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.