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tate-owned Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) posted higher growth in its net profits last year despite the broader banking industry suffering from the country'€™s slowing economy.

The bank, Indonesia'€™s largest mortgage lender, saw its net profits jump by 62 percent to Rp 1.85 trillion (US$135 million) as of Dec. 31 last year, from Rp 1.14 trillion posted in 2014.

The net profit growth in 2015 was far higher than the year-on-year (yoy) net profit result in 2014, which fell by 28.6 percent from Rp 1.56 trillion in 2013.

BTN president director Maryono said the higher net profit growth recorded last year was mainly achieved by increases in lending and incomes booked from asset recovery.

The bank saw a 19.8 percent yoy increase to Rp 139 trillion in loans by the end of 2015, from Rp 115.9 trillion a year earlier, with 89.9 percent of the total lending going to mortgage and other housing credits.

'€œOur loan growth stood above the average 10 percent in the domestic banking industry, while our credit quality improved amid rising bad loans nationwide,'€ Maryono said in a press conference on Thursday.

According to the bank'€™s financial report, its gross non-performing loans (NPLs) decreased to 3.42 percent last year, from 4.01 percent a year earlier.

Maryono said the bank had implemented various policies to reduce its NPLs over the last three years, including debt restructuring, asset sales and making improvements in credit approval and collection.

'€œWith all of those efforts, we booked asset recovery worth almost Rp 2 trillion,'€ he said, adding that BTN also increased its loan-loss provision, which raised its coverage ratio by 25 percent to 43.1 percent last year.

Despite looming risks in the economy, Maryono said the bank targeted loan growth of between 18 and 20 percent this year, which would be bolstered by the distribution of the government'€™s subsidized housing scheme for low-income people, called the '€œ1 million housing'€ program.

BTN retail funding and distribution director Sis Apik Wijayanto said the bank also expected that its third-party funds would grow between 19 and 20 percent this year as it was currently investing in digital banking developments.

As of Dec. 31 last year, BTN booked Rp 128 trillion in third-party funds, an increase by 19.97 percent from the Rp 106.4 trillion booked in 2014. As many as 47.56 percent of its third-party funds in 2015 comprised current and savings accounts (CASA).

Meanwhile, publicly-listed OCBC NISP, part of Singaporean lender OCBC, posted 13 percent net profit growth to Rp 1.5 trillion in 2015, from Rp 1.33 trillion a year earlier, boosted by a 26 percent yoy increase in loans to Rp 85.9 trillion.

OCBC NISP president director Parwati Surjaudaja said the bank had maintained its gross NPLs at 1.3 percent last year, which was unchanged from 2014.

'€œWe remained resilient in the face of global and domestic challenges. We are optimistic and ready to face the competition this year,'€ Parwati said in a statement. OCBC NISP also saw 20 percent growth in third party funds to Rp 87.3 trillion last year, from Rp 72.8 trillion posted in 2014.