Sampoerna's net profit drops 5.8%

JAKARTA: The publicly-listed cigarette maker PT Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna reported a 5.8 percent drop in 2001 net profit on Wednesday to Rp 955.4 billion (US$98.5 million) from Rp 1.01 trillion in 2000 due to a new accounting procedure.

The company said in a statement that the new rule required it to book foreign currency swap contracts at their current market value, resulting in a Rp 522 billion one-time write-down.

The country's second-largest clove cigarette maker, however, said that sales soared by more than 40 percent, to a record Rp 14.07 trillion last year, up from Rp 10.02 trillion in the previous year.

The jump in sales was the result of a number of price increases as the government sought to boost tax revenue from the cigarette industry. -- JP