Gojek parent GoTo’s fall from grace deepens with removal from MSCI indexes
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
MSCI followed through on its earlier warning in May that it would delete the stock if it failed relevant liquidity requirements.
PHOTO: REUTERS
SINGAPORE – MSCI removed GoTo Gojek Tokopedia from its indexes after a plunge in the former Indonesian tech darling’s share price left the stock difficult to trade.
The index compiler dropped GoTo in its quarterly review, following through on its earlier warning in May that it would delete the stock if it failed relevant liquidity requirements.
MSCI also cut Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries, the Philippines’ Ayala Land and Charoen Pokphand Indonesia as the global index provider reshuffled constituents across Asia-Pacific markets.
“We recognise this will be unwelcome news for many of our shareholders,” GoTo said in a statement on Aug 13, adding that MSCI’s move was a technical one and not a consequence of its business performance. “Index decisions are reviewed regularly and we will remain in active dialogue with MSCI.”
GoTo was formed in May 2021 through a merger between Gojek, Indonesia’s top ride-hailing and on-demand services platform, and Tokopedia, the leading Indonesian e-commerce giant. The combination created Indonesia’s largest technology group.
But GoTo, once valued at more than US$32 billion (S$41 billion), grappled with years of heavy losses due to competition against deep-pocketed rivals such as Grab Holdings. While a series of restructurings and leadership changes have helped the company post its second straight quarterly profit in July, those efforts have failed to stoke investor enthusiasm.
Its shares have been stuck at 50 rupiah for about three months, their minimum based on stock exchange rules. MSCI has faced rising complaints from asset managers about their inability to trade the stock due to the price floor, people familiar with the matter have said.
The benchmark Jakarta Composite Index fell as much as 1.3 per cent on Aug 13, underperforming regional peers. Shares of GoTo were unchanged at the price floor.
“There’s no route back for GoTo unless they have a reverse stock split,” said Wilbert Arifin, an analyst at Mirae Asset Sekuritas Indonesia. It also adds a layer to Indonesia’s broader market problem, he said.
The exclusions take the total number of constituents in the MSCI Indonesia Index to nine from 18 at the start of the year, after MSCI deleted some stocks linked to the country’s richest billionaires due to concentrated ownership in May.
It is the latest hurdle for the nation’s equity benchmark, which has fallen 26 per cent in 2026 to become the world’s worst-performing major gauge following MSCI’s warning in January of a potential market-status downgrade.
In June, the index compiler again delayed its review on Indonesian equities to November, saying it needs more time to see whether recently announced transparency reforms are effective.
The uncertainty extends investor angst that has already pushed many market participants to the sidelines. Foreign investors have pulled more than US$4 billion from Indonesian stocks in 2026, putting the market on track for its biggest annual net outflow on record. Bloomberg
