Mustika Ratu targets Rp 25.2b profit this year

JAKARTA (JP): PT Mustika Ratu, a maker of herbal medicine and cosmetics, said yesterday its annual net profit was expected to rise 27.3 percent to Rp 25.2 billion (US$10.5 million) this year.

Its annual net profit rose 18.7 percent to Rp 19 billion last year from Rp 16 billion in 1995.

President director BRA Mooryati Soedibjo said she was optimistic that her company could meet the profit target by opening up markets in Egypt, India and China and by being more efficient.

This year's profit should be boosted by the company's takeover of several overseas distribution centers, she said.

The company recorded net sales of Rp 104.3 billion in 1996, up 13.1 percent on Rp 92.3 billion in 1995.

She said the flood which hit Jakarta in February 1996 and the company's program to open up foreign markets had caused sales growth to fall slightly that year.

In 1995, the company's net sales rose 39 percent to Rp 92.3 billion.

Mustika Ratu, which floated about 25 percent of its shares on the Jakarta Stocks Exchange in 1995, plans to distribute a Rp 6.7 billion total dividend, or Rp 62 a share, which is around 35 percent of its net profit for 1996.

Mooryati said the company's exports were expected to increase to 50 percent of total sales in the next five years from 22 percent now.

In line with the expansion plan, Mustika Ratu would spend Rp 63.25 billion on a new factory on an 11-hectare site in Bekasi, West Java, she said. Construction is expected to commence this year and be completed in five years.

Mooryati said the new factory would triple the company's production of herbal medicine to 1,800 tons a year and the production of cosmetics to 18,000 tons a year.

The company's factories in Ciracas, East Jakarta, produce 600 tons of herbal medicine and 6,000 tons of cosmetics a year.

Mustika Ratu makes 500 cosmetics products, including face care, hair care and body care products. The firm also processes 60 kinds of herbs into powders, pills, capsules, dried herbs and tea bags.

The company has wholly-owned or joint venture distributors in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, the Middle East and the Netherlands.

The company's regional office in Malaysia contributed 50 percent of last year's net profit.

Mooryati said the company had opened 29 House of Mustika Ratu shops overseas, including 15 in Malaysia. (jsk)