Indonesia - kretek cigarette maker Gudang Garam's 2009 net profit jumps 84 percent...

March 31, 2010 - Gudang Garam reported 2009 net profit jumped 84 percent to 3.46 trillion rupiah ($380.8 million), from 1.88 trillion rupiah in 2008 ($1 = 9,085 rupiah). Gudang Garam (Indonesian for "salt warehouse") is a major Indonesian kretek (clove cigarette) manufacturer. It was founded on 26 June 1958 by Tjoa Ing Hwie, who changed his name to Surya Wonowidjojo. In 1984, control of the company was passed to Wonowidjojo's son, Rachman Halim, who subsequently became the richest man in Indonesia. Halim headed the company until his death in 2008.

The market for tobacco in Indonesia increased at a compound annual growth rate of 6.2% between 2003 and 2008. The cigarette industry has faced dropping revenues in many counties BUT NOT INDONESIA due to numerous strict anti-smoking policies, constantly growing prices and public health concerns. PT HM Sampoerna, which has a 29 percent market share, dethroned Gudang Garam to become Indonesia’s largest cigarette-maker in 2006, a year after Philip Morris acquired the company. Gudang Garam controls 26.5 percent of the market, down from 36 percent in 1999. Tobacco in Indonesia to 2013, Datamonitor, 8/2009.

In countries including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Mexico and Egypt, very poor households spend up to 15% of their incomes on tobacco products, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). That exacerbates social and health inequalities and can push families even deeper into poverty, because they are more likely to develop smoking-related illnesses and die than wealthier compatriots. About 1.2 million of the five million tobacco-related deaths annually are in south-east Asia, where almost half the world's poor live. Some of them spend more on tobacco than on food, shelter, healthcare and education. (Developing world faces black market cigarette plague, Denis Campbell, health correspondent, 6/28/2009)

Reference: TABLE-Indonesia Gudang Garam's 2009 net profit jumps 84 pct, reporting by Telly Nathalia; editing by Sara Webb. 3/30/2010.

Indonesia related news briefs:
Indonesia - persons accused of eliminating clause designating tobacco as addictive..;
Indonesia - second largest Muslim organization launched a fatwa against smoking..;
Indonesia - RATIFICATION OF FCTC MAY RAISE INDONESIA'S BARGAINING POWER.. ;
Indonesia - 18 tons of illegal cigarettes destroyed..;
Indonesia - Government to limit cigarette production..;
Indonesia - BAT, Bentoel shareholders approve planned merger..;
Indonesia - another protest rejecting the new cigarette excise tax..;
Indonesia - workers from small cigarette producers protest excise tax increase..;
Indonesia - cigarette industry has pledged to stage a demonstration to protest a government plan to increase excise tax.;
Indonesia - the last paradise for a puff in Southeast Asia..;
Indonesia - trade minister officials want to meet with US counterparts to discuss ban on clove cigarettes..;
Indonesia - PT BAT Indonesia to merge with PT Bentoel International Investama Terbuka..;
Indonesia - missing tobacco regulation in approved Health Law..;
Indonesia - section on tobacco in health bill disappears..;
Indonesia - Constitutional Court by close vote rules that tobacco ads can continue..;
Indonesia - parent smoking can negatively affect the nutrition of children..;
Indonesia - new council member suspect in cigarette fraud case..;
Indonesia - an NGO commission assists cigarettes must be banned in films..
Indonesia - a paradise for tobacco companies..
Indonesia - after buying cigarettes very little left for food..;
Indonesia - will they ratify the first world public health treaty..;
Indonesia - last paradise to smoke in public places in Southeast Asia..;
Indonesia - Industry minister to close tobacco to new foreign investment..;
Indonesia Finance Ministry to cap tax deductions for tobacco companies..;
Indonesia - Smoking hits poor families the hardest, making the poor even poorer..;
Indonesia - Cigarette makers defy crisis, grows stronger..;
Indonesia - government may raise cigarette excise tax next year..;
WHO - Indonesia is crying out for your help..;
Indonesia - dispute with U.S. over banning the use of clove in cigarettes..;
Indonesia 'cash cow' for Philip Morris International..;
Tobacco industry has long targeted young people as "replacement smokers";
Indonesia - district court dismisses request to ratify FCTC..;
Asean Countries - Tobacco Industry Blocking Global Treaty On Tobacco..; Indonesia - farmers hold rally protest tobacco controls..;
Indonesia - tobacco farmers reject Islamic council's edict..;
Indonesia - Ulema Council - debate results is split on smoking..;
Indonesia - Withdraw Sponsorhip of Another Rock Concert..;
Indonesia to increase tax on tobacco products..;
Semarang, Indonesia - Cigarette Smoking Areas to be Prepared..;
Jakarta, Indonesia - Malls help enforce non-smoking ban..;
Indonesia - federal anti-smoking laws in one year - MAYBE..;
Indonesia - NGO's (non-government organizations) Demand the Government Ratify WHO's FCTC.;
Indonesia to raise cigarette tax by 6 to 7% in 2009..;
Surabaya, Indonesia - anti-smoking bylaw 10/2009 - FOR REAL??
Indonesians smoking more than ever before..;
Indonesia further rise in the excise tax would hurt the cigarette industry..;
Alicia Keys - Jakarta Concert (July 31st) tobacco companies forced to withdraw sponsorship.. and
Most Indonesians support moves to ban tobacco advertisements...