Indonesia's Semen Gresik first half profit up 9.5 percent
JAKARTA (AFP) — Indonesia's largest cement maker Semen Gresik said Thursday its first-half net profit rose 9.5 percent to 700 billion rupiah (76.5 million dollars) from a year earlier, on higher sales and better cost efficiencies.
Company president Dwi Soetjipto told reporters sales in the first half of 2007 rose 8.31 percent to 4.43 trillion from a year earlier.
Semen Gresik owns two main cement units, Semen Padang in West Sumatra province and Semen Tonasa on Sulawesi island.
Soetjipto said Semen Gresik, as the parent company, contributed 47.7 percent to total sales in the first half, followed by Semen Padang contributing 34.5 percent and Semen Tonasa contributing 17.8 percent.
He said Semen Gresik's market share in the first half stood at 46.5 percent.
In a statement, the company said its operating profit in the first-half rose 5.46 percent to 939.57 billion rupiah from a year earlier.
The company said it sold a total of 7.9 million tons of cement in the first half, up 5.6 percent from a year earlier. Domestic sales accounted for 90 percent of total sales, it said.
It said the domestic average selling price firmed slightly by 0.2 percent year-on-year, while the export selling price increased 7 percent.
Indonesia's Rajawali Group bought a 24.9 percent stake in Semen Gresik from Mexico's Cemex in July last year after Cemex entered a prolonged dispute with the Indonesian government over a failed option that would have allowed it to gain a controlling stake in 2001.
