Indosat reports Rp 1.19t net income in third quarter

Indosat reports Rp 1.19t net income in third quarter

JAKARTA (JP): PT Indosat announced on Wednesday an unaudited
consolidated net income of Rp 1.19 trillion (US$170 million) for
the first nine months of the year ending Sept. 30.

The publicly listed international telecommunications provider
said the net profit figure represented a 36.5 percent increase
over the corresponding period in 1998.

Indosat president and chief executive officer Indra Setiawan
said the country's lengthened political agendas from the general
election in June to the presidential election in October still
affected the company, causing a slow down in its core business of
international telephone line service.

"However, we notice a positive trend in incoming traffic. We
also identified a consistent growth of data communications, such
as high-speed leased lines and internet access services," he
said.

He said Indosat was promoting the development of its data
communications businesses to support the company's business plan
to switch to a full telecommunications provider rather than just
an international direct dial provider.

Indosat's international telephone traffic declined 10.8
percent to 485.1 million minutes in the first nine months of this
year from 543.6 million in the corresponding period last year.

Outgoing and incoming telephone traffic volume for the first
nine months of this year amounted to 215.3 million minutes and
269.8 million minutes respectively, down 11.8 percent and 9.9
percent from the same period last year.

Indosat executive vice president for operations and
engineering Achmad Rivai said the company's consolidated
operating revenues increased by 35.8 percent to Rp 2.08 trillion
in the first nine months of 1999 from Rp 1.53 trillion in the
corresponding period of last year.

He said international telephone service, the main contributor
to Indosat's operating revenues, brought in Rp 1.76 trillion for
the nine months ended Sept. 30 this year, up 39.6 percent from Rp
1.26 trillion it produced in the same period last year.

Indosat also saw an increase of 24.7 percent in other
telecommunications services as a result of the rise in revenues
derived from global corporate services and internet service, he
added.

Company executive vice president for corporate development
Safwan Natanegara said Indosat managed to generate other total
income of Rp 430 billion, mainly from interest and investment
incomes.

Indosat has at least 26 subsidiaries and affiliated companies
here and abroad operating in fixed line, mobile
telecommunications, satellite transponder leasing, international
telecommunications, value added services and other sectors.

Indosat received Rp 20.5 billion in dividends from its
international satellite transponder lessor affiliates, Intelsat
and Inmarsat.

From its subsidiaries, Indosat earned a net equity income of
Rp 173 billion from local cellular network provider Telkomsel, Rp
56.6 billion from its fixed-line provider and Telkom's KSO
partner, Mitra Global Telekomunikasi Indonesia, Rp 14.8 billion
from its packed switched data network, VSAT and e-mail service
provider, Aplikanusa Lintasarta, and Rp 3.5 billion from local
satellite transponder lessor joint venture Multi Media Asia
Indonesia.

Indosat, however, experienced investment losses of Rp 69.9
billion from some of its affiliates, in addition to the Rp 6.1
billion in investment losses from subsidiaries Cambodian Indosat
Telecommunication S.A., a telecommunications joint venture firm
in Cambodia, and Yasawirya Tama Cipta, a local joint venture in
multimedia production.

Over the period, the company recorded earnings of Rp 1,149 or
$1.40 per American Depository Share (ADS) using the closing
exchange rate of Rp 8,386 per U.S. dollar as quoted by Bank
Indonesia on Sept. 30, 1999.

Indosat's shares are listed on the Jakarta and Surabaya Stock
Exchanges, while its American Depositary Shares are listed on the
New York Stock Exchange. (cst)