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.