Medco's profit up 44%

Medco's profit up 44%

JAKARTA: PT Medco Energi International, Indonesia's largest
publicly traded oil company, said profit in the first nine months
of the year rose 44 percent because of higher crude oil prices.

Net income rose to US$68.4 million, or 2.2 cents a share, in
the period ended Sept. 30, from $47.8 million, or 1.54 cents, a
year earlier, the Jakarta-based company said in an e-mail on
Tuesday. Sales rose to $442.2 million from $392.6 million.

The company's sales from selling oil and gas jumped 17 percent
to $306.4 million during the nine months, helped by an increase
in oil prices. Medco received $6.6 million in sales of
electricity in the nine months through September, as it started
selling power in December last year.

Medco joins oil producers including Exxon Mobil Corp. and
Royal Dutch Shell Plc in benefiting from higher oil prices, which
surged to a record $70.85 a barrel on Aug. 30. Crude oil prices
on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday were 19 percent
higher than a year ago and traded at $59.78 at 12:11 p.m.
Singapore time in after-hours electronic trading. -- Bloomberg