Bank Bira's profit rises 100 percent

JAKARTA (JP): Bank Bira announced yesterday its net profit increased 100 percent in the first nine months of this year to Rp 43.99 billion (US$18.6 million) from Rp 21.97 (US$9.3 million) billion for the same period last year.

The publicly listed bank said the increase in its net profit in the January to September period was 9 percent higher than its earlier projected profit of Rp 40.36 billion ($17.06 million).

Bank Bira reported earnings per share of Rp 336 (14 U.S. cents), the value of which was calculated on a weighted average method.

The bank, besides providing traditional commercial papers and certificates of deposit, has also developed new areas of fee- based income and diversified its range of products.

The new areas in its capital market division of fixed income products comprise zero coupon bonds, medium term notes and floating rate notes, carrying a total value of $1.8 billion, said the bank.

The bank's fee-based income has been derived from an average daily volume of $200 million in the foreign exchange market, which serves mostly corporate clients.

Bank Bira also said its loan syndication division arranged a total of $1.6 billion in the first nine months of this year.

The bank's asset quality ratio is 1.20 percent of its earning assets, a rate higher than Bank Indonesia's requirement of 0.5 percent, while bad debts account for 0.10 percent of its total loans.

Bank Bira's total assets rose 65 percent in the third quarter of this year to Rp 2.5 trillion ($1.5 billion) from Rp 1.5 trillion ($633 million) in the same period of last year, while deposits also increased 40 percent to Rp 1.7 trillion ($718 million) this year from Rp 1.2 trillion ($507 million) last year.

The bank's loans, net allowances, rose to Rp 1.8 trillion ($760 million) from Rp 1.3 trillion ($549 million) while stockholders' equity increased 140 percent to Rp 352.9 billion ($149 million) this year from Rp 146.9 billion ($62 million) last year.

Bank Bira's pretax profits increased 100 percent to Rp 62.8 billion ($26.5 million) this year from Rp 31.3 billion ($13.2 million) last year.

The bank reported a capital adequacy ratio of 15.10 this year. Last year's capital adequacy ratio was not available. (01)