMRT wishes to expand their capital with rights of issue shares, which can have a significant adverse effect such as the existing shareholding percentage may get diluted, and the share price may decrease after the rights issue. Nonetheless, AMRT has not explicitly addressed what their desired outcome of this synergy and how they will navigate its business despite the worsening of the pandemic situation. However, their goals in expanding and acknowledging financial inclusion in Indonesia are a great start to the prospect of the new economy, as it is a crucial matter to be implemented.
Sources
CNBC Indonesia
IDX Channel
Kontan
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