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