Indofood's profit plunges

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed PT Indofood Sukses Makmur, the world's largest noodle maker, reported yesterday a 70 percent decline in net profit in the first quarter this year from the same period last year.

The figure of Rp 28.29 billion (US$2.57 million) was down from Rp 97.36 billion.

The company attributed the decline to foreign exchange losses, which soared to Rp 160.70 billion in the first three months this year against Rp 10.95 billion in the corresponding period of 1997.

But the company said in a statement that its sales increased by 127 percent to Rp 1.76 trillion in the first quarter this year, from Rp 778.20 billion last year.

The statement said the noodle business accounted for 35 percent of its sales, edible oil and fats 23 percent, flour business 17 percent and snacks, baby foods, distribution, trading and others contributed 25 percent to its sales. (aly)