PT Indosat reports 21.5 percent growth in net income 1999

PT Indosat reports 21.5 percent growth in net income 1999

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed PT Indosat, the state-owned
international telecommunications provider, reported on Tuesday a
21.5 percent increase in net income to Rp 1.39 trillion (about
US$195.77 million) in 1999 from Rp 1.14 trillion in 1998.

Indosat president Indra Setiawan said the company's
international call traffic dropped by 9.2 percent to 644.7
million minutes last year from 710.4 million minutes in 1998.

He said the increase in international calling rates in
November 1998 resulted in higher revenue last year despite the
fall in call traffic.

The company's 1999 unaudited consolidated financial results
showed a 29.5 percent increase in operating revenue to Rp 2.73
trillion from Rp 2.10 trillion in 1998.

Earnings per share were Rp 1,341, or $1.9 per American
Depository Share based on an exchange rate of Rp 7,100 to the
dollar.

Indra said he hoped international call traffic would begin to
increase this year along with signs of recovery in some business
sectors.

"Business activity in Indonesia started to recover as
political stability improved following the election of
Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri as president and
vice president in October," he said.

Indra said Indosat, which is also listed on the New York Stock
Exchange, would develop into a fully integrated
telecommunications service provider in anticipation of the
liberalization of the country's telecommunications sector.

He said Indosat may develop four business vehicles which would
position the company as a major provider of network, mobile,
Internet and multimedia services, using a common platform
utilizing Internet Protocol-based technology.

According to the new telecommunications law, Indosat and its
joint venture company PT Satelindo will lose their exclusive
rights to provide international telecommunications services when
their current contracts end in 2005.

Indosat executive vice president for marketing Bambang
Sulistyo said the company's international telephone market share
was around 84 percent last year, with its fixed users market
share stable at around 91 percent and its cellular users market
share at 76.3 percent.

He said traffic from cellular users increased by 44 percent
from 28.2 million minutes in 1998 to 40.6 million minutes in
1999, contributing about 14.2 percent of outgoing traffic volume.
(hen)