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fter struggling with the impact of a sluggish economy in 2015, major automotive financing firm Adira Finance expects business to recover following a slump last year caused by weak demand in the national automotive market.

The publicly listed company, part of private lender Bank Danamon, expects new financing to grow between 15 percent and 20 percent to Rp 35 trillion (US$2.6 billion) or Rp 36 trillion this year.

The company booked Rp 30.5 trillion in new financing as of Dec. 31 last year, a decline of 10.5 percent from the Rp 34.1 trillion booked a year earlier.

Adira finance director I Dewa Made Susila said the growth target for 2016 was more than double this year'€™s vehicle sales growth of 5 percent predicted by auto manufacturers and brand holders.

'€œWe set a higher target this year in line with our diversification and expansion plan,'€ Susila said in Jakarta on Thursday.

Susila said the company had started to finance white goods, also known as '€œdurable financing'€, since July last year and saw promising growth in financing for second-hand motorcycles and Islamic-based financing for cars.

Adira Finance corporate secretary Perry B. Slangor said the company had booked 7 percent increase year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 11.7 trillion in second-hand vehicle financing last year, compared with a 20 percent decrease yoy in financing for new vehicles.

He said Adira had also seen a 90 percent yoy jump to Rp 4.5 trillion in Islamic-based new vehicle financing last year.

With positive prospects in second-hand vehicle and Islamic financing, Susila said the company was convinced that it could again increase its market share in motorcycle financing to between 13.5 percent and 14 percent this year, from 12 percent last year.

'€œWe will also start our financing in personal loans this year. With more varied products, we hope we can help existing and prospective customers choose the right one for them,'€ Susila said.

Adira Finance president director Willy S. Dharma said the company was also aware that it had been listed by the Financial Services Authority (OJK) as a candidate to participate in the government-backed micro loan program (KUR) this year.

However, Willy said the company, which is currently under OJK review, had yet to prepare a financing plan in the event it was approved to join the scheme, as it needed to study the business process first.

The company, he said, still had a lot of paperwork to complete before it could join the KUR program, which sets a number of prerequisites for multifinance firms, such as having expertise in certain business and an IT system connected to the KUR Committee at the Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprise Ministry.

The company was also waiting for a clear explanation of KUR'€™s risk premiums, as the program'€™s lending rate had been slashed to 9 percent from 12 percent, he added.

In order to achieve the 2016 nationwide KUR target, the government has allowed more banks, including privately owned and regional development banks (BPD), to join the program, with certain requirements in terms of financial situation and business portfolio.