Aug 13 (Reuters) - Indonesian ride-hailing giant GoTo Gojek Tokopedia will be removed from MSCI's Indonesia index at the end of this month, the index provider said on Wednesday, dealing another setback to the country's equity markets.
GoTo, once valued at about $29 billion and among Indonesia's most valuable companies, has seen its market value fall to $3.2 billion, with its shares stuck at 50 rupiah, or less than a U.S. cent, since mid-May.
On the exchange's main trading boards, 50 rupiah is the minimum trading price.
MSCI froze changes to GoTo in its indexes in late May over concerns that the company's low liquidity could make it difficult for index-tracking investors to trade the stock in sufficient size.
FTSE Russell removed GoTo from its global equity index series (GEIS) mid-cap index in June after the company was listed on the Indonesian stock exchange's development board, a market that does not meet FTSE Russell's eligibility criteria for GEIS.
“The decision is a technical one. It follows from our shares sitting at the 50 rupiah floor price, where trading volumes have been low – it is not a consequence of business performance," GoTo said in an emailed response to Reuters on the MSCI decision.
"Index decisions are reviewed regularly, and we will remain in active dialogue with MSCI."
MSCI, in its August index review, added 55 companies to its All Country World Index and deleted 92 companies.
($1 = 17,865.0000 rupiah)
Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Nichiket Sunil; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli, Diti Pujara and Rashmi Aich
Source: Reuters