Lonsum books profit

Lonsum books profit

JAKARTA (JP): PT London Sumatra (Lonsum), a publicly listed
plantation company, saw its pretax profit rise by 21 percent to
Rp 102.82 billion (US$53.6 million) last year.

The company, a producer of palm oil and rubber, said here
yesterday that its net income rose 30 percent to Rp 80.62 billion
last year.

Its total revenue last year was Rp 208.66 billion, an increase
of 11 percent from that of 1995.

The company's president, Geoffrey Brown, attributed the
increase in profit to the securing of high prices for palm oil
and rubber, combined with the firm's ability to consistently meet
or exceed production targets.

Last year, hectares of mature oil palms under its management
increased by 13 percent to 19,963 hectares, producing 97,000 tons
of palm oil which sold at an average price of $571 per ton.

The company produced 17,243 tons of rubber last year which
sold at an average price of $1,470 per ton.

"This represents a 12 percent decline over results for 1995
reflecting the company's conversion of some areas of rubber to
oil palms," Brown said.

He said the company's hectares of mature rubber trees fell 12
percent to 11,792 hectares. (bnt)