Sampoerna sales rise on demand for A Mild

Sampoerna sales rise on demand for A Mild

Bloomberg/Singapore

PT H.M. Sampoerna, Indonesia's second-biggest publicly traded cigarette maker, said sales in the first three quarters rose 15 percent, aided by higher demand for its A Mild brand.

Sales in the nine months to Sept. 30 rose to Rp 12.52 trillion (US$1.37 billion) from Rp 10.9 trillion a year ago, the company said in a statement. Sales of the low-tar, low-nicotine A Mild brand rose 27 percent to Rp 4.52 trillion.

The company sold 30.95 billion cigarettes in the nine months, 13 percent more than the 27.47 billion sold in the same period last year, the Surabaya-based company said. Sales volume of A Mild brand rose a quarter to 12.33 billion cigarettes, while sales of its main brand Dji Sam Soe rose 4.3 percent to 12.7 billion cigarettes.

Sampoerna said in July sales volume by all Indonesian cigarette makers may grow by as much as 10 percent this year, as faster economic expansion boosts demand. Indonesia's economy is expected to grow 4.8 percent this year from 4.5 percent last year.

Sampoerna's shares were unchanged at 6,000 rupiah today on the Jakarta Stock Exchange.