Garuda's profit ridiculous

Garuda's profit ridiculous

From Bisnis Indonesia

In response to a news story in Bisnis Indonesia on Jan. 13, under the headline, "Garuda bukukan laba Rp 905 miliar" (Garuda records Rp 905 billion in profit), I, as a person with some knowledge of accounting, find this headline misleading.

If a layman without any knowledge of accounting reads this headline, what comes to mind is that this -- very large -- figure is the net profit in 1998, money which may be used for business development and other purposes.

The headline in question is clearly misleading, because when we read the content of the news story carefully, we find that the profit referred to is the operational profit, from which other expenses, including income tax expenses and debt repayments, must still be deducted.

We all know that PT Garuda has huge debts, particularly in U.S. dollars, which may incur huge foreign exchange losses, particularly in 1997 and 1998.

This matter must, therefore, be clarified in order that the community may have a true picture of the condition of PT Garuda. Please keep in mind that an inaccurate news headline must never be used to deceive the community.

NURCHOLI

Jakarta