Indosat reports higher first quarter earnings

Indosat reports higher first quarter earnings

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned telecommunications company PT
Indosat reported on Wednesday a 24.1 percent increase in
unaudited earnings to Rp 538.5 billion (US$49.86 million) during
the first quarter of 2001 compared to the same period last year.

Earnings per share were at Rp 520 or US 50 cents per American
Depository Shares, the company said in its first quarter report.

Indosat's total international telephone traffic between
January and March this year was 164.1 million minutes, an
increase of 2.8 percent from 159.6 million minutes last year.

"The overall macroeconomic condition and political instability
have been the most influential factors affecting the company's
business performance and the results of our operations," Indosat
president Hari Kartana said in a statement.

He added that despite this, the international direct dial
(IDD) business in Indonesia was still surviving. IDD traffic
between January and March increased 2.8 percent from the
corresponding quarter last year, he said.

Global corporate services also saw significant growth this
quarter, with a 38.3 percent increase in revenue and a 23.2
percent gain in customer number.

The company's multimedia services recorded a consistent growth
of 59.6 percent in revenue during the first three months of the
year, which bodes well for the future of these services, Hari
said.

In non-IDD businesses, high-speed leased-line services grew to
1,132 lines as of March 31 compared to 919 lines at the end of
2000, an increase of 23.2 percent.

The customer base of Indosat's internet service provider,
IndosatNet, increased 2.2 percent to 44,799 retail subscribers as
of March 31 this year, compared to 43,820 retail subscribers at
the end of last year.

The company saw outgoing cellular traffic increase to 13.7
million minutes between January and March 2001, compared to 11.8
million minutes during the same period last year.

As of the end of March 2001, the international links bandwidth
was at 773.2 megabit per second consisting of 80.5 percent
submarine cable circuits and 19.5 percent satellite circuits.

For the Indosat Multi-Media Mobile, the company expects to
complete the rollout of more than 500 base transceiver stations
covering nine major cities in the third quarter of 2001.

These nine cities are Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang, Solo,
Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Malang, Denpasar and Batam, Indosat
executive vice president Garuda Sugardo said in the statement.

The company's consolidated operating revenue between January
and March increased to Rp 730.1 billion from Rp 710.8 billion
last year, he said.

Indosat's shares are listed on the Jakarta and Surabaya stock
exchanges, and its American Depository Shares are listed on The
New York Stock Exchange. (tnt)