State firms miss 2008 profit target

The Jakarta Post | Fri, 02/27/2009 10:07 PM  

The State Own Enterprise (SOE) Ministry estimates that SOEs will fail to reach their overall projected target for 2008 net profits due to losses on currency exchange, says an official. 

“We estimate that we will earn around Rp 75 trillion (US$6.2 billion) in net profits from our enterprises last year, below the targeted Rp 81 trillion,” secretary to the SOE minister, Said Didu, said on Friday. 

The estimated net profits of 2008 are only around 4.7 percent up on that of the year 2007, and sluggish when compared to the 32 percent net profit growth in 2007. 

According to BUMN (SOE) Watch reports, profits from state firms reached Rp 71.59 trillion (US$7.9 billion) in 2007,  a 32 percent rise from the Rp 54.4 trillion booked in 2006. 

He said the weakening rupiah against the dollar last year led to currency losses which could amount to Rp 12 trillion, hence, undermining the ministry’s net profit target. 

“In January, the rupiah opened at Rp 9,300 but by the end of the year it had closed at around Rp 11,900,” he said.