Ramayana's profit up 6.8%

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly-listed department store chain PT Ramayana Lestari Sentosa recorded a 6.8 percent increase in net profit, reaching Rp 56.79 billion (US$5.16 million) in the first quarter of the year as against Rp 53.15 billion in the same period last year.

The company attributed the increase to foreign exchange earnings which rose seven fold to Rp 22.19 billion in the first quarter of the year, from Rp 3.3 billion in the corresponding period last year.

Sales plunged 9 percent to Rp 414.08 billion, from Rp 453.53 billion, the company said in a statement quoted by online news provider Detik.Com.

Operating costs rose by 15.7 percent to Rp 81.01 billion, from Rp 70.1 percent.

Last year, Ramayana recorded a 42.9 percent increase in sales reaching Rp 2.4 trillion, as against Rp 1.7 trillion in the previous year.

Net profit rose by 23.2 percent last year to Rp 257.2 billion from Rp 208.7 billion in 1999. (03)