Indosat's profit up 33 percent

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed international telecommunications provider PT Indosat announced yesterday a 33 percent increase in net profit to Rp 176 billion (US$22 million) in the first quarter of this year from Rp 132.4 billion over the same period last year.

The company said in a statement yesterday that its earning per share was Rp 170 (2 U.S. cents) per American Depository Shares (ADS).

The company's international telephone call revenue rose by 19.8 percent to Rp 346.6 billion in the first three months of this year from Rp 289.4 billion over the corresponding period last year, the statement said.

International telephone revenue was higher than telephone traffic growth, due to the impact of rupiah sharp depreciation against the U.S. dollar, despite the negative impact of a 2.4 percent reduction in the average accounting rate, it said.

Other telecommunication services revenue rose 112.5 percent to Rp 58.6 billion in the first quarter this year compared to Rp 27.6 billion over the same period last year.

The company said that the increase in other telecommunication services revenue was due to a strong demand for IBS, VSAT and also internet services.

The statement said that the company's international telephone traffic increased by 28.4 million minutes to 187.2 million minutes in the first quarter this year from 158.8 million minutes in the first quarter last year.

The company's executive vice president for marketing, Bambang Sulistyo, said that from January until March 31, this year, Indosat's outgoing and incoming telephone traffic volume was 78.4 million minutes and 108.8 million minutes respectively, an increase of 19.1 percent and 17 percent compared to the same period in 1997.

"Our market share loss to our competitor appears to be slowing down as showed by our average market share for telephone services, including fixed and cellular lines, of 87.3 percent compared to 86.2 percent in the end of 1997," he said.

The statement said consolidated operating revenue increased by 30.6 percent Rp 422.3 billion in the first quarter this year compared to Rp 323.2 billion over the same period last year.

The company's consolidated operation expenses rose 27.9 percent to Rp 218.3 billion in the first quarter of this year from Rp 170.7 billion over the same period last year.

The company said the increase in foreign exchange and net interest gains, combined with the increase of investment income resulted in net other income of Rp 36.6 billion, a rise of 34 percent for the same period in 1997.

Investment income increased by 30 percent to Rp 6.8 billion in the first quarter this year from Rp 5.3 billion over the same period last year. (aly)