PTBA sales volume up 17%, profit down 43%
Wednesday, October 30 2013 - 12:16 PM WIB
The collapse in coal price since last year has severely hit all coal companies, including PTBA.
The firm said in a statement it booked a net profit of Rp 1.24 trillion until the third quarter of the year, a 43 percent drop from Rp 2.20 trillion in the same period of last year.
Sales volume rose 17 percent to 13.24 million tons until the third quarter of the year, compared to 11.36 million tons in the same period of last year. Exports rose 36 percent to 7.02 million tons from 5.15 million tons. It sold 6.22 million tons in the first nine months of the year, marginally higher than 6.21 million tons in the same period of last year.
The coal was exported to Taiwan (17 percent), India (14 percent), China (9 percent), Malaysia (8 percent), Japan (3 percent) and Vietnam (2 percent). Exports contributed Rp 4.46 trillion to its operating profit in the period, which stood at Rp 8.12 trillion, down 7 percent from the same period of last year.
To cope with the market downturn, the firm said it is prioritizing selling high calorie coal which is favored in export markets, seeking to improve efficiency by among others cutting the hauling distance and prioritizing using production facilities that uses power from its 3x10 MW mine mouth power plant.
Production during the January-September period reached 11 million tons, including 10.2 million tons from Tanjung Enim mine in South Sumatra, 0.8 million tons from its East Kalimantan mine through its subsidiary PT Internasional Prima Coal (JPC). The firm through subsidiaries PT Bukit Asam Prima and JPC also bought a combined 2.3 million tons from third parties during the period.
During the period, the volume of coal carried via railway from Tanjung Enim to Tarahan in Bandar Lampung rose 7 percent to 9.56 million tons. State owned railway company PT Kereta Api has added 230 wagons and 44 locomotives to its fleet to carry PTBA coal but the new facilities will be fully operational in the fourth quarter of the year.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon