Mining business help lift UT sales

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Publicly listed heavy equipment company PT United Tractor (UT) announced on Thursday that it booked slightly higher sales last year, contributed mostly by its mining businesses.

In its report to the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX), the company said that its sales surged to Rp 6.89 trillion (US$820 million) from Rp 6.88 trillion last year, on the back of an increase in coal output and price.

Fourty four percent of the company's total revenue was drawn from service to mining companies, 37 percent from sales of heavy equipment and 19 percent from coal sales.

UT's mining service unit PT Pamapersada Nusantara contributed Rp 3.06 trillion to the company's sales, extracing 27.7 million tons of coal last year, down from 29 million in 2002.

The company's coal mining unit PT Berau Coal, based in East Kalimantan, recorded an increase of sales to Rp 1.31 trillion from Rp 1.29 trillion. Berau sold 7.7 tons of coal last year, up by 12 percent from 6.9 million, with around 70 percent of the output sent to export markets.

UT, which is 49 percent owned by automotive kingpin PT Astra International, also announced that it sold 916 units of heavy equipment under the Komatsu brand last year, up by 11 percent from 825 in 2002.

Agribusiness sector purchased 60 percent of the units, while construction and mining sectors accounted for 54 percent and 18 percent respectively.

UT also sold 247 units of Nissan Diesel trucks last year, up by 24 percent from 200 units in 2002. The company's forklift sales, under the Komatsu and Patria brand also increased by 23 percent from 468 units from 382 units.

Currently, UT has a share of 40.8 percent of the country's total heavy-equipment market share.

The company's shares ended higher on the JSX by Rp 25 to Rp 1,325 following the announcement.