I

ndonesia’s largest food manufacturer, PT Indofood Sukses Makmur (INDF), reported a 10.3 percent rise in consolidated net sales during the first nine months of 2012 to Rp 37.25 trillion (US$3.87 billion).

In line with the increase in sales, the food giant’s net profit rose by 9.7 percent to Rp 2.55 trillion during the January-September period, from Rp 2.32 trillion.

The surge in profits was supported by solid sale growth recorded by Indofood’s Strategic Business Group, which includes Consumer Branded Products (CBP), Bogasari, agribusiness and distribution.

The CBP group continued to dominate the company’s total net sales, contributing 39.2 percent, followed by Bogasari with 28.2 percent, agribusiness with 25.5 percent, and distribution with 7.1 percent.

The CBP group, led by publicly listed PT Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur (ICBP), manufactures various goods under its five divisions; instant noodle, dairy, food seasonings, snacks and special foods. Some of its most popular brands are Indomie, Indomilk, Chitato and Promina.

Based on ICBP financial reports, net sales grew 12.3 percent to Rp 16.23 trillion from 2011, thanks to higher sales volumes of most of its products. Net profits stood at Rp 1.66 trillion, a 8.4 percent increase from the previous year.

A big chunk of ICBP’s net sales came from its instant noodle division, which accounted for 68.3 percent of the amount, while dairy products contributed 17.4 percent, snacks at 6.7 percent, food seasonings with 5.5 percent, and special foods with 2.2 percent.

During the first nine months of 2012, sales of instant noodles reached Rp 11.42 trillion, a 12.8 percent growth from a year before. The special foods became ICBP’s sole division which suffered from lower sales, down 4 percent to Rp 363.94 billion.

Meanwhile, Indofood’s Bogasari group, which produces flour and pasta, posted Rp 11.61 trillion in net sales during the January and September period, a 4.6 percent increase from the same period last year.

“Bogasari was able to sell higher volumes of flour, even though its average selling price was lowered due to a declining global wheat price,” Indofood said.

Indofood’s agribusiness group, which operates in the palm oil and rubber plantations sector, also managed to reap higher net sales despite lower average selling price. The agribusiness group is run by publicly listed PT Salim Ivomas Pratama (SIMP) and PT PP London Sumatra Indonesia (LSIP).

 Net sales climbed 12.5 percent to Rp 10.52 trillion. Between January and September 2012, SIMP sold a total of 619,000 metric tons of crude palm oil (CPO), while LISP sold 320,445 tons of CPO. As of September 2012, Indofood’s total assets amounted to 57.11 trillion. Its liabilities and equities stood at Rp 23.77 trillion and Rp 33.34 trillion, respectively.