Astra performance hit by rupiah's collapse

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's largest carmaker, publicly listed PT Astra International, took a very hard beating in the first semester on account of the rupiah's steep fall virtually killing off the automotive market, despite the robust growth of its agribusiness and export operations.

Astra reported over the weekend that its automobile sales plunged almost 78.50 percent to 20,758 units from 96,381 in the first half of 1997 and motorcycles sales fell 63.14 percent to 151,556.

"Even though the prices of cars doubled and those of motorcycles increased by an average of 50 percent, our automotive division's net sales revenues declined sharply to Rp 3.39 trillion from 5.93 trillion," the company said in a media release.

The company said its net sales revenue from auto-parts exports rose 60 percent and agribusiness (notably palmoil, rubber, cocoa and tea) increased 52 percent.

However, Astra's consolidated net sales revenue declined 6 percent to Rp 7.19 trillion, resulting in a net loss of Rp 365 billion, compared to a profit of Rp 349 billion in the first semester of 1997, the statement added.

"However, as a result of the rupiah meltdown, Astra booked a net loss of Rp 7.36 trillion, of which Rp 7 trillion was the translation losses (unrealized) of the rupiah's fall to Rp 14,900 at the end of June."

"This first-semester loss was a translation (unrealized) loss of the rupiah's fall from January to June." the company added.

The translation loss, however, might be reduced if the rupiah strengthens by the time the loss had to be realized.

The rupiah strengthened last week to hovering between 11,100 and 11,300 to the dollar.

Astra said it had taken a series of measures to revitalize its cash flow and reduce its foreign debt burdens by further boosting its agrobusiness and auto parts exports and selling assets in subsidiaries.

"We have, for example, reached an agreement to sell our shares in PT Astra Microtonics Technology for US$90 million," Astra's financial director Dorys Herlambang noted but declined to elaborate.

Astra is in the process of diluting its ownership of several other subsidiaries by inviting new foreign partners or asking existing foreign partners to put up fresh capital.

The company also plans to restructure its foreign debts to reduce its cash-flow burden.

It plans to hold a meeting with foreign creditors in Singapore in early October to discuss the proposed debt restructuring. It hopes the meeting will allow it to extend the maturity of its short-term debts to five years.

Astra International owed a total US$1.2 billion to foreign creditors and another Rp 2 trillion to domestic financial institutions as of the end of July.

The company appointed Chase Manhattan Bank, Sakura Merchant Bank and Sumitomo Bank late last month as its financial advisors to help it restructure its dollar-denominated debts. (rid/vin)