Aneka Tambang plays down bankruptcy suit filed by PT HKE

Publicly listed general mining company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) has played down the impact of the bankruptcy suit filed by PT Hardy & Kee Engineering (HKE) on its financial performance, Neraca daily reported on Monday.

Antam?s corporate secretary Dohar Siregar said in Jakarta last week that bankruptcy petition filed against the company was immaterial and it would not, therefore, affect the company?s business activities.

?Although the legal dispute has not yet been settled, the management is optimistic that it will not materially affect the company,? he was quoted by Neraca as saying.

PT HKE fled a bankruptcy petition against Antam in June 1999 for its failure to pay its financial obligation. The legal suit, however, is not yet settled.

Antam said that during the first semester of this year, sales rose by 14.7 percent to Rp 831.8 billion from the level booked in the same period of last year. The gross profit rose by 12.5 percent to Rp 404.7 billion, while the operating income increased by 11,85 percent to Rp 338.9 billion.

The realized sales of nickel ore rose by 29,8 percent to 771,492 tons from 594,213 tons in the first semester of 2000. However, the realized sales of ferronickel dropped by 9.1 percent from 5,002 tons to 4,547 tons. (*)