Antam's 9-month profit rises 32%

Antam's 9-month profit rises 32%

JAKARTA: PT Aneka Tambang (Antam), a mining company 65 percent owned by the government, said its profit rose 32 percent in the first nine months of this year on increased sales of higher grade nickel ore, gold and silver.

Net income rose to Rp 711.1 billion rupiah (US$70.97 million), or Rp 372.75 a share, in the nine months ending Sept. 30, from Rp 538.7 billion, or Rp 282.36, a year earlier, the mining company said in a statement sent to the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

Sales rose to Rp 2.22 trillion from Rp 1.94 trillion. Sales of higher grade nickel ore called saprolite rose 35 percent to Rp 901 billion, as the company boosted shipments to make up for a 6 percent fall in ferronickel sales.

Silver sales rose 70 percent to Rp 49.2 billion, while gold sales rose 24 percent to Rp 394.3 billion.

Antam's ferronickel output fell 38 percent to 4,001 metric tons in the nine month period because of the unplanned shutdown at its FeNI II smelter for repairs.

In the three months ended Sept. 30, Antam's sales rose 40 percent to Rp 902.2 billion from Rp 646.1 billion. Saprolite sales rose 88 percent to Rp 320 billion in the third quarter, the company said. -- Bloomberg