BRI, Permata record net profit increases on loan expansions

Novia D. Rulistia ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 04/30/2008 1:10 PM  |  Business

The country's second largest bank by assets, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), recorded a 15 percent first quarter net profit rise compared to the same period last year.

The seventh largest bank, Bank Permata, recorded a net profit gain of 103 percent on the back of strong expansion.

BRI's net profit reached Rp 1.4 trillion (US$152.6 million) in the first quarter, up from Rp 1.22 trillion a year earlier, while its net interest income rose 18 percent to Rp 4.66 trillion from Rp 3.96 trillion in the same period last year.

"Though inflation is accelerating, lending is growing, driven by small and medium sized companies," director Sarwono Sudarto said at a media briefing.

The bank said loans from this year's first quarter reached Rp 118.4 trillion, a 30 percent jump from Rp 91.05 trillion in the previous year.

Its non-performing loans during the January to March period stood at 3.83 percent, improved from 5.31 percent over the same period in 2007.

Separately, Permata president director Stewart D. Hall said the bank's net profit had reached Rp 176.03 billion by the end of March, up from Rp 86.49 billion in the same period last year.

"During the first quarter, we significantly enhanced our distribution capability by opening new branches in secondary cities and by increasing the number of Electronic Data Capture terminals," he said.

He also said the bank had launched a revolutionary mortgage product, KPR Bijak, the first of its kind in Indonesia to synergize housing loans with saving accounts.

The bank's total loans reached Rp 27.06 trillion in the period, an 18.8 percent increase from Rp 22.77 trillion in the first quarter of last year.

"Our non-performing loans during that period stood at 1.4 percent, improved from 3.5 percent in 2007," Hall said.

The bank's net interest income by the end of March reached Rp 618 billion, a 3.9 percent increase from Rp 595.65 billion in March 2007.

Its total assets saw a 10.1 percent increase from Rp 37.46 trillion in March last year to Rp 41.26 trillion in the same period of this year.

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