Indofood's profit up 16%<\/p>\n
Dow Jones, Jakarta<\/p>\n
PT Indofood Sukses Makmur, the world's largest noodle maker,
\nThursday said its net profit in the first nine months stood at
\nRp 651.90 billion, up 16 percent from a year earlier.<\/p>\n
The higher net profit was largely due to a stronger local
\ncurrency, which pushed down the cost of servicing the company's
\nforeign debt. Indofood made a foreign exchange gain of Rp 213.32
\nbillion in the period compared with a loss of Rp 228.00 billion a
\nyear ago.<\/p>\n
On an operating level, profit shrunk 13 percent to Rp 1.33
\ntrillion due to higher expenses, the company said. The higher
\nprice of raw materials in the period - especially crude palm oil
\nand wheat used in noodle production - raised costs. A government-
\nmandated fuel price hike also hurt operating profit.<\/p>\n
Net sales were 11 percent higher at Rp 11.9 trillion, the
\ncompany said. Noodles comprised 35 percent of net sales, with
\nflour and edible oil sales making up most of the remainder.
\nNoodles sales volume grew 12 percent to 7.3 billion packs.<\/p>\n
As of Sept. 30, Indofood's dollar-denominated debt totaled
\n$459 million, of which $301.8 million matures from 2005.<\/p>\n
Indofood is 48 percent owned by Hong Kong-listed First
\nPacific. Co., the investment vehicle for Indonesia's Salim
\nfamily. While the Salims lost many of their businesses in the
\n1997-98 Asian crisis, they have managed to retain control of
\nIndofood, one of the country's most profitable businesses.<\/p>\n
Indofood is among a select band of Indonesian companies that
\nhave been able to issue foreign bonds this year despite an
\noverall pessimistic view of Indonesia among international
\ninvestors.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indofoods-profit-up-16-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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