City to receive bigger profits

City to receive bigger profits

JAKARTA (JP): Consolidated profits to be received by the city
administration from PT Pembangunan Jaya, a city firm jointly run
with business tycoon Ciputra, are projected to increase by 10
percent this year, an executive said.

The firm's acting president, H. Daryanto Mangunpratolo, said
Thursday that last year's profits received by the administration
from the company were Rp 4.8 billion.

"We hope that the company's contribution to the administration
will rise by 10 percent for the 1998/1999 fiscal year," he said.

However, he did not explain clearly how the company, which
oversees 32 subsidiaries, would be able to increase its revenues
amid the monetary crisis.

"Of course it will need a lot of hard work," he said, urging
the government to create a better climate conducive for business
development.

Ciputra, one of the firm's commissioners, said that the
profits received by the administration were about 40 percent of
Pembangunan Jaya's total profits.

He admitted that many of Pembangunan Jaya's subsidiaries were
stormed by the crisis, but he was optimistic that those companies
would rebound and be back on track by 2000.

"Business activities will resume within one or two years,
depending heavily on six factors, namely security,
demonstrations, the foreign exchange rate, the IMF's aid and its
support and the next general election," he said.

Businesspeople were also waiting for results of the ongoing
investigation into the May 13 and May 14 riots, he added. (cst)