Indonesia's key stock index rises

Indonesia's key stock index rises

Naila Firdausi, Bloomberg/Jakarta

Indonesia's benchmark stock index advanced for a second day. PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa jumped to a two-month high after its nine-month profit almost tripled on higher sales and narrower currency losses.

The Jakarta Composite Index added 1.52, or 0.1 percent, to 1063.70 at the 4 p.m. local time close. The benchmark earlier rose as much as 0.4 percent and fell 0.04 percent.

Indocement, Indonesia's second-biggest cement maker, jumped Rp 125, or 4 percent, to Rp 3,250, its highest closing price since Aug. 18.

Elsewhere, PT Indosat, the country's second-biggest phone company, fell after reporting a decline in nine-month profit as a weaker rupiah boosted debt-servicing costs. The shares slid Rp 50, or 1 percent, to Rp 5,050.

Indosat's net income in the nine months ended Sept. 30 fell 33 percent on the year to Rp 1.02 trillion, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

The company had a foreign exchange loss of Rp 357.6 billion, wider than a Rp 62 billion deficit a year ago.

Indosat, which on Aug. 30 said it had $550 million debt, faces higher costs to service debt when the rupiah weakens. The company earns most of its revenue in rupiah.

The rupiah lost 10 percent of its value against the dollar in the nine months to Sept. 30, the period's worst performer among 15 currencies in Asia-Pacific tracked by Bloomberg.

PT Astra International, Asia's biggest auto retailer by value, rose Rp 250, or 2.8 percent, to Rp 9,350.

The stock fell 3.2 percent in the three days to Wednesday after the company said it sold fewer motorcycles in September than in the month earlier.

"The declines have made Astra stock attractive in terms of valuation," said Suherman Santikno, head of research at PT Indo Premier Securities in Jakarta.

PT Darya Varia Laboratoria, a drugmaker, jumped Rp 40, or 6.1 percent, to Rp 700. The company posted net income of Rp 51.9 billion in the nine months ended Sept. 30, 32 percent higher than the year-ago period, as sales gained 31 percent to Rp 413.3 billion.

PT International Nickel Indonesia, the local unit of the world's second-biggest nickel miner, Inco Ltd., lost Rp 200, or 1.3 percent, to Rp 14,800.

Net income declined to $73.2 million in the three months to Sept. 30 from $87.95 million a year earlier, on lower output and higher costs, the Jakarta-based company said on Wednesday.