Timah books lower profit in Q1 2001

PT Timah Tbk announced today that the Company posted Rp116.4 billion (US$=Rp10,800) net profit after tax for the first quarter of 2001, a decrease of 12 percent from the same period last year of Rp131.7 billion.

World tin price was weakening in the first quarter of 2001. The average of tin price received by the Company was US$5,213, 10 percent lower than US$5,780 per ton in the same period last year. Average realized exchange rate of the Company's US Dollar revenue in the first quarter of 2000 was 39 percent higher compared to that of the same period in 2000, from an average of Rp9,714 to Rp6,974 per US Dollar in this year.

Sales volume during the first quarter of 2001 decreased by 25 percent than that of the same period last year of 9,017 tons to 6,744 tons. The economic recession in US and the refined tin flood in market - which made premium price, became competitive - were the main reason of lower sales volume. In the other hand the metal production increased from 6,947 tons in the first quarter of 2000 to 7,630 tons, and 12 percent higher production of tin-in-concentrate to 11,234 tons Sn from 6,910 tons Sn in the same period last year.

The Company's policy to increase the compensation of tin-in-concentrate paid to the contractors to anticipate illegal mining and tin smuggling activities resulted higher tin-in-concentrate production from inland mining. The inland mining performance increased 141 percent from 3,548 tons Sn in the first quarter of 2000 to 8,551 tons Sn this year.

However, the volume of earth moved in first quarter of 2001 could not showed the real performance of inland mining, since it was 40 percent lower to 4,811,711m 3 from 8,040,505m 3 in the same period last year. Around 84 percent from inland performance were resulted from tin panning and the rest of it was from inland mining production. (*)