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ublicly listed private television station PT Indosiar Karya Media is expecting significant growth in revenue of more than 50 percent this year on the back of healthier management, following the acquisition of the company by PT Elang Mahkota Teknologi last year.

Indosiar’s president director, Liem Halim, said the company targeted to reap Rp 1.35 trillion (US$145 million) in revenue this year, up 57 percent from last year’s Rp 856.47 billion.

“Our revenue target is conservative. For the first five months, we are on target; we don’t know what
will happen. However, as long as there is no crash [economic crisis] such as in 2008, we will meet our target,” Liem said on Tuesday.

Indosiar collected Rp 225.77 billion in revenue in the first three months of the year, an increase of 31 percent compared to Rp 171.83 billion in the same period last year. Growing revenue, particularly from advertisements, has helped Indosiar to book Rp 51.85 billion in net profits in the first quarter of the year, a significant improvement as the company suffered from a net loss amounting Rp 19.25 billion in the same period last year.

Indosiar’s sister company, PT Surya Citra Media (SCMA), which is 85 percent owned by Elang Mahkota Teknologi, reported an 8 percent drop in revenue to Rp 449.18 billion during the first three months of the year, from Rp 490.78 billion in the same period last year.

However, lower operational costs helped SCMA — which operates television station SCTV — maintained a 4 percent increase in net profits, to Rp 163.22 billion at the end of March versus Rp 156.76 billion for the same period last year.

Meanwhile, other television broadcaster PT Visi Media Asia (VIVA), which owns two television stations — ANTV and TVOne, as well as news portal Vivanews, collected Rp 244.81 billion in revenue in the first three months of the year, a 22 percent jump from Rp 199.95 billion during the same period in 2011.

Rising operating expenses of Rp 201.61 billion and non-operating expenses of Rp 32.69 billion, dragged down the company’s gross profits to Rp 4.52 billion.

Viva’s net profits stood at Rp 193.69 million in the first quarter of the year, a major improvement as the company reported Rp 3.51 billion in net losses in the same period last year.

Another listed media company, PT Media Nusantara Citra (MNCN), which has three television stations, namely RCTI, MNC TV and Global TV, as well as printed media Seputar Indonesia — reaped Rp 1.14 trillion in revenue between January and March, a 24 percent increase compared to Rp 914.5 billion during the same period last year. About 82 percent of the revenue came from advertisements broadcast on the three television stations.

MNCN’s net profits surged 44 percent to Rp 352.16 billion in the first quarter of this year, up from
Rp 243.12 billion in the same period last year.