Semen Gresik's Q1 profit falls 46%

Semen Gresik's Q1 profit falls 46%

JAKARTA: Cement producer PT Semen Gresik said Thursday its net profit during the first quarter of this year fell 46 percent to Rp 65.41 billion, mostly due to higher sales expenses.

Results are based on Indonesian accounting standards and are unaudited.

Gresik said sales rose 11 percent to Rp 1.104 trillion from Rp 994.97 billion.

But the sales rise was offset by higher cost of sales which during the period rose 26 percent to Rp 748.37 billion from Rp 594.21 billion.

The company didn't comment on its performance.

Gresik is majority owned by the government. In December, the government scrapped a long-standing agreement to sell to Mexico's Cemex SA de CV, a 51 percent stake in Semen Gresik, after pressure from local politicians who didn't want a foreign company taking over Indonesian assets. -- Dow Jones