BSP takes hit on low commodity prices

JAKARTA (JP): PT Bakrie Sumatra Plantation (BSP) suffered a net loss of Rp 55.7 billion (about US$4.95 million) in the first quarter of this year due to a sharp drop in rubber and crude palm oil (CPO) prices.

The figure was higher than the Rp 8.3 billion net loss booked in the January-March period last year.

The company, a subsidiary of the widely diversified Bakrie & Brothers, said on Wednesday that the price of robber on the international market fell to an average of U.S. 57 cents per kilogram during the first quarter of this year from 68 cents in the same period last year.

The price of crude palm oil, the company's other main commodity, dropped to an average of $247 per ton during the first three months of this year from $344 a ton in the corresponding months in 2000.

The company said that despite an increase in volume, sales revenues declined by 8 percent to Rp 58 billion during the first quarter of this year from Rp 63 billion in the same period last year.

Aside from falling prices, the company's massive foreign exchange loss of Rp 67.6 billion during the first quarter of this year also contributed to its net loss.

"The weakening of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar also raised our liability to Rp 939 billion in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 42 percent compared to the same period last year," the company said. (03)