Full year net profits of 905.33 billion rupiah (£64.67 million) have been reported by PT Gajah Tunggal Tbk. The Indonesian tyre maker reports it “managed to overcome a difficult first half of 2009” to post full-year sales of 7,936 billion rupiah (£566.86 million), only slightly down from the 7,963 billion achieved in 2008. Overall sales volumes were down in 2008, the company says, primarily due to volume decreases in export markets. The reported net profit, however, represents a marked contrast to a net loss of 624.79 billion (£44.63 million) a year earlier. Gajah Tunggal claims “strong operational performance was the main driver” of this turn around from loss to profit, although a large translational foreign exchange gain related to the company’s US dollar denominated bonds also contributed to the gain in net income. Furthermore, Gajah Tunggal’s associated company, PT Polychem Indonesia Tbk., added 16 billion rupiah (£1.14 million) to earnings from a loss of 76 billion rupiah the year before.