Bumi?s H1 net profits drop 30%

PT Bumi Resources Tbk, the country?s largest coal producer, suffered a 30 percent fall in its net profit during the first half of this year to US$134.57 million from $192.29 million in the first six months, last year, partly due to high derivative losses, and increase in interest costs and tax payment.

Revenues rose 25 percent to $2.14 billion from $1.71 billion a year ago. But due to an increase in operating costs by 36.9 percent to $1.3 billion during the first half, operating income rose only 8.9 percent to $790 million, the company said in statement on Monday.

Besides a higher operating cost, the company?s interest charges also rose 437 percent to $257.40 million from $47.8million in the first half last year. Tax payment also rose to $221 million from $183 million. In addition, Bumi also suffered losses of $60 million from derivative transactions.

However, during the first half, this year, Bumi gained as much as $40.7 million from foreign exchange transactions and another $171.6 million from the sale of assets. (godang)