The Performance Of Automotive Giant Astra Is Sluggish, Its Profit Will Drop 22 Percent In The First Quarter Of 2021

Astra International Building on Jalan Jenderal Soedirman, Central Jakarta. (Photo: Doc. Astra)

JAKARTA - PT Astra International Tbk (ASII), the Indonesian automotive giant, experienced a decline in its net profit in the first quarter of 2021. Profits decreased by 22 percent to reach IDR3.73 trillion, compared to the first quarter of 2020 valued at IDR4.81 trillion.

Quoted from Astra's financial report, Wednesday, April 21, the Astra Group's consolidated net income in the first quarter of 2021 also fell 4 percent to IDR 51.7 trillion, compared to the first quarter of last year which was IDR 54 trillion.

"The revenue and net profit of the Astra group in the first quarter of 2021 are lower than the same period last year, considering that last year the pandemic began to affect Indonesia's economy and business performance substantially in March 2020," said Astra International President Director Djony Bunarto Tjondro. .

He added that although the Group's business performance has slowly improved in recent months, the outlook for this year's performance is still overshadowed by uncertainties due to the impact of the ongoing pandemic.

He explained that car sales decreased 24 percent and motorcycle sales decreased 17 percent. Sales of Komatsu heavy equipment increased, which was partly impacted by lower mining contracting volumes, lower sales of palm oil and its derivatives, and strong balance sheet and funding positions.

From the automotive side, net profit for the automotive division of the Astra Group decreased by 26 percent to Rp1.4 trillion, reflecting a decrease in sales volume. In detail, national car sales decreased 21 percent to 187,000 units in the first quarter of 2021, according to Gaikindo data.

Meanwhile, Astra's car sales decreased 24 percent to 99,000 units with a market share dropping from 55 percent to 53 percent. Nationwide sales of motorcycles decreased 18 percent to 1,294,000 units in the first quarter of 2021, according to the Ministry of Industry.

Astra's sales of Honda motorcycles decreased 17 percent to 1,008,000 units, but their market share increased slightly.

The automotive component business of the Astra Group with 80 percent ownership, PT Astra Otoparts Tbk (AOP), recorded an increase in net profit of 43 percent to Rp164 billion in the first quarter of 2021, mainly due to increased foreign exchange gains, although revenue from the manufacturing segment decreased.

As for Financial Services, the Group's financial services business net income decreased 30 percent to Rp985 billion in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the first quarter of 2020, mainly due to increased provisions to cover non-performing loans that increased during that period and a decrease in the financing portfolio in the financing business. consumer.

Meanwhile, the Group's net profit from the heavy equipment, mining, construction and energy divisions increased 3 percent to Rp1.1 trillion, due to increased sales of Komatsu heavy equipment as well as higher gold and coal prices, which were partly impacted by the volume of mining contracts involved. lower due to unfavorable weather conditions in the first quarter of 2021.

In the logistics business, although toll road revenues increased, the Group's infrastructure and logistics division recorded a 42 percent decrease in net profit to Rp42 billion, due to a one-off recovery in transaction costs that occurred in the first quarter of 2020.

On the other hand, in the information technology business, net income from the Group's information technology division decreased by 50 percent to Rp1 billion, mainly due to lower revenues from the document solutions and office services business of PT Astra Graphia Tbk (AG), which is 76.9 percent owned. company.

The Group's property division reported an increase in net profit of 23 percent to Rp49 billion, mainly due to the higher occupancy rate and lower operating costs at Menara Astra.