Jakarta, July 29 - PT Unilever Indonesia Tbk , a unit of Anglo-Dutch conglomerate Unilever Plc , reported a 30 percent rise in first half net profit on Tuesday, fuelled by robust sales.
Consumer spending, which has received a boost since the central bank lowered interest rates, is the main growth driver for Southeast Asia's largest economy.
But some analysts warned that rising inflation, due to a decision by the government to hike subsidised fuel prices by around 30 percent in May, may dampen consumer spending in the later part of 2008.
Unilever -- which produces various consumer products such as soap, detergents, dairy-based foods, tea-based beverages and cosmetics -- said its net profit for January-June rose to 1.37 trillion rupiah ($150.3 million) from 1.05 trillion a year earlier.
Sales climbed just over 23 percent to 7.62 trillion rupiah from 6.18 trillion a year earlier.
The company, which has a market capitalisation of $5.6 billion, said its operating margin edged up to around 25 percent as of June from 24 percent in the same period of 2007, as its operating income rose by nearly 29 percent to 1.92 trillion rupiah.
The firm's 2008 profit is forecast at 2.35 trillion rupiah and revenue at 14.7 trillion rupiah, according to analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.
Indonesia's key interest rate, the BI rate, fell to 8 percent at the end of 2007 from from a record high of 12.75 percent in late 2005 on easing inflation.
But with inflation returning to double digit levels in June, at around 11 percent, after the government raised subsidised fuel prices, the central bank has increased the benchmark interest rate by a total of 75 basis points since May. ($1=9,116 rupiah)