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rivate lender Panin Bank (PNBN) plans to open at least 34 branches throughout the country this year as part of the bank'€™s program to gain a stronger foothold in the country'€™s major cities.

The bank'€™s vice president director, Roosniati Salihin, said in Jakarta on Tuesday that with the opening of the new branches, Panin would have a total of 600 branches in the major cities of 33 provinces.

She said with the opening of the new branches, the bank'€™s lending would be able to record a higher lending growth of 12 percent this year. In 2015, the total lending rose by 5.3 percent to Rp 126.84 trillion (US$9.5 billion).

Roosniati is optimistic the target will be achieved despite the economic slowdown. '€œWe believe that in the second quarter, the country'€™s economy will grow faster, which in turn will lead to higher growth in micro, small and medium-scale companies,'€ she said.

The government expects economic growth to exceed 5 percent this year, as compared to 4.79 percent in 2015.

In order to meet the lending growth target, Panin will boost loans to both commercial and consumer segments. In the commercial segment, the bank will provide loans for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), while in the consumer segment it will provide loans for customers to purchase houses and vehicles, president director Herwidayatmo said at the Panin Super Bonanza 2016 launch.

Under the Panin Super Bonanza 2016, the bank offers '€œlottery prizes'€ of 40 Mini Cooper cars and 765 Vespa scooters to customers with a minimum savings of Rp 25 million from March to December this year. A grand price worth Rp 8 billion is also offered to customers with a minimum balance of Rp 500 million.

Last year, the draw prize program managed to increase the Panin Super Bonanza savings to Rp 27.8 trillion in 2015 from Rp 12.1 trillion in 2014, an increase of more than Rp 15 trillion.

Panin is one of the country'€™s 10 largest banks with booked total assets of Rp 183.12 trillion as of the end of December last year, a 6.1 percent increase from Rp 172.64 trillion. Its third-party funds rose by 1.8 percent to Rp 128.32 trillion in the same period. Deposits were recorded as the largest component of the third-party funds, accounting for 60 percent, while savings and current accounts were 40 percent of the total.

Herwidayatmo expected the savings to rise this year. '€œWe want the savings to contribute a half of third-party funds, so various attempts are being made to achieve it,'€ he said, adding that the Panin Super Bonanza 2016 saving program was one of its strategies to boost its savings amount.

However, the bank'€™s after-tax profit decreased by 36.1 percent to Rp 1.3 trillion. The decline was caused by the increase in the bank'€™s loan loss provision (CKPN). Non-performing loans grew from 2.05 percent in 2014 to 2.41 percent in 2015. The fee-based income dropped by 43.9 percent to Rp 1.13 trillion. (vny)