Indosat 1H profit surges 137% on forex gain - Insider Stories

Indonesia's second largest cellular operator PT Indosat Tbk (ISAT) today reported a 137.5% jump in net profit for the first 6 months of this year, mostly driven by foreign exchange gain.

In an official statement published today, Indosat's net profit reached Rp681.9 billion in 1H 2011 from Rp287.1 billion in 1H 2010.
Foreign exchange gain rose 83.37% to Rp677.68 billion from Rp369.56 billion, while financing cost decreased 14.89% to Rp921.58 billion from Rp1.08 trillion. Indosat's EBITDA slightly fell 2.1% to Rp4.49 trillion from Rp4.59 trillion.

Operating profit decreased 16.5% to Rp1.34 trillion from Rp1.60 trillion as operating expenses increased 8.1%, while operating revenue increased 4%.
Operating expenses increased to Rp8.71 trillion from Rp8.06 trillion. Indosat booked Rp10.05 trillion revenue from Rp9.66 trillion revenue.

Cellular subscribers grew 25.1% to 47.3 million from 37.8 million subscribers. Wireless broadband subscribers declined 32.6% to 506,800 from 751,900 subscribers. Subscribers of fixed wireless access dropped 49.7% to 350,500 from 697,400.