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NI Syariah, the Islamic subsidiary of state-owned Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), says it will push retail and micro-loans to hit a Rp 10.26 trillion (US$1.06 billion) financing target for 2013, which is 33.4 percent higher than its goal for 2012.

On the retail side, the bank would boost its business in mortgages, currently BNI Syariah’s most preferred loan, BNI Syariah president director Dinno Indiano said. “Mortgages account for 42.9 percent of our total lending portfolio.”

The bank has estimated that its mortgage loan business would touch Rp 4.56 trillion by year end, which would be up 38 percent from 2012 and would comprise 44.4 percent of BNI Syariah’s total loans for 2013.

Dinno said that most of the bank’s mortgage clients were first-time house buyers. The bank offers its mortgage loans ranging from Rp 25 million to Rp 5 billion.

“There are many opportunities for us to expand our mortgage business, because there are still many people who are looking to buy their first house,” he added.

The bank said it also aimed to increase its micro-financing business to Rp 868.13 billion, which would be more than three times that of 2012. BNI Syariah launched its micro-credit program in March last year.

BNI Syariah currently operates 61 micro-loan outlets that serve 5,355 customers, most of whom are small traders. The bank issues micro-loans from Rp 5 million to Rp 500 million.

The bank said it would open 20 micro-loan outlets this year in small communities in hopes of boosting its customer numbers 20 to 25 percent.

According to Dinno, the bank’s micro-customers are scattered across the nation, with strong bases in Bogor, West Java; Makassar, South Sulawesi; and Surabaya, East Java; he said.

BNI Syariah also launched a gold installment lending program in Jakarta on Friday.

The program offers between two- to five-year installment periods with an annual profit margin set at 10 percent to 12 percent.

The bank has partnered with state-owned mining company PT Aneka Tambang to provide the gold. However, customers can also buy locally made gold from local shops as long as the shops have an official partnership with the bank.

The maximum gold financing amount is Rp 150 million and BNI Syariah was eyeing to reap Rp 500 billion from the gold-financing business this year, according to Dinno. The bank’s current non-performing-financing (NPF) ratio stands at 1.7 percent.

The bank is looking to boost its total deposits to Rp 11.45 trillion by the end of this year, which would be up 24.6 percent from 2012. Savings have been slated to contribute the most to deposits, followed by time deposits and demand deposits.

The estimated total deposits figure would increase the bank’s finance-to-deposit (FDR) ratio to 89.6 percent from 84 percent last year. Meanwhile, the banks expects its profits for 2013 to climb 28.9 percent to Rp 130.03 billion.

BNI Syariah was created in 2000 as a business unit of BNI. It gained formal status as a sharia bank in 2010. As of December, BNI Syariah’s total assets were Rp 10.64 trillion.