Unilever sets aside $20m to expand production

Unilever sets aside $20m to expand production

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed consumer products producer PT
Unilever Indonesia has allocated $20 million to expand production
this year.

Company director A.A. Pranatadjaja said here on Thursday that
Unilever would expand all of its factories -- five located in
Cikarang, West Java, and two in Rungkut, East Java -- to meet an
increase in orders from neighboring countries.

"We hope the expansion will be able to boost our exports this
year," he announced after the company's annual shareholders
meeting. He was reluctant to provide further details.

The company -- which produces a number of consumer products
such as Sariwangi tea, Lux and Lifebuoy soap, Magnum Classic,
Paddle Pop and Calippo Frost ice cream, Sunsilk shampoo and
Pepsodent toothpaste -- exports some of its products to
Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia.

Its exports accounted for 5.3 percent of the company's total
sales of Rp 4.87 trillion (US$431 million) last year.

Pranatadjaja said that Unilever would also use part of the
expansion funds to upgrade its computer network throughout the
country's factories and branches.

"The new facilities will help reduce the company's operating
costs," he added.

According to him, the company's operating costs have been on
the rise due to the hike in fuel prices this year as well as the
continual depreciation of the rupiah.

"Therefore, we're very cautious about projecting our target
this year," he said, adding that the company would try to
maintain its performance at the same level as in the first
quarter.

The company's net profit surged 22 percent to Rp 303 billion
between January and March from the Rp 241 billion in the same
period last year.

Unilever's sales rose by 26 percent to Rp 1.48 trillion in the
first three months of this year from Rp 1.17 trillion in the same
period last year.

In the meeting, the shareholders approved the company's
proposal to pay a final dividend of Rp 490 per share, bringing
the total dividend paid by the company for the 2000 book year to
Rp 690 per share.

The shareholders also endorsed the appointment of Juwono
Sudarsono, a noted lecturer at the University of Indonesia and
former defense minister, as an independent commissioner in the
company.

Alec Lever, former marketing director for personal care at
Unilever Philippines, was also appointed as the new director
during the meeting, replacing David John Lewis, who retired in
August last year.(05)