PT Indocement, Indonesia’s second-largest cement maker, Thursday said it swung to a loss in the first half mostly due to foreign exchange losses. The company booked a net loss of IDR117.3 billion for the six months to June, compared with a net profit of IDR650.4 billion a year earlier. Sales rose only 3% on year to IDR2.03 trillion from IDR1.97 trillion a year earlier. Gross profit fell slightly to IDR658.65 billion from IDR668.45 billion, mainly due to an increase in cost of sales and lower foreign exchange gains.
Indocement, which has a significant amount of dollar-denominated debt, recorded foreign exchange losses of IDR433.93 billion, compared with foreign exchange gains of IDR461.67 billion last year. The rupiah was quoted at IDR9,395 on June 30, compared with IDR8,275 a year earlier.
