Indika Energy Nine-Month Profit Jumps on Coal Prices (Update1) 2008-10-31 10:02:29.420 GMT (Adds coal prices in third paragraph.) By Leony Aurora Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- PT Indika Energy, a shareholder in Indonesia's third-biggest coal mining company, said first-half profit tripled because of higher prices of the fuel. Net income in the nine months ended Sept. 30 jumped to 724 billion rupiah ($66 million), or 154 rupiah a share, from 243 billion rupiah, or 56 rupiah, a year earlier, the company said in an e-mailed statement in Jakarta today. Sales climbed 22 percent to 1.96 trillion rupiah. Prices of coal sold at PT Kideco Jaya Agung, in which Indika has a 46 percent stake, rose 43 percent in the period to $48.50 a ton. Asian benchmark coal prices have fallen 50 percent from a record $194.79 a ton reached in July to $96 a ton in the week ended Oct. 25, according to the globalCOAL NEWC Index, on concern demand will slow as economies falter. Coal output at Kideco climbed 5.7 percent to 16.2 million tons in the first nine months of the year. Kideco, whose earnings aren't consolidated into Indika, contributed 671 billion rupiah to the company's income, it said. Revenue from contracting services increased 23 percent to 1.79 trillion rupiah, Indika said. Indika rose 50 rupiah, or 3.9 percent, to 1,330 rupiah today. The stock has dropped 61 percent since it started trading on June 11 as investors desert emerging markets and prices of the fuel decline. For Related News: Stories on Indonesia's stock market: TNI INDO STK BN <GO> Stories on Indonesia's coal industry: TNI INDO COAL BN <GO> Search Indonesia stories: NSE Indonesia <GO> --Editor: Jane Lee. To contact the reporter on this story: Leony Aurora in Jakarta at +62-21-2355-3023 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Clyde Russell at +65-6311-2423 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
