Astra's profit rises sharply

Astra's profit rises sharply

JAKARTA (JP): PT Astra International, Indonesia's largest
producer of automobiles, yesterday reported a 79.12 percent
increase in after-tax profits to Rp 114.43 billion (US$53
million) during the first semester of this year.

Astra's Senior General Manager Aminuddin said here yesterday
that revenues increased by 48.22 percent to Rp 4.12 trillion in
the January-June period from the same period of last year.

"The robust performance was attributed to such external
factors as the buoyant macroeconomic condition, declining
interest rates and internal factors such as gains in efficiency
and better product performance," Aminuddin noted.

The company's earnings per share therefore increased by 49.24
percent to Rp 394, as compared to Rp 264 as of June last
year.

"Of more encouraging is that Astra's net profit margin rose
from 2.3 percent to a respectable 2.8 percent," Aminuddin added.
(05)