Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesias 118 state-owned companies recorded a net profit of Rp87 trillion in the first half of 2017, down Rp1 trillion from Rp88 trillion in the same period last year, the State Enterprises Ministry said.

"The net profit this year is almost the same as the previous year as most of the state-owned companies allocated part of their operating profit for capital expenditures. This caused the profit to fall slightly," Secretary of the State Enterprises Ministry Imam Apriyanto Putro said here on Tuesday.

In the first semester of 2017, the capital expenditures reached Rp111 trillion, surging 40.50 percent from Rp79 trillion in the same period last year, he said.

The capital expenditures were mostly distributed to the infrastructure sector, including electricity, oil and gas and telecommunication, he said.

"PT PLN (Persero), PT Pertamina (Persero), and PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk recorded the biggest investment expenditures. The fund was also used to develop infrastructures in the transportation sector, including airports and seaports. We still call 2017 as the year of infrastructure," he said.

The 118 state-owned companies also expanded their businesses as could be seen from their operational expenditures which reached Rp788 trillion compared to Rp650 trillion a year earlier.

The ministry also noted that the 118 state-owned companies recorded Rp936 trillion in operating income in the first semester of 2017 compared to Rp809 trillion a year earlier.

As of the first semester of 2017, the 118 state firms had total assets of Rp6,694 trillion, up Rp700 trillion from Rp5,987 trillion in the same period last year. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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