PT Timah's 9 mo net profit down, output up

State-owned tin mining firm PT Timah said on Tuesday its unaudited net profit reached Rp 61.6 billion until the end of third quarter 2006, or 39.1 percent lower than the restated Rp 101.2 billion net profit in the same period last year.

The company?s sales volume in the first nine months of the year lowered 0.5 percent to 30,735 tons from 30,902 tons, a year earlier. But total sales revenue rose 15.3 percent to Rp 3 trillion from Rp 2.6 trillion.

"Our profits declined because prices of tin ores that we're buying increased due to higher demand. Higher fuel price is another reason," Corporate Secretary Prasetyo B. Saksono was quoted by Bloomberg as saying in a phone interview.

Timah said its refined tin output increased to 31,530 tons in the first nine month ended Sept 30, or 4.8 percent higher than the production of the same period in 2005 of 30,084 tons.

Timah also said that the average price received until the end of this quarter of 2006 amounted to US$8,343 per ton, or 6.2 percent higher than that of the same period last year of US$7,857 per tons. (denny)