Indocement's profit falls

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly-listed cement maker PT Indocement saw its net profit fall drastically to Rp 3.3 billion (US$300,000) in the first half of this year, from Rp 262.5 billion in the corresponding period of 1997, the company said Monday.

The unaudited consolidated balance sheet also showed that the company suffered foreign exchange losses amounting to Rp 3.2 trillion in the first six months of the year, the company said in a press release.

Net revenues dropped to Rp 710.9 billion in the first half of the year, from Rp 715 billion in the same period of last year, and sales volume decreased by 19 percent to 3.6 million tons as a result of weakened domestic demand.

The company said it raised its cement price to Rp 193,739 per ton in the first half of the year, up from Rp 155,469, in an attempt to offset losses resulting from a fall in the value of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar.

Indocement revealed it would export 1.35 million tons of cement in the second half of the year, up from the 575,000 tons exported in the first half of the year. (jsk)