Apexindo suffers losses of Rp 42.2b due to fall in rupiah

PT Apexindo Pratama Duta, a subsidiary of PT Medco Energy Internasional, suffered a financial losses of Rp 42.2 billion during the first semester of this year despite a significant increase in the company's revenues, Kompas reported on Saturday.

The company's financial director Agustinus B. Lomboan said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the loss was attributed to the drop in the value of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar, which fell to Rp 9,415 in June this year as compared to Rp 8,465 in the same month, 2003.

During the first six month period which ended in June, the fall in the rupiah posed a major blow to the company, which mostly used U.S. dollars in its spending.

Apexindo, which is engaged in offshore oil explorations, booked a 22.9 percent increase in revenues to Rp 470.9 billion in the first half of 2004 from Rp 383.2 billion in the same period of 2003. This resulted in the increase in its EBITDA by 31.2 percent to Rp 162.6 billion from Rp 123.9 billion. (*)