Reuters Indonesia's Berau Coal shares soar on debut

* Berau trades as high as 550 rph a share vs 400 rph offering

* Berau trades at 10-12 times 2011 earnings

* Institutional investors own 70% of IPO shares, retail 30%

* 2010 FY revenue seen at $1.02bln vs $485 mln in 2009 (Rewrites throughout; adds analyst comment)

By Janeman Latul and Fathiya Dahrul

JAKARTA, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Shares of PT Berau Coal Energy BRAU.JK, Indonesia's No. 5 coal miner by output, rose as much as 38 percent on debut as investors shifted out of riskier coal stocks such as PT Bumi Resources (BUMI.JK), traders and analysts said.

Berau's strong start on Thursday comes as investors have snapped up Indonesian stocks .JKSE and bonds over the past 18 months, attracted by strong economic growth fuelled by domestic demand and commodities exports.

The stock index .JKSE hit a record high last month, prompting several companies to push ahead with plans for share offerings.

Berau raised more than $150 million by selling shares equivalent to 8.8 percent of the enlarged share capital in a heavily-subscribed initial public offering. It scaled back the size of the IPO after it obtained other sources of financing.

The shares rose to a high of 550 rupiah in morning trading, compared with the IPO price of 400 rupiah. It trimmed the gains later to trade at 475 rupiah. About 1.16 billion shares changed hands, making Berau the top traded stock on Thursday by volume and by value.

Shares of politically connected Bumi fell 2.1 percent.

"Berau is not selling as many shares as expected even though it is the last remaining lucrative coal asset opportunity," said Surabhi Chopra, a coal analyst at PT Bahana Securities.

Chopra said that investors are now looking at coal miners like Berau and PT Adaro Energy (ADRO.JK), Indonesia's biggest coal miner by market value, "as they look for companies that are more transparent and better at good governance compared to Bumi."

Bumi, once the biggest coal miner by market value, now trades at 1,400 rupiah, or a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.0, while Adaro trades at a P/E of 11. Berau trades at 10 to 12 times, based on the price range traded by its shares. more...