Bisi targeting 50 percent profit increase

Monday, July 09, 2007
The Jakarta Post, Kediri

Publicly listed agribusiness company PT Bisi International is aiming to raise its net profit to Rp 91 billion in 2007, up 50 percent from Rp 60.7 billion last year, by researching better seeds and improving cooperation with farmers.

"We're optimistic that the company can raise its sales by about 35 percent because farmers are starting to get interested in our products," Bisi president Junaidi Sungkono told reporters during a company visit to Kediri and Mojokerto in East Java last week.

Bisi International, which grows and markets corn, rice and vegetable seeds, earned Rp 573.7 billion from sales last year.

The company recorded a 45 percent rise in its net profit and a 48 percent rise in sales in the first five months of this year alone.

Junaidi said that since the company was established in 1983, it had produced and sold 92 superior varieties of corn, vegetables and fruits seeds. But the company distributed only 70 varieties these days, he added.

The sale of corn seeds amounted to 42 percent of company profits, while rice and vegetables seeds contributed 21 percent and pesticides and chemical fertilizers 32 percent.

Junaidi added that Bisi allocated more than Rp 10 billion each year to researching new seed varieties. The firm currently has the capacity to produce 15,000 tons of field crop seeds and 4,000 tons of fruit and vegetables seeds each year.

The company has built 11 experimental farms in North Sumatra, Lampung, West Java, Central Java, East Java and West Nusa Tenggara to test new seed varieties.

"At every site, we're conducting research and development to produce superior seed varieties with high yields, resistance to plant diseases and easily adaptability to all sorts of land and climate conditions," said Bisi vice president Thomas Effendy.

To support its ongoing research and development, the company has also built a biotechnology research laboratory in Sumber Agung village, Kediri Regency, East Java.

The number of farmers working to grow the company's hybrid rice and corn has reached more than 45,000, on more than 15,000 hectares of land. In 2002, just 15,000 farmers used 4,900 hectares to test the crops. Most of the farmers live in areas close to the company's main facilities in East Java and Lampung.

Junaidi said Bisi had also acquired majority shares in two companies to improve its profitability.

Last December, Bisi International purchased a 54.2 percent stake in PT Tanindo Subur Prima for Rp 50.3 billion and a 99.99 percent stake in PT Multi Sarana Indotani at Rp 11.9 billion.

Multi Sarana, established in 2005 in Mojokerto, East Java, is a pesticide formulation plant that produces more than 30 kinds of fertilizer, insecticide, herbicide, and fungicide.

With the production capacity of 14,000 tons of herbicide per year and 1,500 tons each of granular, liquid and powdered insecticides per year, Multi Sarana controls an 8 percent share of the national pesticide market and 3 percent of the specialty fertilizer market.

Tanindo Subur Prima is responsible for distributing all of Bisi's products under the "Cap Kapal Terbang" brand. (02)