8 July 1999: Indonesian glass and ceramics producer Mulia Industrindo said it expected sales to rise significantly in 1999 on the back of improving domestic sales and an increase in exports. The compa…
8 July 1999: Indonesian glass and ceramics producer Mulia Industrindo said it expected sales to rise significantly in 1999 on the back of improving domestic sales and an increase in exports. The company also said it could be back to profit in 1999 as the rupiah strengthens further against the dollar. “For one thing our forex loss could turn into gains as the rupiah firms and this would make a positive bottom line in the end,” director Hendra Heryadi Widjonarko said. Widjonarko said once a debt restructuring deal was achieved, the company“s financial performance would improve significantly. The company expects a debt restructuring deal worth US$ 550 million by the end of August. The deal would involve an issue of warrants which could be converted into shares totalling 10% of the company. Mulia Industrindo booked a net loss of Rp 639.8 billion in 1998 versus a net profit of Rp 13.04 billion in 1997, as a result of the rupiah“s sharp fall against the dollar. Net sales in 1998 were Rp 1.08 trillion, up from Rp 582.8 billion in 1997. Widjonarko expected total sales of glass to reach 415,000 tonnes this year against 347,000 tonnes in 1998. “Domestic demand is expected to improve and we target our domestic sales for glass at 125,000 tonnes.” He said exports would also rise as new export contracts were drawn up. The company exported around 220,000 tonnes of float glass last year and it expected to increase to 290,000 tonnes in 1999. “So far we have reached a 25-30% increase in sales compared with last year, and up to June, we have reached more than 40% of our target this year,” Widjonarko said.