President director Sukrisno told reporters on Monday that net profits during the January-June period jumped to Rp 1.59 trillion (around US$160 million), as higher sale volume and prices bolstered revenues.
Revenue soared 56 percent to reach Rp 4.6 trillion.

“Revenue and profit soared as a result of higher volume sales and a better selling price for coal,” Sukrisno said on the sidelines of a meeting at the Office of the State Minister for State Enterprises.

During the first quarter, the company managed to sell its coal at $90 a ton on average, higher than the $60 and $70 a ton selling price in the same period last year.

Sukrisno is also cautiously upbeat about full-year prospects.

“We predict the revenue in the second semester will also be good. But who knows, because the coal price remains uncertain,” he said.

“It depends on the market price, but I am quite sure our sales volume will increase [from last year] by perhaps around 40 percent,” he said of the company’s full-year revenue estimates.

The company gained Rp 1.7 trillion in net profit last year, and paid the government Rp 555.2 billion in dividends.

It allocated a total of Rp 853.9 billion toward shareholder dividends in 2008.

PTBA is 65 percent owned by the government.

The company, which controls about a quarter of Indonesia’s coal reserves, is also launching an aggressive expansion by preparing several mine takeovers.

It is currently conducting feasibility studies for the purchase of two coal mines in Kalimantan, which have an estimated investment value of Rp 1.5 trillion.

According to Sukrisno, the company produced 5.8 million tons of coal in the first semester. The company is aiming to produce 13.5 million tons this year. (naf)

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