"The company produced 11 million tons of cement in the first six months of the year."
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Publicly traded cement producer PT Semen Gresik Tbk (SMGR) reported a 13.83 percent rise in income to Rp8.657 trillion in the first half of the year.

Ahyanizzaman, the finance director of the state company attributed the rise in income to 5.5 percent increase in selling prices of its cement.

Ahyanizzaman said the company`s cement production has been boosted by growing demand with many companies implementing their development projects this year.

"The company produced 11 million tons of cement in the first six months of the year," Ahyanizzaman told the ANTARA news agency here on Monday.

The production reached half of the annual production target of 22 million tons for this year, he said.

Last year, the country`s largest cement maker produced 19.7 million tons of cement.

The company posted Rp2.1 trillion in net profit in the January-June period up from Rp1.87 trillion in the same period last year.

"This year we are set to chalk up a 12 percent increase in net profit," Ahyanizzaman said.

Its operating profit was recorded at Rp2.64 trillion or a 15 percent rise on-year.

The price of the company shares rose 1.64 percent to Rp12,400 in two day`s morning trade on the Indonesian Stock Exchange with 1.939 shares changing hands worth Rp23.89 billion

Earlier this year the company said it planned to build a cement factory in Myanmar with a production capacity of up to 2.5 million tons a year .

The project will cost an estimated Rp4.5 trillion (US$500 million), Ahyanizzaman said.

PT Semen Gresik is one of four state companies asked by the government under Indonesia Incorporated to expand operations to Myanmar.

Ahyanizzaman Semen Gresik chose to expand to Myanmar as demand for cement in that country is strong with supplies falling much short of requirement.

The three other state companies asked to expand operations to Myanmar include oil and gas company PT Pertamina, construction company Wijaya Karya and Bank Negara Indonesia.
(Uu.AS/H-ASG/O001)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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