Bukit Asam books Rp 287.4 billion in net profit

State owned coal mine operator PT Batubara Bukit Asam expects to book a net profit of about Rp 300 billion this year, up from the Rp 287.4 billion (1US$=Rp 8,500) recorded in 1999, the company's president RA Sunardi said in Jakarta on Friday.

Sunardi said that the company, which operates massive coal mining in South Sumatera, would increase the coal production from 11.7 million tons in 1999 to 12.7 million tons this year to meet the higher profit target

He said that the net profit could have reached Rp 370 billion last year if no extra ordinary payment was made to settle tax dispute and to finance coal briquette project. "The extra ordinary payment alone reached a total of Rp 100 billion," he said,

Sunardi said that the net profit realized during the 1999 financial year were only 92 percent of the initial target because the coal shipment was only about 84 percent of the 8.6 million tons of the initial projection. "The lower than expected profit was also partly caused by the unfavorable coal prices during the year," he said.

He said that 23 percent of the total coal production this year would be exported and the remaining would be sold at home, particularly to the coal-fired power plant in Suralaya, West Java.

In 1999, Bukit Asam ranked as the third largest coal producer in the country, with total output of 11.7 million tons or about 15.4 percent of the country's total coal production,

The company, one of the state owned companies that will be privatized by the government this year, was also the largest coal supplier in the domestic market during the year, with total domestic sales of about 9 million tons or about 48.6 percent of the total domestic coal supply. (*)