Still Affected By The Increase In Raw Materials Due To The Russo-Ukrainian Conflict, Garudafood Owned By Conglomerate Sudhamek Waspodo Successfully Suppresses Decline In Profits

JAKARTA - PT Garudafood Putra Putri Jaya Tbk is still struggling to grow its net profit. This is because the food processing company owned by the conglomerate Sudhamek Agoeng Waspodo is currently facing the challenge of rising commodity prices.

This is stated in the company's financial statements for six months this year. In a written statement, Friday, July 29, Garudafood Director Paulus Tedjosutikno said the company could still grow sales by 23.8 percent from Rp4.18 trillion to Rp5.18 trillion in the first semester of 2022.

The sales growth was supported by the food segment, mainly in the snack, dairy and biscuit (wafer stick) categories, which contributed 87.7 percent of the total sales portion. Growth of 24.9 percent.

"Meanwhile, the beverage segment grew by 16.5 percent. The Company's domestic sales increased by 24.4 percent, while in the export market it rose 11.6 percent from the previous year," said Paulus.

In addition, the company's total liabilities as of June 30, 2022, decreased by 2.9 percent from Rp3.74 trillion to Rp3.63 trillion. Meanwhile, the Company's equity did not change at Rp3.03 trillion.

The company's total assets reached Rp6.66 trillion, down 1.6 percent with cash and cash equivalents of more than Rp600 billion at the end of June 30, 2022.

However, due to the increase in prices of several raw material commodities as a result of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Garudafood's net profit is still falling. The value is Rp. 180.82 billion, down 10.48 percent from the same period last year of Rp. 201.99 billion.

"However, it is better than the first quarter of 2022, which fell by 24 percent," Paulus added.

According to Paulus, the protracted conflict between Russia and Ukraine has led to a shortage of containers, high freight costs and a shortage of raw materials. He also explained that the rapid and uncontrollable price increase (hyperinflation) has been felt by the company since the second semester of 2021 so that the company's production costs have also been affected by the increase.

Strategies to Improve Performance

Even so, Paulus stated, Garudafood remains grateful for the sales growth in the first semester of this year which was much better than the previous year despite the challenges of increasing commodity prices. "This is supported by the increasing recovery of the Indonesian economy due to the government's better handling of COVID-19 so that people's mobility is also getting higher," said Paulus.

In fact, he continued, the company already has a strategy to overcome this condition by making various efforts. These include long-term contracts to obtain stable prices and guaranteed supply, increasing inventories to anticipate disruptions in the raw material logistics route so that the continuity of the production process is not disrupted.

"The company also focuses on boosting sales volume growth for products in the fast-moving category. This is done by expanding distribution channels and digitizing the logistics sector," said Paulus.

As a final effort, Garudafood has gradually increased the selling price per kg for products in certain categories since January 2022. "We are optimistic that by the end of 2022 we will be able to achieve better sales growth and net profit than last year," said Paulus hoping.