Astra sales rise but profit falls

Astra sales rise but profit falls

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed automaker PT Astra International
announced a 4 percent decline in its consolidated net profit
yesterday to Rp 326.89 billion (US$99.05 million) in the first
three quarters this year from Rp 340.84 billion in the
corresponding period last year.

The company's net sales, however, rose 21 percent to Rp 12.13
trillion in the first three quarters from Rp 9.99 trillion in the
same period last year.

The statement said the decline in net profit was caused by the
swelling of the company's debt payment costs both for rupiah and
foreign currency loans.

The local debts were much more costly because of the rise in
interest rates, the company said. It said the sharp depreciation
of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar had caused foreign
borrowing to be much more expensive because about 30 percent of
it was not hedged.

According to the company's statement, the increase in net
sales resulted from a rise in its sales volume of cars and
motorcycles.

Astra said the amount of cars sold between January and
September rose 37 percent to 318,818 vehicles from 233,240 in the
same period last year.

The sales of Toyota, Isuzu, Daihatsu, BMW, Peugeot and Nissan
commercial vehicles accounted for 157,345 of the total sales
volume, up 36 percent from last year's 115,542 vehicles.

The sales of Astra motorcycles rose 43 percent to 1,408,640 in
the third quarter this year from 985,481 in the same period last
year.

As a result of the better sales performance, operating income
rose to Rp 2.33 trillion by September this year from Rp 828.74
billion in the same period last year.

The company's finance director, Rini M Soewandi, said recently
that Astra's consolidated net profit would likely be lower than
the initial target of Rp 721 billion due to the swelling
expenditures.

"The rupiah's depreciation has forced us to revise our net
profit target this year," she said, declining to disclose the new
target amount. (aly)