Indonesia Advisory

Publicly listed agribusiness company PT Sampoerna Agro said it is set to expand cultivation of its oil palm plantations to 15,000 hectares this year, Antara reported on Friday.

Sampoerna Agro finance director, Sie Eddy Kurniawan, said by September this year cultivation covered only 9,000 hectares of its 112,499 hectares of lands in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

The company reported sales valued at Rp1.85 trillion in the first nine months of this year or up 117.1% with net profit up 399% to Rp399.53 billion, according to Bisnis Indonesia.

Earlier, Sampoerna Agro reported to the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) that it has bought back its stocks from the public, Tempo Interactive reported.

In a written report to the IDX, Sampoerna said it bought back 66.98 million of its shares from November 10 to 14 at a cost of Rp70.17 billion.

The company announced in October that it would prepare Rp475 billion for the buy-back, leaving a surplus of Rp404.83 billion.

It also operates four palm oil processing plants in Sumatra and one in Kalimantan.
In September, the company reported 117.1% rise in sales to Rp1.85 trillion so far for 2008 with net profit soaring 400% to Rp80.06 billion.