[Kabar-indonesia] Telkom Q3 net jumps on mobile business [+Excelcom; 4 articles]

[Joyo at aol.com]

also: Global Insight: PT Telkom Nine-Month Net Profit Up 62%
on Mobile Gains; Indonesia's Excelcom 9-month net profit up
57 pct; Indonesia Bakrie Telecom Ups 2006 Customer-Count
Target

Indonesia's Telkom Q3 net jumps on mobile business

By Nury Sybli and Yoga Rusmana

JAKARTA, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Indonesia's top phone company,
PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk, posted a better-than-
expected 82 percent rise in quarterly net profit on Tuesday
on a strong performance by its mobile unit, which is seen
driving growth for the rest of 2006.

Telkom , which also dominates the fixed-line sector,
controls 65 percent of Indonesia's biggest wireless carrier,
PT Telekomunikasi Selular (Telkomsel), with more than half
of the market in the world's fourth most populous country.

The number of Indonesian mobile phone users has risen
sharply in recent years and industry experts predict it will
double from the current level of about 50 million by 2010.

Telkom, Indonesia's largest listed company with a market
capitalisation of around $18 billion, booked a net profit of
3.4 trillion rupiah ($373.8 million) for July-September
2006, compared with 1.87 trillion in the year-earlier
period.

The third-quarter profit beat the 2.67 trillion rupiah
average forecast from three analysts surveyed by Reuters.

Telkom, 51 percent owned by the Indonesian government, saw
its operating profit soar by nearly 41 percent from a year
ago to 6.37 trillion rupiah, improving its operating margins
to 48.3 percent from 42 percent over that period.

Its revenue climbed by around 23 percent to 13.2 trillion
rupiah in the third quarter -- around 40 percent of which
came from its mobile phone business.

SUBSCRIBER GROWTH

Telkomsel, the country's largest mobile phone operator 35
percent owned by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd , saw its
total number of mobile phone subscribers rise 38 percent to
32.47 million as of September from the year-ago period.

Telkomsel's aggressive network rollout and its huge
subscriber base have given the company a strategic edge over
its rivals such as PT Indosat Tbk and PT Excelcomindo
Pratama Tbk , analysts said.

Tjandra Lienandjaja, a Jakarta-based analyst at BNP Paribas
Peregrine, said the mobile phone business and
interconnection revenue were the key reasons for the
company's performance.

"I expect the company to have good fourth-quarter results
due to the festive season, which had increased the mobile
phone usage," he said. "I think in the fourth quarter they
could post around 3 trillion rupiah in net profit."

Lienandjaja said the company might be able to beat his full
year net profit forecast of 10.3 trillion rupiah if it
maintained the same performance over the final three months
of the year.

Mobile phone penetration in Indonesia is still low at below
25 percent, compared with roughly 80 percent in Malaysia and
around 40 percent in the Philippines.

Telkom, which earned 7.99 trillion rupiah in 2005, is
expected to post a net profit of 11.68 trillion rupiah for
this year and 13.3 trillion rupiah in 2007, Reuters
Estimates data showed.

Shares in Telkom, which accounted for around 15 percent of
the Jakarta Composite Index <.JKSE>, gained nearly 15
percent in the third quarter, underperforming the 17 percent
rise in the benchmark index.

Telkom shares close up 1.2 percent at 8,400 rupiah, while
the overall market edged 0.15 percent higher.

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Global Insight Daily Analysis 
October 31, 2006

PT Telkom Nine-Month Net Profit Up 62% on Mobile Gains

Jing Li

Indonesia's dominant telecoms operator PT Telkom said its
net profit for the nine months ending 30 September surged
62% year-on-year (y/y) to 9.22 trillion rupiah (US$1.01
billion), supported by stronger sales and a foreign exchange
gain. The company's sales for the period rose by 23% to
37.20 trillion rupiah, driven by revenue from its mobile
business, which rose to 14.90 trillion rupiah from 9.94
trillion rupiah a year earlier. The company said its
operating profit grew by 36% y/y to 17.18 trillion rupiah,
while its EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax,
depreciation and amortisation) was up 33% y/y to 24.50
trillion rupiah. Significance: PT Telkom's mobile unit
Telkomsel said its subscriber base was up 38% y/y to 32.47
million as of the end of September, more than half of the
country's total mobile subscriber base.

Telkomsel's aggressive network roll-out and its huge
subscriber base have provided the company with a strategic
edge over its rivals such as PT Indosat and PT Excelcomindo.
Mobile penetration in Indonesia is still low at about 20%,
compared with 80% in Malaysia and around 40% in the
Philippines.

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Indonesia's Excelcom 9-month net profit up 57 pct

JAKARTA, October 31 (Reuters) - Indonesia's third-largest
mobile phone operator, PT Excelcomindo Pratama Tbk ,
reported on Tuesday a 57 percent increase in its nine-month
net profit, boosted by strong subscriber growth.
Excelcom, controlled by Telekom Malaysia Bhd , posted a net
profit of 712 billion rupiah ($78.14 million), compared to
453 billion a year ago.

"The growth was supported by an increase in our subscriber
base by 43 percent to 8.4 million at the end of the third
quarter this year," Hasnul Suhaimi, Excelcom's president
director said in a statement.

The company boosted its capital spending to 988 billion
rupiah over the nine-month period from 892 billion to
support higher subscriber growth.

The number of Indonesian mobile phone users has risen
sharply in recent years and industry experts predict the
number will double from the current level of 50 million by
2010.

Mobile phone penetration in Indonesia is still low at about
25 percent, compared with 80 percent in Malaysia and around
40 percent in the Philippines.

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Indonesia Bakrie Telecom Ups 2006 Customer-Count Target

JAKARTA, October 31 (Dow Jones)--Budding Indonesian
telecommunications company PT Bakrie Telecom (BTEL.JK)
revised its 2006 customer-count target upward due to sharp
increases in subscriber numbers in the first nine months of
the year, the company said Tuesday.

Bakrie Telecom set its new target at 1.5 million, compared
with the initial target of 1.3 million as its customers
already exceeded that number as of the end of September.

The sharp increase in the number of new customers from
307,000 at the end of September 2005 pushed the company's
bottomline into the black during the January-to-September
period in 2006, it said.

It posted net profit of IDR51.88 billion ($5.7 million) for
the January-September period, swinging from a net loss of
IDR111.96 billion in the year-ago period.

The company currently operates in the Jakarta and West Java
areas.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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