Pertamina's net profit increase to Rp 4.47 trillion

Pertamina's net profit increase to Rp 4.47 trillion

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State oil and gas company Pertamina's finance director, Ainun
Naim, said on Friday that the company's 2001 net profit increased
to Rp 4.47 trillion (US$514 million) from the previous year's Rp
3.74 trillion.

He attributed the rise in profit to domestic sales and
increased oil exports amid relatively high oil prices, which
stood at an average of about $24 per barrel last year.

The company's revenue rose to Rp 213.8 trillion in 2001 from
Rp 164.1 trillion in 2000, he said.

Pertamina's audited before-tax profit increased to Rp 10.55
trillion in 2001 from Rp 9.03 trillion a year earlier, he added.

Of the Rp 10.55 trillion gross profit, Pertamina paid Rp 6.03
trillion in taxes to the government in 2001, up from Rp 5.23
trillion in 2000, Ainun said.

"We expect this year's gross profit to reach Rp 12 trillion,"
he said.

Elsewhere, Ainun said the amount of the 2001 fuel subsidy
would be greater than assumed in last year's state budget because
of higher domestic fuel consumption at 57.68 million kiloliters,
compared to the 2001 budget assumption of 54.6 million
kiloliters.

Ainun said fuel shortages in Riau and Sulawesi and other parts
of the country last year had forced Pertamina to supply more fuel
than expected.

According to him, the fuel subsidy for last year reached about
Rp 61.8 trillion.

But he said that the figure had yet to be approved by the
House of Representatives.