(Updates with details)
SINGAPORE, July 31 (Reuters) - Cycle & Carriage Ltd, one of the largest automotive groups in Asia, on Wednesday posted a massive rise in first-half net profit to S$121.8 million ($69.1 million) due to foreign exchange gains at its Indonesian unit.
C&C, which owns 32 percent of Indonesian auto maker PT Astra International Tbk and runs car distribution and dealership operations, said the value of the rupiah would continue to have a major influence on Astra and group profit.
Three analysts polled by Reuters gave an average net profit forecast of S$178 million for the six months to June 30. C&C posted a S$26 million profit in the six months to June 30, 2001.
The profit came after Astra on Tuesday reported a five-month net profit of 2.08 trillion rupiah ($228.6 million), reversing a loss of 857 billion rupiah in the same period of last year due to a 1.29 trillion rupiah foreign exchange gain.
C&C said Astra's trading profit and foreign exchange gain of S$44.3 million more than offset the 47 percent decline in earnings from its motor operations to S$26 million.
Earnings per share were 51.1 cents, compared with 10.9 cents.
The firm also declared an interim dividend of three cents, unchanged from the previous first half.
C&C said Astra's high level of foreign currency debt and its onerous repayment schedule remained a challenge.
Astra's outstanding dollar debts at the parent level were around $726 million and 881 billion rupiah after restructuring of more than $1.0 billion in debts three years ago.
A Jakarta business paper on Tuesday reported that Astra was seeking to reschedule $783 million in outstanding debts to 2010-2011 from 2006, and might combine that with other efforts to repay debts, including rights issue and asset divestment.
Astra has appointed Rothschild to help the planned restructuring and last month said it would most likely combine rescheduling with a rights issue because it would not have enough cash to pay the more than $200 million in debt maturing this year and next.
C&C, a retailer and distributor of various car brands in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand, has said it would participate in a rights issue to protect its stake in the Indonesian auto giant.
On Wednesday, C&C finished 14 cents lower at S$4.36.
C&C's parent Jardine Strategic Holdings is making a partial offer at S$4.76 per share or S$241.7 million to raise its stake to 50.2 percent from 29.1 percent.
Since the start of the year, the stock has outperformed the broader market by 52 percent.
($1=1.763 Singapore Dollar, $1=9100 Rupiah)