Strike will not affect production: Mayora

JAKARTA (JP): A recent workers strike at publicly listed candy and cookie producer PT Mayora Indah will not have a major impact on this year's production target, company chief commissioner Jogi Hendra Atmadja said here on Thursday.

Jogi said the impact on production was minimal because the strike only hit one of the company's factories.

"The three-week strike was held by a small number of workers at one factory. Although there was an impact there, production losses were not that great," Jogi announced.

Mayora's workers went on strike in May demanding a 30 percent increase in their wages.

Jogi said the company settled the workers' complaints and raised their salaries above the government-set minimum wage.

Mayora, which exports a large portion of its products, booked a net profit of Rp 4.8 billion (US$715,000) in 1998, down sharply from the Rp 20 billion net profit it saw in 1997, finance director Hermawan Lesmana said.

He said he was optimistic the company's profits would be higher this year in line with an increase in demand in both the domestic and overseas markets.

Hermawan said the company's sales had increased in recent months, reaching Rp 114 billion in the first quarter of the year.

"Although sales were relatively flat in the first half of the year, we have seen a bright light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

Decreased demand as a result of the country's economic crisis forced the company to cut its production by up to 60 percent, he said.

However, Hermawan said the company had begun to increase production over the last two months to meet growing demand.

In the third quarter of the year, the company will be up to between 70 percent and 75 percent of production capacity, he said.

Mayora exports to Southeast Asia, Europe, Saudi Arabia, the Middle East and the United States.

"Our exports made up about 25 percent of our total sales last year. We hope exports will rise to 35 percent of sales this year", Hermawan said. (01)