SINGAPORE, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Cycle & Carriage Ltd, one of Southeast Asia's largest automotive groups, said on Tuesday net profit rose 92 percent in 2002 due to foreign exchange gains at its Indonesian unit.
C&C, which owns 34.3 percent of Indonesia's largest auto maker PT Astra International , posted a net profit of S$231 million ($132.3 million), up from S$120 million in 2001, on a seven percent rise in sales to S$4.99 billion.
The result was better then the expectations of 10 analysts polled by Multex Global Estimates, who had forecast a 72.9 percent gain in net profit to S$208.4 million.
The dealer of Mercedes , Kia Motors Corp and Mitsubishi Motors Corp cars in Singapore said last year's unsettled economic conditions were expected to continue this year and that its net profit would again be affected by the value of the Indonesia rupiah currency.
Shares in C&C, which is 50.2 percent owned by Hong Kong-based Jardine Strategic Holdings Plc , ended up four cents at S$3.64.
The stock has fared poorly in the past 12 months, falling 27 percent and underperforming a 21-percent drop in Singapore's benchmark Straits Times Index . Stock in Astra, meanwhile, is up three percent over the same period.
C&C was struggling at home where sales and margins are pressured by growing competition in the city-state at a time of economic malaise. ($1=1.746 Singapore dollars)