Garuda suffers losses of Rp 2.65b

JAKARTA (JP): Fourteen of the 17 state-owned transport-related companies recorded a total profit of Rp 298.08 billion (US$127.7 million) in the first half of the year, while the other three, including Garuda Indonesia, suffered a combined deficit of Rp 14.78 billion.

Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto told House Commission V, for transportation, tourism and telecommunications, in a hearing yesterday that Garuda, the national air carrier, suffered losses of Rp 2.65 billion in the first six months of this year.

PT Pengerukan Indonesia, a dredging company, suffered a deficit of Rp 7.8 billion, while Perum PPD, a Jakarta public transportation company, suffered losses of Rp 4.33 billion in the January-June period, he said.

Haryanto said that PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II, the company which manages the Tanjung Priok seaport in Jakarta. recorded the biggest profit -- Rp 92.63 billion -- in the first half of the year, followed by PT Angkasa Pura II, the company managing several airports in the western half of the country, with a profit of Rp 55 billion.

Haryanto refused to disclose why Garuda, Pengerukan and Perum PPD failed to make a profit.

Last year, Garuda's profit was Rp 135.79 billion and Pengerukan's Rp 10.12 billion, while PPD broke even.

He said that Garuda's revenues in the January-June period totaled Rp 2.36 trillion, while its expenses were recorded at Rp 2.37 trillion.

Garuda, which is expected to list its shares on the capital market in 1998 following a private placement scheduled for next year, has been burdened with hundreds of millions of dollars in liabilities since the late 1980s.

The airline is currently restructuring its marketing, operations and organization in order to revitalize its business. In June the government agreed to inject Rp 754 million to improve the company's financial position.

Haryanto told the commission yesterday that the government had approved the proposal of Merpati Nusantara Airlines, a subsidiary of Garuda, to reduce services on unprofitable routes.

"If there were four flights per week on a route with a load factor of about 20 percent per service, Merpati can cut the services to just one flight," he said. "We can no longer tolerate unprofitable routes. It's wasting money."

He also said that his office is now working on 29 cooperation proposals, including proposals on investments in infrastructure projects worth Rp 1.8 trillion.

He said the Ministry of Finance has approved 32 other proposals worth Rp 5.67 trillion and is expected to approve seven others worth Rp 615.31 billion. (icn)