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id-size lender Bank Mega, which is controlled by one of the country’s richest tycoons, Chairul Tanjung, booked Rp 909 billion (US$96.35 million) in net profit in the first semester of this year, surging twofold from Rp 431 billion during the same period a year earlier.

In a financial report submitted to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) on Tuesday, the bank said that its profit jumped significantly, partly because of its stronger net interest income, which rose by 49 percent to Rp 1.7 trillion during the first half from Rp 1.1 trillion, year-on-year.

Non-interest income, classified in Bank Mega’s financial report as other operating income, also rose slightly to Rp 503 billion from Rp 471 billion last year.

The bank, however, reported a decline in both its assets and liabilities compared to the beginning of this year. As of June 30, the bank’s total assets totaled Rp 57.9 trillion, lower than Rp 61.9 trillion as of Dec. 31 2011. Bank Mega’s liabilities reached Rp 52.1 trillion, a slight drop from Rp 57 trillion at the end of last year.

Bank Mega’s attempt to expand its banking business encountered a stumbling block because it was banned from opening new branches for a year since May 2011 by Bank Indonesia (BI), the country’s central bank.

BI imposed the ban after Bank Mega’s two clients — Elnusa, a unit of state-run oil and gas giant Pertamina, and the Batubara regency administration of North Sumatra — had reported a cumulative Rp 181 billion in missing funds at the bank’s Jababeka branch.

The former head of the Bank Mega Jababeka branch, Itman Harry Basuki, was sentenced to six years in jail after he was proven guilty of swindling funds.