Telkom sees 20% sales growth in 2005<\/p>\n
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
State telecommunications firm PT Telkom expects a sales growth of
\n20 percent next year upon expectations of more subscribers.<\/p>\n
Telkom president Kristiono said on Wednesday sales would
\ncontinue to depend mainly on its cellular business, followed by
\nits Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) telephone service.<\/p>\n
\"We target growth to reach up to 20 percent on the basis of
\ngreater provision of infrastructure and because the penetration
\nrate (of fixed-line services) in the country is still low,\" he
\nsaid on the sidelines of a seminar on privatization of state-
\nowned enterprises.<\/p>\n
Telkom booked Rp 27.1 trillion (US$2.97 billion) in sales
\nrevenue last year.<\/p>\n
Kristiono said the company expected about five million to six
\nmillion new cellular subscribers, two million new subscribers to
\nits CDMA service Flexi and 200,000 new fixed-line subscribers
\nnext year.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, with its 220-million strong population, is deemed
\nto have a very low telecom penetration rate. Data shows that only
\n8.5 million people have access to fixed-line phones, while about
\n25 million subscribe to cellular phone services.<\/p>\n
Telkom's cellular subsidiary, PT Telkomsel, leads the domestic
\ncellular market with 14 million subscribers targeted this year.<\/p>\n
Kristiono added that the company's capital expenditure for
\n2005 would be about Rp 10 trillion, with more than half to be
\nchanneled to its cellular business.<\/p>\n
\"Much of the capital spending needs will be self-funded,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Kristiono also said Telkom was going ahead with its plan to
\nissue up to Rp 1 trillion in medium-term notes before year's end
\nto convert its U.S.-dollar debt into rupiah and avoid accruing
\nincreased losses from fluctuations in the exchange rate.<\/p>\n
The company incurred foreign exchange losses of Rp 869 billion
\nin the first semester of 2004, which cut its net income of the
\nperiod by almost 20 percent.<\/p>\n
The weakening rupiah during the period made it more expensive
\nfor the company to repay its foreign-currency debt, because most
\nof its earnings are in the local currency.<\/p>\n
Telkom had a $852 million debt as of June, more than half its
\ntotal debt.<\/p>",
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