Bank Bira enters Batam

JAKARTA (JP): Bank Bira announced yesterday it would open two new branches on Batam Island and Pekanbaru, Riau, where regional economic growth is expected to grow rapidly.

The bank said the new branches -- the bank's 52nd and 53rd -- would expand its operations which were currently concentrated in Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Medan and Ujungpandang.

Bank Bira's net profit in the first quarter this year stood at Rp 20.4 billion (US$8.36 million), compared to Rp 10.7 billion in the same period last year.

The increase was a result of a 33.5 percent rise in interest income and high interest margins.

In the 1997 first quarter, the bank's assets reached Rp 2.9 trillion and its capital adequacy ratio as of March 31 stood at 14.2 percent, higher than the minimum eight percent required by the central bank. (pwn)