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)