TELKOM EXPECTING 5-PCT INCREASE IN 2009 INCOME

Jakarta, Oct 15 (ANTARA) - State-owned telecommunications operator PT Telkom hopes to increase its consolidated income in 2009 by five percent to Rp64 trillion, a company executive said.

"This year's income growth is to be boosted by an expected increase in the number of our customers," Telkom director for financial affairs Sudiro Asno said at a seminar themed"State Companies Outlook & Economic Growth" here on Thursday.

Sudiro explained that up to September 2009 his company's cell phone customers had reached 84 million, a sharp increase from 65.3 million in 2008.

"We had 16 million additional customers last year. But this year we expect to get 13 million more customers ," he said.

With the increase in the number of customers, Telkom's management projected an increase in its consolidated income, Sudiro said but did not give details on expected net profit.

"We cannot yet calculate our net profit. We hope it will be boosted by the increase in the number of customers," he said.

In 2008, Telkom booked a net profit of Rp11.32 trillion, down by 12 percent from n 2007 when the figure was Rp12.86 trillion.

He said his company's optimism that its financial performance would improve at the end of this year was based on the fact that competition in the telecommunications services would not be as tight as in preceding years.