ank Central Asia (BCA), Indonesia’s largest privately owned bank, has seen its net profit dip for the first time in at least 16 years as the COVID-19 pandemic affected loan demand and credit repayments.
The publicly-listed lender’s net profit dipped 5 percent year-on-year (yoy) to Rp 27.1 trillion (US$1.94 billion) in 2020 amid higher provisioning and weak credit growth. BCA had booked continual profit growth since at least 2004.
BCA’s net interest income (NII) grew 7.3 percent yoy to Rp 54.55 trillion in 2020, weaker than growth in the previous year at 12.1 percent.
“Generally, our performance went down in 2020, although it is not as bad as with other banks,” BCA president director Jahja Setiaatmadja said at a virtual press conference on Monday.
State-owned banks have recorded double-digit profit dips last year, with Bank Mandiri, the second-largest bank by asset value, seeing its profit dip by 37.7 percent yoy to Rp 17.1 trillion last year, its lowest since 2016. Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), meanwhile, saw an even steeper drop in profit of 78.7 percent yoy.
Read also: Top state-owned banks post record-low profits
The coronavirus outbreak disrupted economic activities following government-imposed restrictions to contain the disease, which include limited operational hours for businesses. It has also affected people’s purchasing power as millions have lost their jobs.
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