Telkom posts 48 percent rise in its net income

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned telephone operator PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) booked a 48 percent increase in its net income for the first nine months of the year to Rp 2.18 trillion ($233.02 million) from Rp 1.47 trillion a year earlier.

"Contributing to the growth was the increase in total operating revenues and non-operating gains," Telkom corporate secretary Bambang Riadhy Oemar said in a statement on Friday.

Total operating revenues increased 21 percent to Rp 6.94 trillion in the period between January and September compared to Rp 5.74 trillion during the same period last year, he said.

Total operating expenses grew by 12.61 percent to Rp 3.62 trillion from Rp 3.22 trillion in 1999, which led to a 31.63 percent increase in operating income, Bambang said.

Operating income rose to Rp 3.31 trillion during the first nine months of 2000 from Rp 2.51 trillion the previous year, he said.

During the period from January through September 2000, Telkom spent Rp 824.55 billion on capital expenditures, Bambang said in the statement, adding that Rp 517.34 billion was spent on the expansion of Telkom's fixed line network, and Rp 307.21 billion invested for quality enhancement, and new business and technology development.

Bambang said that as of September, Telkom and its joint operating (KSO) partners have set up 6.5 million lines in service, consisting of 3.53 million lines in Telkom regions of Greater Jakarta and East Java, and 2.99 million lines in KSO regions.

During the nine months of 2000, it recorded net additional lines totaling 455,586 lines, an increase of 21 percent from the same period last year, he said.

"Of the net additional lines in service, 282,088 were added in Telkom regions and 173,498 were in KSO regions," Bambang said in the statement. (tnt)