[Kabar-indonesia] Indocement 9-mth net profit up 3.6 pct

[Joyo at aol.com]

Indonesia's Indocement 9-mth net profit up 3.6 pct

JAKARTA, November 1 (Reuters) - Indonesia's second largest
cement maker, PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa Tbk , reported
a 3.6 percent rise in its nine-month net profit despite
higher costs which pushed its operating profit lower.

The company's financial statement, seen on its Web site on
Wednesday, showed a net profit of 557.84 billion rupiah ($61
million) for the January-September period compared to 538.27
billion a year ago.

Its sales jumped 15.7 percent to 4.82 trillion rupiah and
gross profit rose 12.2 percent to 1.75 trillion.

The company, controlled by HeidelbergCement , saw its gross
margin fall to 36.3 percent by the end of September from
37.4 percent a year ago and its operating profit margin fell
to 19.9 percent from 23.8 percent over the period.

Indocement's chief financial officer, Christian Kartawijaya,
had said the company sold 9.9 million tonnes of the building
material in the January-September period compared to 9.2
million tonnes a year before, mostly due to higher exports.

Indonesia's domestic cement sales have been hit by weaker
consumer purchasing power, due to double-digit inflation
after the government sharply increased fuel prices last
year.

Domestic cement sales volume from all producers fell 2.1
percent in the first nine months of this year to 23.6
million tonnes.

Last year domestic sales volume expanded 4.0 percent to
31.51 million tonnes but some experts warn of flat or
slightly lower volume growth this year.

Kartawijaya had said he expected volume to grow by 4-5
percent next year although some analysts surveyed by Reuters
predicted a growth rate of around nine percent in 2007.

Analysts polled by Reuters Estimates expect Indocement to
post a net profit of 821.84 billion rupiah this year and
1.11 trillion rupiah in 2007.

The company's share price has jumped 41 percent this year,
outpacing a 36 percent rise for the Jakarta Composite Index
<.JKSE>.

It was last traded at 5,000 rupiah per share, representing a
2007 price-earning multiple of 16.5 times, higher than 14.4
times for the entire Jakarta bourse.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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