INOONESIAN forestry-related group United Fiber System (Unifiber) is under siege again, with yet another tumble in its share price sending investors scrambling for the exit.

After a relatively peaceful six months when there was little movement in its share price, the counter suddenly tumbled 9.9 per cent last Friday.

And there was more yesterday, when it slumped another 9.4 per cent to close at 29 cents.

It tumbled by as much as 19 per cent in the morning and was the most actively traded stock on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), with 60.1 million shares changing hands.

The 6.5 cent, or 18 per cent, drop in its share price in the space of two trading days has wiped a staggering $126.6 million off its market value.

The reason for Unifiber's precipitous dive is not completely clear, although the market yesterday was swirling with rumours over its move to reshape its business, and over anti-corruption measures in Indonesia.

The decline was the latest in a series of sharp price gyrations which started in April when the stock suddenly plunged 54 per cent in a single day, wiping out nearly half a billion dollars of the company's market value.

But responding to an SGX query on the steep drop in its stock yesterday, the company said that it did not have any fresh material information to disclose.

But the volatility was too much for many investors. 'You will need to have a strong stomach to endure the roller coaster in Unifiber's share price in the past eight months,' said a dealer yesterday.

One remisier noted that foreign brokers were among the big sellers of Unifiber in the past two days.

'On Friday, the big seller was UBS. Today, my buy orders were hit by sells from CSFB,' he said yesterday.

Another dealer noted that DBS Vickers, the only broking house to have research on the counter, was also a big seller yesterday. DBS Vickers had rated Unifiber as a 'buy' in August, with a price target of 55 cents, or almost double the price of yesterday's 29 cent close.

'The selling by DBS Vickers might have been triggered by the inability of buyers to top up their margin accounts, following the recent plunge in its share price,' said the dealer.

The latest sell-down came amid jitters that the company's plans to transform itself into a pulp player from its current low-margin construction business by buying into an Indonesian pulp mill - Kiani Kertas - might be scuttled.

And sentiment was further spooked yesterday by a Jakarta Post story, picked up by wire agencies, that the Indonesian government is getting tough with its officials over illegal logging and embezzlement of state reforestation funds.

Pressed on the various rumours swirling in the stock market, Unifiber's chief executive, Mr Kishore Dass, said yesterday that he had little to add.

The arrests of corrupt forestry officials had nothing to do with Unifiber since it was not a government body, he said.

Unifiber currently holds the rights to a huge forestry concession in South Kalimantan, after winning a long-running, legal wrangle with the Indonesian government over a month ago.

He also declined to comment on a Financial Times report last month that Bank Mandiri, the biggest lender to Kiani Kertas, had began talks with the Widjaja family, who controls Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).

Kiani Kertas is currently owned by a a consortium led by Mr Prabowo Subianto, the former son-in-law of former Indonesian president Suharto. It is believed to be saddled with several hundred million dollars of debts.

'At the end of the day, it is up to Mr Prabowo to decide who he wants to sell to. Whoever buys the mill must be able to service the debts, or whatever is outstanding,' he said.

Mr Dass also kept mum on the production of pulp at Kiani Kertas, where Unifiber has been operating under a temporary contract since August.

'We haven't published the numbers on the production.

'But the operations of the mill have given us a better foothold into establishing the network for procuring wood, chemicals and all the things needed to make the mill tick,' he said.

《The Straits Times》