Indah Kiat's losses widen

Indah Kiat's losses widen

JAKARTA: Indonesia's PT Indah Kiat Pulp & Paper Tuesday said losses for the first nine months of this year widened to $228.09 million from $166.90 million a year earlier, mostly due to foreign exchange losses and interest expenses.

The figures translate to loss per share of $0.04, widening from $0.03 in the same period last year.

Sales rose 9.8 percent to $923.00 million from $840.48 million, the company, a major pulp and paper producer, said in a statement.

But the sales increase was limited due to higher cost of sales, which expanded to $784.22 million from $671.95 million. The higher cost led Indah Kiat's gross profit to fall 18 percent on year to $138.78 million from $168.52 million.

As of Sept. 30, Indah Kiat, which is owned by Asia Pulp & Paper Co., had $53.99 million in foreign exchange losses, compared with forex gains of $1.85 million a year earlier.

Interest expenses declined to $195.39 million from $219.77 million last year. -- Dow Jones