Pertamina books Rp 2 trillion in profit

State oil and gas Pertamina expected to book a profit of about Rp 2 trillion in the year ended in March 31, an increase from about Rp 1.5 trillion in last year, the company's finance director Ainun Naim has said.

"That is not the final figure because the financial reports have not been all audited," he told journalists on Wednesday.

Ainun said that the increase was mainly resulted from the growth in the income from the state oil company's oil exploration operation and the improvement of the rupiah rate against the U.S. dollar. But he added that many of the company's 44 business units still suffered deficit despite the profit growth.

He, however, said that the public should not judge the state oil and gas company's performance based on its financial reports because the company also operated in some non-profit businesses such as the procurement and the distribution of oil fuel in the domestic market. (*)