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eneral insurance firm PT Asuransi Umum BCA (BCA Insurance) expects the property segment will be one of the main drivers of the company'€™s premium income growth next year due to the expected decline in income from the automotive segment, the company'€™s top executive has said.

G. Hariyanto, the president director of BCA Asuransi, part of Bank Central Asia, said on Monday that the insurance company, which was previously known as Central Sejahtera Insurance, was projected to book Rp 278 billion (US$22.7 million) in total premiums next year, an increase of about 15 percent on this years'€™ figures.

'€œWe think that property will play a bigger role as the country'€™s automotive business is predicted to experience a slowdown next year,'€ he said during the launch of the company'€™s new name and logo on Monday.

Hariyanto estimates that its automotive insurance segment will only grow by about 12.5 percent in 2014, while its property segment will increase by a much greater extent, supported by BCA'€™s thriving mortgage business.

 BCA, the country'€™s largest private lender, currently holds a significant share of the mortgage market.

Its data shows that as of September 2013, its outstanding mortgage loans amounted to Rp 52.5 trillion, up 30 percent year-on-year.

The figure was equal to 17.5 percent of the total loans channeled to the national housing segment up until September, as recorded by Bank Indonesia.

BCA itself has set its mortgage growth target at 10 percent in 2014.

However, despite the slowdown, according to Hariyanto, automotive will still continue to dominate BCA Insurance'€™s business portfolio with a contribution of 85 percent to 90 percent next year.

As of now, it operates several offices in Bandung, West Java; Balikpapan, East Kalimantan; Denpasar, Bali; Jakarta; Makassar, South Sulawesi; Medan, North Sumatra; Palembang, South Sumatra; Semarang, Central Java; and Surabaya, East Java.

It plans to open three more offices next year to support the business, Hariyanto said.

BCA Insurance '€” which is 75 percent owned by BCA and 25 percent controlled by car-financing firm BCA Finance, also a subsidiary of BCA '€” predicts that its total premium income will rise to more than Rp 242 billion this year, while its net profits will reach Rp 22 billion.

Its total assets are estimated to stand at Rp 416 billion and its equity to amount to Rp 88 billion.

Meanwhile, BCA president director Jahja Setiaatmadja, who was present during the launch, said that he expected a cross-selling strategy between the bank and the insurance firm would also assist BCA Insurance in achieving its growth target.

According to data from BCA Insurance, most of its income is still generated from businesses related to the BCA Group, including from major cigarette producer Djarum.

'€œWe also hope that our existing customers may become customers of BCA Insurance and contribute to its business,'€ he said.

BCA is awaiting a permit from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to operate a life-insurance company, which will make the bank the country'€™s most diversified financial services group.

The bank plans to set up a new company with paid-up capital of about Rp 100 billion.

BCA expects to receive the life-insurance permit from the OJK in the first half of next year.

Initially the bank planned to establish the life-insurance company before the end of this year.

Currently, the group'€™s businesses consist of commercial banking through BCA; Islamic banking through PT Bank BCA Syariah; automotive financing through PT BCA Finance and PT Central Santosa Finance; and loan financing through Hong Kong-based BCA Finance Limited; general insurance with BCA Insurance; and a stock-market business, PT BCA Sekuritas.