Excelcomindo expects loss to widen
Excelcomindo expects loss to widen
Naila Firdausi, Bloomberg/Jakarta
PT Excelcomindo Pratama, Indonesia's third-biggest cellular
company, expects its net loss to widen this year as a weakening
rupiah makes its dollar-denominated debt more expensive to repay.
Jakarta-based Excelcomindo said net loss in 2005 may widen to
Rp 204.63 billion (US$20 million) from Rp 45.3 billion in 2004,
the company said in a statement to the Jakarta Stock Exchange
published on Wednesday by the exchange.
The company may post a currency loss of Rp 311 billion this
year from Rp 274 billion last year. Sales will probably rise to
Rp 3.7 trillion from Rp 3.13 trillion in 2004 as the number of
subscribers grows, the company said.
Excelcomindo, partly owned by Malaysia's Khazanah Nasional
Bhd., must spend more in rupiah for the $350 million in bonds its
unit sold in 2004 as the currency declines against the dollar.
The rupiah has lost 7.8 percent this year, Asia's second-worst
performing currency, extending its 9.2 percent decline in 2004.
Excelcomindo assumes the rupiah will average 10,000 to the
dollar this year and the next two years, the statement said.
Still, Excelcomindo expects the rising number of subscribers
and a more stable rupiah to help the company return to a profit
next year, which will end two years of losses.
The Indonesian rupiah may gain 4.1 percent to 9,700 by the end
of this year, Standard Chartered Plc's foreign exchange strategy
team, headed by Callum Henderson, wrote in a report. For next
year, an Indonesian parliamentary budget panel on Sept. 26
approved a 2006 budget assumption of 9,900 to the dollar, Seputar
Indonesia newspaper reported on Sept. 27.
Excelcomindo expects to post net income of Rp 198.3 billion
next year, assuming the rupiah trades at 10,000 to the dollar, as
sales are expected to rise to Rp 4.9 trillion.
The company expects its subscriber base to rise 48 percent to
5.6 million users in 2005, and increase to 7.9 million next year
and 10.4 million in 2007.