Astra profit jumps by 58.2 percent
JAKARTA (JP): Astra International, a publicly-listed group and the country's largest automotive producer, reported a 58.20 percent increase in its consolidated net-profit to Rp 181 billion (US$81 million) in the first six months ended in June from Rp 114 billion in the same period of 1994.
Astra attributed the sharp increase in the net earnings to the significant rise in the demand for both automobiles and motorcycles in the domestic market.
Aminuddin, the business group's public relations manager, said in a statement that the consolidated sales of the business group, which is also engaged in financial services and agricultural industries, rose by 41.88 percent to Rp 5.84 trillion in the January-June period from Rp 4.11 trillion in the corresponding period of 1994.
Astra, the second largest business group in the country after the Salim Group, said that the largest contribution to the sales was made by its automotive division, which provided around Rp 4.29 trillion or around 73.53 percent of the group's consolidated sales revenues.
The sales of the group's automotive division rose by 38.50 percent in the first semester of this year to Rp 4.29 trillion from Rp 3.10 trillion in the same period of 1994.
Aminuddin said that the total volume of the business group's automotive vehicle sales rose by around 26 percent to 97,003 units in the first semester from 76,697 units in the same period of 1994.
The volume of the country's total automotive vehicle sales grew by around 29 percent, slightly above Astra's figures, to 179,655 units in the January-June period from 138,675 units in the same period of 1994.
He said that the sale volume of Astra's motorcycles rose by 28.15 percent in the first semester to 212,578 units.
The total sales of motorcycles in the country, in comparison, rose by around 39 percent to 446,482 units from 320,459.
The business group booked a 110 percent increase in its consolidated net profit last year to over Rp 279 billion from Rp 132.37 billion in 1993.(hen)