Astra's profit jumps

Astra's profit jumps

Car maker Astra International Tbk's consolidated net profit
jumped to Rp 1.1 trillion (US$106 million) in the first nine
months of the year, reversing a net loss of Rp 272.7 billion in
the same period of last year, the company said in a statement on
Wednesday.

It ascribed the rise in profit to the good performance of its
automotive division, which recorded Rp 19.3 trillion in sales in
the January to September 2001 period, an 11.7 percent increase
from Rp 17.3 trillion a year ago.

Aside from the automotive business, Astra is also active in
agribusiness and information technology.

Total revenue increased by 12.2 percent in the period to Rp
22.6 trillion in the first nine months of this year from Rp 20.1
trillion in the same period of last year.

Astra's sales of Honda motorbikes doubled to 681,791 units in
the nine-month period, from 323,865 units a year ago. But its car
sales decreased to 104,264 units, from 105,431 units last year.
It sells Toyota, Daihatsu, Isuzu, BMW, Peugeout and Nissan cars.

The country's car sales reached 228,396 units in the first
nine months of the year, while motorbike sales totalled 1,316,643
units in the period, according to the company.

The automotive division accounted for 85.3 percent of Astra's
net revenue, according to the statement. --JP