Cement company's profits up

JAKARTA (JP): PT Indocement Tunggal Perkasa, a major publicly- listed cement producer, yesterday announced a 16 percent increase in its quarterly profits, while two other listed firms reported increases in their profits in 1995.

Indocement said in a statement yesterday that its consolidated profits increased to Rp 100 billion (US$42.5 million) in the first quarter of this year from Rp 86.6 billion in the same period last year.

The statement said that in the first quarter, net revenues reached Rp 996 billion, an increase of 14 percent.

It reported that the net revenues of the company's cement division rose by only 3 percent to Rp 315 billion in the January- March period, while net revenues from its food division increased by 20 percent to Rp 678 billion.

The food division contributed 68 percent of the company's revenues and 52 percent of its operating income. Excluding Bogasari, the food division contributed 43 percent of its net revenues and 33 percent of its operating profits.

Meanwhile PT Ever Shine Tex, a textile and garment manufacturer, said that it had registered a 19 percent increase in total sales to Rp 162 billion the previous year.

Net sales of textiles rose 24 percent to Rp 132 billion, while sales of garments remained stagnant at Rp 29 billion.

The company said the flat growth of garment sales was a result of weakening demand on the international market, particularly in Europe. About 90 percent of the company's garment production is allocated for export.

It was reported that due to price increases in raw materials, the company's profits grew by only 8 percent to Rp 24 billion last year.

Another listed company, Bank Surya, also said that its net profits last year rose 67 percent, to Rp 16 billion, over the previous year.

The bank's president, A.K. Ariawan, said in a statement that as of Dec. 31, 1995, the bank's total assets reached Rp 1.1 trillion, indicating an increase of 31 percent over the previous year.

Ariawan said that as of last December, total deposits generated from the public increased by 24 percent to Rp 940 billion, most of which were in the form of time deposits.

Total credits rose 18 percent from Rp 615 billion as of the end of 1994 to Rp 728 billion as of the end of last year, of which 64.7 percent went to the trade sector, 13.3 percent to the services sector and 10.7 percent to the construction sector. The remaining 11 percent was allocated to other sectors, such as the manufacturing industry and transportation. (alo)