Semen Gresik profit jumps 39%

Semen Gresik profit jumps 39%

JAKARTA: PT Semen Gresik, Indonesia's biggest cement maker by volume, said nine-month profit rose 39 percent, as the lowest interest rates in six years helped stoke demand for new homes and offices, and lowered the cost of servicing its debt.

Unaudited net income rose to Rp 370 billion (US$41 million), or Rp 624 a share, in the nine months ended Sept. 30, compared with Rp 266.9 billion, or Rp 450 a share, a year earlier, the Gresik, East Java-based company said in a statement. Sales rose 10 percent to Rp 4.51 trillion.

More homes and retail spaces are being built in Indonesia as consumers and businesses take advantage of lending rates that averaged 16 percent in the first nine months of the year, compared with 19 percent in the same period last year. Gresik spent 223.2 billion rupiah in interest expenses in the nine-month period, compared with 322 billion rupiah a year earlier. -- Bloomberg