PT Astra International, the country's largest publicly traded company, posted hefty growth in the first semester of the year due to higher automotive sales and strong performance of its agribusiness. Astra's revenue increased by 46 percent to Rp 46.27 trillion (US$5.06 billion) from Rp 31.68 trillion in the same period last year. Higher sales pushed up the company's net profit to Rp 4.75 trillion, an 81 percent increase from Rp 2.62 trillion a year earlier. President director Michael D.

Thu, 07/31/2008 10:23 AM | Reader's Forum I refer to The Jakarta Post's report of July 22 titled "Errant taxpayers to face fines, jail". The report says that the tax office will impose fines and prison sentences upon those who fail to apply for tax identification numbers (NPWP) by the end of the year, as Indonesia currently only has six million registered taxpayers, compared to an estimated 40 million eligible taxpayers.

Half of the 21 oil and gas blocks offered by the government last year failed to attract investors due primarily to inaccurate data, unfavorable locations and a lack of technology available to tap the resources, an official says. Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry director general of oil and gas Evita H. Legowo said the numbers of sold and unsold oil and gas blocks were equal. "We don't know exactly why some blocks didn't attract any investors.

Agribusiness giant PT Sampoerna Agro saw a 176 percent increase in sales in the first semester from a year earlier, thanks to a huge increase in prices and sale volume of crude palm oil (CPO), an executive said Wednesday. The publicly listed company gained Rp 1.49 trillion (US$154 million) in sales revenue during the first months of the year, from Rp 541 billion posted in the same period last year, the company's director for Sumatra, Yassin Chandra, said in Palembang.