Developer upbeat it can meet target

Developer upbeat it can meet target

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Publicly listed property developer PT Lippo Karawaci is confident
that it can reach its targeted Rp 2.1 trillion (US$205.6 million)
revenue and Rp 355 billion net profit.

"Looking at our first half performance this year, we believe
that we can reach the targets by year end," company president
director Viven G. Sitiabudi said at a press conference on Friday.

In its unaudited financial statement, the company's sales as
of June 30 reached Rp 952 billion compared to Rp 713 billion in
the corresponding period last year. Its net profit also increased
to Rp 171 billion from Rp 113 billion in the same period last
year.

Lucyanna Pandjaitan, the company's chief financial officer,
said the completion of some property projects -- Depok Town
Square in West Java, Medan Grand Palladium in North Sumatra and
City of Tomorrow in Surabaya -- along with income from other
business units would help the company reach its targeted revenue.

Lippo Karawaci currently manages three business units in the
areas of property, health care and hospitals, and infrastructure
and hospitality.

Lucyanna said property has contributed 60 percent of the
earnings of the company while the remaining 40 percent came from
the other two divisions.

She cited increasing construction material prices -- as a
result of the weakening rupiah and the March 1 fuel price hike --
would not affect the company's ongoing property projects as they
near completion.

"As we don't use much imported components for the construction
projects, the finishing cost is relatively small," she said.

The company's optimism in the growing property sector is
reflected in its plan to launch more property projects including
the Kemang village housing project, Depok apartment project, a
town development project in Cikarang, all in the Greater Jakarta,
and Tanjung Bunga housing project in Makassar, South Sulawesi.