Indosat posts 63% increase in net profit - Insider Stories

Indonesia's second largest cellular operator PT Indosat Tbk (ISAT) today reported a 63.3% increase in net profit for the first quarter of this year on higher cellular revenue, lower marketing expenses, forex gain increase.

Indosat, which is currently controlled by Qatar Telecom, posted Rp453.9 billion net profit in 1Q 2011 from Rp278 billion in 1Q 2010.
However, the operator's operating profit fell 10.6% to Rp666.8 billion from Rp746 billion as operating expenses increased 5.6%, mostly driven by higher expenses of employees.

Operating expenses increased 5.6% to Rp4.21 trillion from Rp3.99 trillion. Indosat booked Rp4.88 trillion operating revenue, a 3% growth from Rp4.73 trillion with the only contributor coming from cellular business which slightly made 6.2% increase as Indosat recorded 21.2% growth in subscribers.

Revenue from multimedia, data communication, and internet slightly decreased 7.8% as tight competition spurring tarrif war and fixed line fell 10.2%, contributed by lower revenue from international direct dialing.
Cellular performanceIndosat recorded 45.7 million cellular subscribers in 1Q 2011, a 21.2% increase from 35.7 million subscribers. Average revenue per user of Indosat's GSM products lowered 14.8% to Rp28,800, abating positive impact of higher subscribers. Indosat manages 18,368 base transceiver stations at end of March 2011.