PGN maintains income forecast

PGN maintains income forecast

JAKARTA: PT Perusahaan Gas Negara, Indonesia's state- controlled gas distributor, expects profit to grow 15 percent as sales rise and a stronger local currency helps narrow foreign exchange losses, President Director W. Simandjuntak said.

Net income was Rp 519.45 billion (US$58 million) last year.

Revenue from gas sales and distribution may rise to Rp 4.3 trillion this year from Rp 3.6 trillion in 2003, Simandjuntak told reporters today in Jakarta.

Perusahaan Gas plans to sell as much as Rp 1.5 trillion of seven-year bonds by the end of March to fund the expansion of its pipeline network. It's also using an $80 million World Bank loan to build pipelines in the western part of Java province, where industrial demand for the fuel is increasing.

In the nine months ended Sept. 30, the state utility's net income fell 49 percent to Rp 263.9 billion as an increase in foreign exchange losses and debt costs outstripped a 24 percent gain in sales to Rp 3.27 trillion. -- Bloomberg