Indofood's nine-month profits increase 14%

Indofood's nine-month profits increase 14%

Food processor PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk said on Tuesday
that its net income rose 14 percent to Rp 573.5 billion (US$52
million) in the first nine months of the year, compared to the
same period of 2000.

Consolidated sales for the nine-month period reached Rp 10.7
trillion, or a 14 percent increase over the same period of last
year, company president and chief executive officer Eva Riyanti
Hutapea said in a statement on Tuesday.

Nearly all operating divisions recorded increased sales with
noodles, flour, and the edible oils and fats divisions
contributing a total of 80 percent of sales, she said.

The growth in net income was mainly due to lower foreign
exchange losses as a result of the reduction in the company's
outstanding foreign exchange debts to US$348 million as of Sept.
30, 2001 from $452 million as of Sept. 30, 2000.

On a positive note, Hutapea said that as of Sept. 30, Indofood
had hedging contracts amounting to $310 million.

Of the US$348 million in debts outstanding at the end of the
third quarter, $215 million would not mature until mid-2002,
while the balance of $133 would mature between 2003 and 2005, she
said. --JP