Indocement hopes to get back on feet this year
Indonesia’s secondlargest cement producer PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa expects to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel this year following a second consecutive decline in net profit last year.
“Cement consumption is expectฌed to grow by 3 to 5 per cent in 2017,” Indocement president director Christian Kartawijaya said on Friday.
Christian expected there would be an upsurge in consumption because of several factors, including funds com?ing from the governฌment’s tax amnesty, an interest drop in housing loans (KPR) and relief in requirements for the loantovalue (LTV) ratio.
“I believe it’s just about time for the property sector to be affected. We are currently waiting for the multiplier effect,” Christian said.
Indocement booked Rp 15.36 trilฌlion in net revenue last year, falling from Rp 17.8 trillion in 2015 and Rp 19.9 trillion in 2014.
One of the triggers was President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s instruction to stateowned cement maker Semen Indonesia in January 2015 to lower the price of cement by Rp 3,000 per sack.
Therefore, Indocement has been trying to carry out various efficienฌcy measures, leading to an annual drop of 9.18 per cent in its cost of goods sold to Rp 9.89 trillion in 2015 and an 8.7 per cent drop to Rp 9.03 trillion in 2016.
However, the company’s net profฌit still fell gradually within the past three years. It record?ed Rp 3.87 trilฌlion in profit last year, falling from Rp 4.36 trillion in 2015 and Rp 5.29 trillion in 2014.
