PTBA net profit drops by 37%

Despite higher sales volume, IDX-listed coal miner PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA) said that net profit last year dropped by 37 percent to Rp 1.83 trillion from Rp 2.90 trillion in the previous year due to falling price of the commodity.

The company said in a statement Wednesday that sales volume last year rose by 16 percent to 17.76 million tons from 15.33 million tons in 2012. About 54 percent of the sales volume went to the export market, up from 45 percent in the previous year, while the remainder went to the domestic market.

The company said that its export has been focused on high calorific value coal which are on high demand in overseas markets such as Taiwan and China. This forms part of the company strategy in dealing with the lingering coal market downturn.

Other efforts include efficiency measures such as by minimizing the use of more expensive petroleum fuel, thanks to the existence of the company?s owned coal-fired power plants supporting mining operations.

PTBA said that of the total 17.76 million tons coal sales volume, 15.09 million tons were contributed by own production, which was 8 percent higher than production in 2012. The remainder was contributed by coal purchased from other parties.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak