Gunung Agung to open new bookstores, distribution center
Gunung Agung to open new bookstores, distribution center
JAKARTA (JP): PT Toko Gunung Agung, a bookstore owner listed
on the Jakarta and Surabaya stock exchanges, will expand its
business network nationwide by opening new stores and a
distribution center.
"Toko Gunung Agung will open five new bookstores and a
distribution center by 1995 to meet increasing demand for books
and stationery in Indonesia," the company's president, Haryadi
Bakri, told reporters after an annual meeting of the firm's
shareholders yesterday.
The new bookstores will be jointly operated with plazas and
shopping malls in Jakarta, Surakarta in Central Java and
Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi, Haryadi said.
The company, a subsidiary of the Gunung Agung Group, currently
has 35 bookstores, operating alone or jointly, in the country's
major cities.
"To facilitate smooth distribution of goods to our bookstores,
we will operate an internal distribution center," Haryadi said.
The company's director of finance, Sukirno Siswosudarmo, said
the expansion program will be financed by the company's retained
profits and bank loans.
Sukirno said the opening of each new bookstore, including its
five-year rental fee, fixture, furniture and stock, will cost
about Rp 1.5 billion (US$692,200).
He said it will not cost the company anything to set up the
planned distribution center because the warehouse and supporting
vehicles are already available.
Profit
Sukirno said the company's after-tax profit dropped by 32.79
percent to Rp 3.94 billion last year from Rp 5.86 billion in
1992, while its net revenues increased by 12.70 percent to Rp
89.46 billion from Rp 79.37 billion.
Haryadi said the decrease in net profit was caused by the
increase in the company's operational costs, including salaries
and electricity bills due to opening seven bookstores last year.
Haryadi said in order to reduce salary expenses, the company
will utilize a joint salary payment system with stationery
producers, whose products are sold in their bookstores.
"The stationery producers are expected to pay the salaries of
employees working at their counters in our bookstores," Haryadi
said.
Meanwhile, Sukirno said that the company gained a net income
of Rp 22.2 billion in the first quarter of this year.
"The company will likely earn a net income of Rp 7 billion and
net revenues of Rp 114 billion this year," Sukirno said, adding
that the income from the second and third quarters of the year is
historically higher than the first quarter.
He said the shareholders meeting also agreed on the
distribution of cash dividends of Rp 45.46 (two U.S. cents) to
the holders of its 26 million shares on Sept. 20.(02)