SAMKO TIMBER: 1H2012 profit exceeds full-year 2011 profit

SAMKO TIMBER has posted a net profit of Rp51.9 billion (approximately S$6.7 million) for the half year ended 30 June 2012 which surpassed its net profit for full year 2011.

Gross profit improved 42% to Rp251 billion and gross profit margin improved 3.5 percentage points to 18% for 1H12.

The results were underpinned by higher sales volume and better overall pricing for both its domestic and export markets.

Aris Sunarko has been CEO of Samko Timber since Dec 2005, and has more than 30 years of experience in the timber industry. NextInsight file photo

Samko's domestic sales grew 13% y-o-y to Rp1.0 trillion for 1H12 on the back of the growing housing and construction sectors in Indonesia.

Its export revenue grew 21% to Rp 310.9 billion because of a better product mix and a stronger USD exchange rate in 1H12. Average selling prices rose and mitigated a lower export volume.

During 1H12, the Group has incurred higher capital expenditure for purchase of fixed assets and trees. The Group’s biological assets have increased from Rp9 billion as at 31 December 2011 to Rp42 billion as at 30 June 2012.

“We are confident of the long term demand for wood-based products and we aim to capture both upstream and downstream value in our growing wood-based business in the domestic and export markets,” said Aris Sunarko, CEO of Samko Timber.

The company said its growth momentum is likely to continue in 2H2012 due to the growth in the Indonesian construction sector.

Samko is one of the top five tropical-hardwood plywood producers in the world with over 800,000m³ of processing capacity and accounts for about 32% of tropical-hardwood plywood produced in Indonesia

Strong accumulation of shares

Meanwhile, its substantial shareholder, Sampoerna Forestry, has continued to accumulate Samko shares in the open market in June and July 2012.

Samko Timber stock's 52-week range is 10-17 cents. The company's market cap is S$148 million based on the recent stock price of 11 cents. Chart: Yahoo!

The cost of buying 2.78 million shares added up to S$333,000 assuming an average purchase price of 12 cents a share (Sampoerna Forestry has not declared the purchase prices).

Since June 2011, Sampoerna Forestry -- which is owned by one of the richest families in Indonesia -- has scooped up 14,637,000 shares of Samko.

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