Indonesia`s Indofood to invest US$177.5 mln this year

Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - Food giant PT Indofood Sukses Makmur (JSX:INDF) said it has earmarked Rp1.6 trillion (US$177.5 million) for expansion in 2007. Around 80 per cent of the funds will be used to finance expansion of its various business divisions, with 30 per cent allocated for the instant noodle division, 30 per cent for the cooking and edible oil and fat (EOF) section and 20 per cent for other divisions.

Southeast Asia's largest instant noodle producer plans to expand its production capacity to 14.4 billion packs this year, up from 13.5 billion, and plant oil 20,000 hectares with palm seedlings for its EOF division.

Last year, Indofood's sales surged 16.9 per cent to Rp21.942 trillion, while net profit spiked 433.2 per cent to Rp661.21 billion.