Excelcomindo's profit falls by 46 percent
Excelcomindo's profit falls by 46 percent
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
PT Excelcomindo Pratama, the country's third-largest mobile phone
operator, said on Wednesday that its 2003 audited net profit
dropped by 46 percent compared with the year before, due to
rising operational costs.
The company said that net profit last year declined to Rp
400.72 billion (US$47.14 million) from Rp 743.29 billion in 2002.
The company was quoted by Dow Jones as saying that although
revenue from cellular operations increased by 4.9 percent,
operating expenses rose by 19 percent.
It said that revenue last year rose to Rp 2.59 trillion from
Rp 2.47 trillion, while operating expenses increased to Rp 1.65
trillion from Rp 1.39 trillion. The expenses included
depreciation, administration and salary costs.
As of Dec. 31, 2003, the company's total assets stood at Rp
5.54 trillion, compared with Rp 4.75 trillion for the previous
year. Its current liabilities stood at Rp 1.09 trillion, compared
with Rp 879.95 billion.
Excelcomindo holds 16 percent of the domestic cellular market
in Indonesia. As of 2003, it had 2.9 million subscribers to
ProXL, its mobile service. That is expected to rise to 4 million
this year.
The company says it plans to go public later this year by
selling shares via an initial public offering.
There have also been reports that top regional telecom
players, including Australia's Telstra Corp., Telekom Malaysia
and a China-based telecom firm, are interested in buying a stake
in Excelcomindo from its owners.
The unlisted Excelcomindo is controlled by PT Telekomindo
Primabhakti, with a 60 percent stake. The rest is controlled by
Nynex Indocel Holding Sdu. with a 23.1 percent shareholding, Asia
Infrastructure Fund Ltd. (12.7 percent) and Japan's Mitsui & Co.
(4.2 percent).
It has been a trend of late for international players to enter
Indonesia to get in on the fast-growing mobile services sector.
Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, or Singtel, has purchased a
35 percent stake in PT Telkomsel, the largest cellular phone
operator in Indonesia, with 65 percent of the market share.
In addition, Singapore Technologies Telemedia has acquired a
controlling stake in PT Indosat, which provides services under
the brand names Satelindo and IM3.