High nickel revenues see PT Inco Indonesia raise H1 profits six times

A better nickel price has seen Indonesia's largest nickel miner substantially increase H1 revenues and profits.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - 

PT International Nickel Indonesia (INCO.JK: Quote), Indonesia's biggest nickel producer, reported on Friday first half 2010 net profit rose sixfold due to higher sales.

The company reported first half net profit of $218.78 million, up from $34.58 million a year earlier.

Inco was expected to post a full year 2010 net profit of $350 million, according to a consensus of analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Inco said that first-half net revenue jumped to $619.189 million, from $276.36 million a year ago.

A nickel deficit is likely this year because of a surge in stainless steel demand, supply constraints and falling stocks, but the shortfall is likely to narrow in 2011 as production rises, a Reuters survey showed.

Benchmark three month nickel futures CMNI3 on the London Metal Exchange are now around $20,500 a tonne from levels below $10,000 in February 2009.

Shares in Inco rose 2.7 percent in the first half of the year, underperforming the benchmark Jakarta index's .JKSE 15 percent rally in the same period.

($1=8975 Rupiah) (Reporting by Janeman Latul, Editing by Neil Chatterjee)

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