Timah suffers first-half loss

The lingering weak tin price has caused IDX-listed tin giant PT Timah Tbk to suffer a net loss of Rp 32.8 billion in the first-half of this year compared to a profit of Rp 5 billion in the corresponding six-month period of last year, Kontan reported on Thursday.

The paper quoted Timah Corporate Secretary Agung Nugroho as saying that revenue in the January-June period of this year declined by 12.5 percent to Rp 2.8 trillion year-on-year.

Agung said that the weak commodity price coupled with heavy rainfall have hampered production activity. ?When price was seen unprofitable, mining partners scaled back operation,? he said, but did not provide production figure for the first-half of this year.

Agung, however, said that in line with recent signs of recovery in global tin price, performance in the second quarter was seen better compared to the first quarter, providing optimism for the company to deliver stronger performance in the third quarter. ?We?re confident that tin price will continue to improve in the remaining period of this year. As such, we?ll be able to have positive bottom line,? he said.

Timah has set tin metal production target of 25,000 tons this year, of which 55-60 percent is allocated for the export market.

In the first semester of this year, sales of tin metal and tin solder declined to Rp 2.5 trillion from Rp 3.1 trillion in the corresponding period of last year. Sales of tin chemical, however, increased to around Rp 122.1 billion from Rp 60.4 billion.

Timah has also obtained revenue from Rp 91.2 billion from the hospital business, Rp 22.5 billion from coal, and Rp 4.1 billion from shipyard business. (*)