UPDATE 1-Indonesia's Gudang Garam Q4 net profit doubles

(Recasts with Q4 numbers, background)

JAKARTA, March 27 (Reuters) - Indonesian tobacco firm PT Gudang Garam Tbk's (GGRM.JK) fourth quarter net profit more than doubled from a year ago thanks to lower operating expenses and interest charges.

But the results of the country's largest tobacco company, best known for its traditional clove cigarettes, were below analysts' expectations because of strong competition from rivals and the impact of tougher government regulations and tariff pressure.

Some analysts say Gudang Garam's products are mainly targeted at the lower income group, which is more sensitive to price fluctuations and broader economic condition, compared to rival Sampoerna which targets the largely higher income group.

Although Indonesia's economy grew at its fastest pace in more than a decade, some analysts have cast doubts on whether the benefits of the growth have been felt by the poor in a country where many live on under $2 a day.

Gudang Garam's net profit jumped 110 percent to 226 billion rupiah ($24.59 million) in the October-December quarter from 107.5 billion rupiah a year ago, according to Reuters calculations based on its full-year financial results announced on Thursday and published nine-month results.

The firm posted a full-year net profit of 1.44 trillion rupiah in 2007, up from 1.01 trillion a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Reuters estimates had expected the company to post a 1.5 trillion rupiah net profit in 2007, implying a fourth quarter net profit of 282.9 billion rupiah.

The cigarette maker, controlled by Indonesia's Wonowidjojo family, saw its revenue in the October-December period climb 9.24 percent to 6.37 trillion rupiah.

Gudang Garam, which has a market capitalisation of $1.5 billion, managed to lower its operating expenses by 1.12 percent to 623.8 billion rupiah, thanks to lower selling expenses.

Earlier on Thursday Gudang Garam's main rival, PT Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna Tbk (HMSP.JK) -- the second biggest tobacco company -- announced a 2.6 percent rise in its 2007 net profit, which translates to a 17.5 percent increase in its fourth-quarter net profit.

Sampoerna, 97.95 percent controlled by Altria Group (MO.N), through its tobacco arm Philip Morris International, also saw its sales revenue grow by 14.6 percent in the fourth quarter to 7.78 trillion rupiah.

Gudang Garam's share price dropped 9.6 percent last year while the overall benchmark index .JKSE jumped 16.4 percent. ($1 = 9,190 rupiah) (Reporting by Harry Suhartono, editing by Sugita Katyal)