By Vanesha Manuturi on 10:58 pm Feb 25, 2015
Jakarta. Two subsidiaries of one of the country’s biggest conglomerates, Astra International, posted mixed profit growth last year, highlighting differing repercussions of a weakened rupiah.
Astra International’s agribusiness unit, Astra Agro Lestari, saw a near 40 percent profit growth last year, wiping off the 25 percent decline it had seen in 2013.
The agribusiness company’s profit reached Rp 2.6 trillion ($220 million) in 2014, compared to Rp 1.8 trillion in the year before, according to the company’s financial statement on the local stock exchange on Wednesday.
Astra Agro Lestari, which exports some rubber and cooking oil, booked Rp 16.3 trillion in revenue, up 30 percent from the year before, in part due to weaker rupiah supporting exports.
On top of a solid revenue growth, profit at the company also grew on the back of a narrower foreign exchange loss, which stood at Rp 126.7 billion last year from Rp 444 billion in 2013.
The same rosy result couldn’t be said to Astra Otoparts — an automotive parts manufacturer — which posted another decline in profit last year as expenses continued to climb faster than revenue.
The company booked Rp 871 billion in profit last year, an 8 percent decline from the year before. Although revenue grew 14 percent to Rp 12.3 billion last year, costs rose by 16 percent to Rp 10.5 billion.
Hamdhani Dzulkarnaen Salim, the president director of Astra Otoparts, previously said automotive manufactures in Indonesia are likely to take a hit from rupiah depreciation, since manufacturing costs would increase as a significant portion of the materials needed are imported.
After a 2 percent depreciation against the American greenback last year, the Indonesian rupiah has fallen by 3.6 percent to 12,887 per US dollar so far this year, data from Bank Indonesia showed.
Astra Agro Lestari’s shares closed up 1.2 percent to Rp 24,500 in Jakarta on Wednesday, while shares in Astra Otoparts fell by 1.3 percent to Rp 3,720.
original source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/business/astras-units-make-mixed-fortunes-rupiah/