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iant food producer PT Indofood Sukses Makmur (INDF) posted a 57.6 percent net profit increase between January and September this year, thanks to a major net sales contribution from its subsidiary operating in consumer branded products (CBP).

From January to September, the company posted Rp 3.03 trillion (US$250.5 million) in net profit compared to Rp 1.92 trillion in the same period last year, Indofood Sukses Makmur president director and CEO Anthony Salim said in a press statement on Friday.

Anthony said the major growth contributor was the CBP group under the management of its subsidiary, Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur (ICBP), which posted a 21.2 percent total sales increase as of September this year.

The CBP Group manufactures noodles, dairy, snack foods, food seasonings, nutrition and special foods as well as beverages.

'€œCBP Group remains the largest contributor with 44 percent to consolidated net sales, followed by Bogasari, Agribusiness, Distribution as well as Cultivation and Processed Group with 24 percent, 18 percent, 7 percent and 7 percent respectively,'€ he said.

Anthony, who is also a CEO in ICBP, said it posted consolidated net sales of Rp 22.78 trillion in the nine-month period this year, an increase of 20.7 percent from Rp 18.88 trillion as of September last year.

ICBP'€™s net profit rose 11.6 percent to Rp 2.07 trillion between January and September this year compared to Rp 1.85 trillion in the same period last year, he said.

Noodle manufacturing, the largest division of ICBP, contributed 66 percent to consolidated net sales, followed by dairy, snack foods, beverages, food seasonings as well as nutrition and special foods with 17 percent, 6 percent, 6 percent, 3 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

According to Anthony, ICBP delivered a solid performance in the nine-month period despite a tough macroeconomic environment and a weaker food and beverage industry.

'€œThe healthy growth in top and bottom line reflects resiliency in some of our business categories. We will continue to sharpen our strategies against challenges to deliver sustainable results and capture opportunities in the coming years,'€ he said.

Kiswoyo Adi Joe, an analyst with Investa Saran Mandiri, said ICBP would continue to face various challenges this year, including bad weather due to El Niño and increased operating expenses, even though foreign exchange pressure would ease near the end of the year.

'€œWe predict that the situation will enable ICBP to book a net profit of at least Rp 2.44 trillion, or a 50 percent increase this year,'€ he said.

Other subsidiaries of Indofood, namely Bogasari, Agribusiness and Distribution Groups, recorded growth in total sales value of 7.5 percent, 10.6 percent and 9.5 percent respectively in the nine-month period of this year.

Meanwhile, Cultivation and Processed Vegetables Group delivered Rp 3.52 trillion of total sales value as of September this year, Anthony said.

Accumulatively, the company posted a consolidated net sale that grew 22.1 percent to Rp 50.39 trillion by the end of September from Rp 41.28 trillion in the same period last year.

Income from operations increased 27.1 percent to Rp 6.05 trillion in the nine-month period, from Rp 4.76 trillion between January and September last year,
Anthony said.

From January to September, Indofood also posted a Rp 66.46 billion loss in foreign exchange (FX), compared to FX gains of Rp 1.01 trillion in the same period last year.

Indofood'€™s brand includes consumer food products, namely Indomie, Indomilk, Chitato, Lays, Sambal Indofood, Promina
and an exclusive bottling agreement for Pepsi and 7Up, among others.

Shares of Indofood rose 3.41 percent to Rp 6,825 on Friday from Rp 6,600 a day earlier. Meanwhile, Indofood CBP'€™s shares closed at Rp 11,050 on Friday, increasing 0.45 percent from Rp 11,000 a day earlier. (gda)