Bank Mandiri, the country's largest lender by assets, is setting aside 90 percent of its 2007 net profit -- totaling Rp 3.91 trillion (US$418 million) -- for dividend payments.

The figure puts the per-share-value at Rp 186.

The decision was made during an annual shareholders meeting Thursday, according to Mandiri president director Agus Martowardojo.

"Actually, Mandiri's dividend payment was 50 percent (of 2007's profit) or Rp 2.17 trillion, but we added another 40 percent of special dividends in appreciation of our shareholders following a good performance last year," Agus said after the meeting.

The large payment, he said, would not hamper the bank's cash flow and investment plans.

"Mandiri is strong in capital, and will remain so for the next three years. The one-time special dividend payment would not affect Mandiri's investment plans," he said, citing the company's recent strong performance as evidence for its security.

Mandiri earned Rp 1.39 trillion in net profit in the first quarter of this year, up 35.4 percent from Rp 1.03 trillion in the same period last year.

To further expand its performance, the company plans to acquire a bank and a multi-finance company this year, director of consumer affairs Omar S. Anwar said, adding that the bank would be consumer-based and the multi-finance company would have assets of more than Rp 900 million, but refusing to give names.

Last December, Mandiri acquired Bank Sinar Harapan Bali, a small bank focusing on micro banking.

Agus said Mandiri was targeting to expand lending by more than 22 percent this year.

The meeting also approved a plan to allocate 2 percent of the 2007 net profit, or Rp 86.92 billion, for partnership programs and a further 2 percent for environmental programs.

The partnership program centers on soft-lending to small and micro businesses. (dia)

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