Publicly listed PT Asahimas Flat Glass, Southeast Asia's largest glass producer, recorded a hefty profit during the first nine months of the year on higher demand from the construction sector.

The subsidiary of Japan's Asahi Glass Co. Ltd. booked Rp 205 billion (US$18.5 million) in net profit, up by 111 percent from Rp 97 billion posted in the same period of last year, according to the company's director, Samuel Rumbajan on Friday.

"The 10 to 15 percent growth in the construction sector this year has boosted our sales during the last nine months," he said.

Samuel said the company's strategy to increase its product prices by an average of five percent had also helped boost sales, which soared to Rp 1.71 trillion from Rp 1.34 trillion.

More than 70 percent of the company's production is flat glass for construction purposes while the remaining 30 percent is for the automotive industry.

In response to anticipated lower demand next year due to global recession, Samuel remained upbeat that the company's growth would remain steady.

"As the world's industry growth is declining, we can't predict our growth next year, or even until the end of the year," he said.

The company distributes its product mainly to Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand.

Asahimas is now operating three factories in Jakarta, Cikampek and Sidoarjo, East Java, with a total annual production capacity of 570,000 tons of flat glass, 4.5 million square meters of safety glass and 2.4 million square meters of mirror.

The company is 43.86 percent owned by Asahi Glass and 40.67 percent by PT Rodamas, according to the Indonesia Stock Exchange. (hwa)

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