Indosat's profit rises by 61.1%

Indosat's profit rises by 61.1%

JAKARTA (JP): PT Indosat reported yesterday a 61.1 percent
increase in its net profit for the nine months that ended on
Sept. 30 to Rp 342.2 billion (US$150.3 million) from Rp 205.9
billion in the same period of last year.

Indosat's president, Tjahyono Soerjodibroto, said here
yesterday that the sharp increase in the net income was partly
due to a significant increase in the volume of international
telephone traffic.

"The rise in the telephone traffic volume was very
encouraging, given stiffer competition in international telephone
services," he said.

Indosat, the first Indonesian firm listed on the New York
Stock Exchange, was the only company providing international
telecommunications services in the country up to the operation of
PT Satelindo in November last year.

Satelindo, 7.5 percent owned by Indosat, has taken between 2
percent and 3 percent of the international telecommunication
market, Tjahyono said recently.

Indosat booked a 15.4 percent increase in the total revenues
in the first six months ended in June to Rp 498.4 billion from Rp
431.9 billion in the same period of 1994.

The net profit in the first six months rose by 73 percent to
Rp 220.7 billion from Rp 127.6 billion in the corresponding
period of 1994.

Tjahyono said that the total profit of the company is
projected to increase by from 45 percent to 55 percent in the
whole of 1995. (hen)