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tate-owned aluminum producer PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminum (Inalum) has reported 179 percent growth in profit since being classified a state-owned enterprise (SOE) in December 2013.

The company attributed the significant growth to productive aluminum ingot production in the past six months, which exceeded this year'€™s 261,420 tons target by 131,719 tons.

The target was already higher than the overall production result of 256,602 tons of aluminum ingots in 2013.

Inalum president director Winardi said that due to the production increase, the company had earned net profits of US$68.8 million by the middle of the year, growing 179 percent from the same period last year of $24.5 million.

'€œInalum'€™s profits have significantly risen since it became a state-owned company. We will continue to sustain [this success],'€ Winardi explained to reporters in Medan on Sunday.

He added that Inalum had paid a Rp 394 billion ($34 million) dividend to the government last week, as the company saw strong financial progress. The dividend payout was about 50 percent of the company'€™s total earnings.

'€œThe remaining funds will be used for investment. I can say that we are now a different company to previously,'€ Winardi elaborated.

Prior to becoming a state-owned enterprise, Inalum used to payout all of its earnings to the government as dividends.

The president director also voiced hope that Inalum would be the 141st state-owned company able to grow without government funding.

'€œThe goal is to move away from funding assistance. Let those funds be given to other state-owned companies that need it,'€ he asserted.

Meanwhile, Inalum operational director Sahala Hasoloan Sijabat explained that in order for the company to maintain its success, it had a development plan.

He revealed that the company planned to increase production capacity by running optimization programs, as well as expanding their smelter factories until the target of 500,000 tons per year was reached by 2019.

'€œWe are confident that we can reach the set target. The success seemed viable the moment this company became state-owned,'€ Sahala told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He added that Inalum'€™s operations were currently running smoothly, pertaining to the stable water levels at Lake Toba, North Sumatra, which were currently 906.14 meters above sea level.

'€œLake Toba is considered the heart of Inalum'€™s operations, to the point where if the water level was unstable, our operations will be disrupted,'€ Sijabat said. (dyl)