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mid tumbling coal prices, state-run miner Bukit Asam saw its bottom line jump by about one-third in the first half of this year despite the global decline in coal prices.

After bleeding in the first six months of last year, Bukit Asam reported on Friday that its financial performance had improved, having booked a 33.23 percent increase year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rp 1.16 trillion (US$99.37 million) in net profits during the first half of this year.

The company'€™s revenue surged by about 18 percent, from Rp 5.43 trillion in the first half of last year to Rp 6.43 trillion during the same period this year. In contrast, the company saw its revenue slip by 6.22 percent y-o-y and its net profits slump by 44.06 percent during the first half of last year, dragged down by an unfavorable coal market.

While coal prices have yet to pick up in general, Bukit Asam managed to boost its first-half financial performance, which the company'€™s corporate secretary Joko Pramono attributed to multi-branding and an efficiency strategy.

'€œWe now market our coal in seven brands, of which we allocate the high-calorie coals for export and the remainder for domestic consumption. This way, we manage to cushion losses from a dwindling global coal market with our premium pricing,'€ Joko said.

Bukit Asam'€™s average selling prices (ASP) rose by about 17 percent to Rp 726,766 per ton, compared to Rp 621,792 a ton last year.

Indonesia'€™s coal reference price (HBA) was set at $73.64 per ton in June, which was 11.22 percent lower than the $81.9 per ton set for January this year. Meanwhile, the average coal price in the first six months of 2013 was $87.46 a ton.

Joko said his company was upbeat about maintaining the growth until year-end, now that the company had joined the Jakarta Future Exchange, which allowed the company to sell its coal online to highest bidders. The move, he said, would further guarantee the company getting the best price for its products despite the bearish coal market.

'€œBesides branding, we'€™ve also focused on carrying out an efficiency strategy to deflate costs, by relying on our own power plants to supply our energy needs as well as reducing our stripping ratio,'€ he went on.

Bukit Asam'€™s coal output rose by 15.61 percent y-o-y to 7.7 million tons. The company'€™s sales volume, however, was flat at 8.83 million tons during the period, compared to the 8.74 million tons it sold last year, due to a decline in the company'€™s third-party purchases. The company sold an almost equal amount of coal to the domestic market as for export.

Bukit Asam plans to disburse Rp 1.54 trillion for capital expenditure (capex) this year, of which approximately 75 percent will be allocated to the company'€™s project development, while the remainder will be set aside for routine maintenance.

As of June, the company had disbursed Rp 502.63 billion of capex, mostly to finance its development projects. The company is currently working on several projects, which include the expansion of the ports and railways at its mining sites in South Sumatra, several power-plant projects and a coal bed methane (CBM) project, which is expected to start producing 40 million cubic feet per day by 2015.

'€”JP/Anggi M. Lubis