Indonesia's Bumi Resources Full-Year Profit Rises

Indonesia's Bumi Resources Full-Year Profit Rises

Bloomberg/Jakarta

PT Bumi Resources, Indonesia's biggest coal exporter, said net
income last year surged tenfold from the year-earlier period,
helped by an increase in production and higher coal prices.

Net income for the year ended Dec. 31 jumped to Rp 1.21
trillion rupiah (US$125 million), or Rp 62 a share, from Rp 107.6
billion, or Rp 5.54 a share, the company said in an e- mailed
statement today. Sales increased to Rp 9.81 trillion from Rp 3.86
trillion, the statement said.

Coal prices soared to records last year as China's economy
expanded 9.5 percent, the most in eight years, prompting a surge
in power demand. Bottlenecks on the country's over-stretched
railway network delayed coal deliveries, pushing prices up
further.

Coal prices may rise to records this year as port and rail
disruptions limit exports and costs of alternative fuels soar,
according to a Bloomberg survey in December.

Annual contract prices for thermal coal from Australia, the
world's biggest exporter of the fuel burned in power plants, will
climb to $52 a metric ton from about $45 this year, based on the
median estimate of nine analysts. Contracts between Australian
producers and Japanese utilities, due to take effect on April 1,
are benchmarks for other markets.

Indonesia is the fourth-largest coal producer in the Asia
Pacific region, behind China, Australia and India, according to
BP Plc estimates. About 99 percent of the coal produced in
Indonesia is thermal, used mostly in power plants.

Indonesia's exports of thermal coal rose 15 percent last year
as rival China limited supplies, leading utilities to seek
alternative suppliers and sending prices to a record. The nation
produced 127 million metric tons of coal last year.

The globalCOAL NEWC Index of coal delivered from Australia's
Newcastle port, the world's biggest coal-export port, jumped 33
percent last year to $53.48 a metric ton at the end of December.