Indonesia's Charoen sees '08 net profit at $47.6 mln

JAKARTA, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Indonesian agro and aqua-culture firm PT Charoen Pokphand Indonesia Tbk (CPIN.JK) expects its net profit to more than double to 450 billion rupiah ($47.6 million) this year on higher sales and prices of animal feed and poultry, the company said late on Tuesday.

Sales of poultry feed and chicken have been increasing as rising beef prices have prompted consumers to consume more poultry, said Thomas Effendy, Charoen's vice-president, told reporters.

"Despite the recent fuel price hike, sales of animal feed, eggs and chicken have been robust," Effendy said.

The company booked a net profit of 187 billion rupiah in 2007.

In the first half of this year, the company posted a net profit of 209 billion rupiah ($22.1 million), up from 95 billion rupiah in the same period last year.

Effendy did not elaborate on sales volumes, but animal feed prices rose to 3,900 rupiah a kg in the first six months of this year, from 2,900 rupiah a kg in the same period last year.

The company, one of Indonesia's largest feedmillers, has a production capacity of 4 million tonnes of poultry feed a year. The country's animal feedmillers import all soymeal consumption due to lack of supplies at home.

Poultry is the cheapest source of animal protein for Indonesia's 226 million people -- about 85 percent of them Muslim who are not allowed to eat pork.

Indonesia's feed millers expect animal feed output to rise by up to 8 percent this year from 7.6 million tonnes last year on increased demand from the poultry and aquaculture sectores.

The poultry industry consumes 85 percent of Indonesia's feed output.

The company did not import corn this year due to higher domestic corn output, Effendy said.

The statistics bureau said corn production is expected to increase to 14.85 million tonnes, up 1.57 million tonnes or 11.7 percent, from 13.29 million tonnes in 2007. ($1=9450 Rupiah)

(Reporting by Yayat Supriatna, writing by Fitri Wulandari, editing by Sugita Katyal)