Unggul Indah Reports US$305.27 Million In Net Sales

Jakarta, Nov 20 (Antara) - Chemical manufacturer PT Unggul Indah Cahaya Tbk (UNIC) reported a 3.85 percent fall in net sales to US$305.27 million in the first nine months of the year from US$317.5 million in the same period last year. Company`s President Director Yani Alifen attributed the decline in sales to price adjustment made in facing competition from both alcohol-based substitute products and from similar products A decline in the price of alcohol-based substitute products weakened demand for alkyl benzene as many consumer chose alcohol-based products, Yani said here on Thursday. As a result alkyl benzene producers including UNIC were forced to offer a more competitive price to maintain their market share, he said. Meanwhile, the world oil price is declining that until the third quarter of the year, the company could still compete well managing to record a slight increase of 0.60 percent in sales of alkyl benzene, he said. By the end of the third quarter, the company recorded US$6.5 million in net profit down 27.15 percent year-on-year. Yani said the increase in the prices of subsidized oil fuel (BBM) has little impact on the company as it already used gas fior fuel. Yani said his company is seeking to expand business to the property sector for which it has set aside US$250 million. The company already has a land property of 1.4 hectares in Jakarta to be used for office buildings and residential houses.