TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Bank BJB hoping for 15% rise in 2016 loan
All smiles: Bank Pembangungan Daerah Jawa Barat (Bank BJB) president director Ahmad Irfan (left to right), consumer banking director Fermiyanti, finance director Nia Kania and compliance and risk management director Agus Mulyana share a light moment on the sidelines of an annual analyst meeting at Fairmont Hotel in Jakarta on Monday
Change Size
All smiles: Bank Pembangungan Daerah Jawa Barat (Bank BJB) president director Ahmad Irfan (left to right), consumer banking director Fermiyanti, finance director Nia Kania and compliance and risk management director Agus Mulyana share a light moment on the sidelines of an annual analyst meeting at Fairmont Hotel in Jakarta on Monday. (JP/Jerry Adiguna)
Publicly listed Bank Jabar Banten (BJB) is banking on civil servants, its main customers, to boost its lending this year by 15 percent to Rp 63.6 trillion (US$4.7 billion).
BJB president director Ahmad Irfan said in Jakarta on Monday that the bank would carry out a number of lending programs, such as by providing loans for purchases of at least 100,000 houses this year, to achieve the target.
The bank, which is owned by the West Java and Banten provincial administrations, would also boost its Kredit Guna Bhakti credit facility to its customers, in addition to its corporate and commercial loans.
Irfan said that the bank would also get involved in financing government infrastructure projects in both the West Java and Banten provinces, such as the Soreang-Pasir Koja and Bogor-Ciawi toll roads. 'We are also involved in the trans-Sumatra toll road,' he added.
Irfan said that the bank was in the process of participating in the financing for the West Java International Airport and the expansion of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
Construction of the West Java International Airport, which is to be located in Kertajati, Majalengka in West Java, has been stalled for a decade under the provincial administration.
Last year, BJB booked Rp 1.38 trillion in net profits, a 24.7 percent increase year-on-year (yoy). The sharp increase in net profits was supported by an 11.5 percent increase in net interest income and a 10.9 percent increase in fee-based income.
'In line with the increase in net profits, total assets surged 16.9 percent to Rp 88.7 trillion,' Irfan said, adding that the bank's third party funds rose 17 percent to Rp 67.6 trillion, while the bank's total loans grew 12 percent to Rp 55.3 trillion.
Besides a significant increase in total assets and net profits, the quality of the bank's loans also improved as indicated by the decline in its non-performing loans from 4.1 percent in December 2014 to 2.9 percent as of December last year.
With the higher growth of the country's economy this year, BJB hoped all of the bank's financial indicators would also improve.
The consumer loans counted for more than half of the bank's loan portfolio as of December 2015, as most of the bank's loans were channeled to civil servants working for government offices in West Java and Banten.
'Civil servants use the loans not only for consumption, but also for productive activities,' he added. 'As an example, they buy motorcycles not only for their personal use, but also to be used as ojek [motorcycle taxis],' he said, adding that they borrowed money to open food stalls and other micro businesses.
The bank provided loans of up to Rp 6.8 trillion for infrastructure projects and hoped to increase them to Rp 8 trillion this year.
Last year, the infrastructure projects financed by the bank included several power plants and four toll roads in Java, namely Cikopo-Palimanan, South Sentul-Kedung Halang-Kedung Badak-Simpang Yasmin and Kanci-Pejagan in West Java and Gempol-Pandaan-Karangjati in East Java. (vny)
