Kimia Farma net profit up by 30 %

Kimia Farma net profit up by 30 %

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State-owned pharmaceutical company PT Kimia Farma recorded a 30
percent increase in net profit last year due to higher sales.

The net profit climbed to Rp 46.2 billion (US$5.47 million)
last year from Rp 35.4 billion in 2002, company president Gunawan
Pranoto said in a statement to the Jakarta Stock Exchange on
Friday.

The handsome increase came from an 18.07 percent rise in sales
to Rp 1.816 trillion last year from Rp 1.538 trillion accumulated
in 2002.

Sales revenue from distribution and trading operation
contributed 45 percent to total sales, while sales from
pharmacies and factories contributed 34 percent and 21 percent,
respectively.

This year, Kimia Farma projected net profit to double to Rp
93.46 trillion on an expected 5.2 percent increase in sales to
around Rp 1.91 trillion.

The government presently holds a 90 percent stake at Kimia
Farma. State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi has
included Kimia Farma along with 27 other companies in the
government's 2004 privatization list.

The funds to be generated from the privatization program will
be used to cover the state budget deficit. The government plans
to let go 51 percent of its stake in Kimia Farma through
strategic sales.

The domestic pharmaceutical market is predicted to increase by
14.3 percent in 2004 to Rp 20.62 trillion.