Ramayana's 2004 profit up 2.9%

Ramayana's 2004 profit up 2.9%

JAKARTA: PT Ramayana Lestari Sentosa, Indonesia's biggest retailer by value, said profit rose 2.9 percent last year helped by foreign exchange gains. The profit figure missed its earlier estimate on higher costs and slower-than-expected sales.

Ramayana's 2004 net income increased to Rp 311.8 billion (US$33 million), or Rp 44.43 a share, from Rp 303.1 billion, or Rp 43.28, in 2003, the company said in a statement in Thursday's Bisnis Indonesia. Sales rose 6.9 percent to Rp 3.8 trillion from Rp 3.55 trillion in 2003, it said.

The figures missed Ramayana's earlier estimates. The Jakarta- based company said in July that full-year 2004 profit would increase 16 percent to Rp 350 billion as sales would rise to Rp 4 trillion. -- Bloomberg