Bank Bira's profits up 68%
JAKARTA (JP): Publicly-listed Bank Bira reported a 68 percent increase in its first quarter unaudited net profit, which rose to Rp 10.6 billion (US$4.5 million) from Rp 6.3 billion during the same period last year.
The bank said in a statement yesterday that its annual earnings per share also grew by 29 percent from Rp 318 in 1995 to Rp 410 this year.
"Bank Bira has continued its steady growth since its initial public offering in 1994 which was evidenced by its stronger performance in the first quarter," the statement said.
The bank's total assets increased by 45 percent to Rp 1.8 trillion as of March 31 from Rp 1.2 trillion as of the end of the first quarter in 1995.
Bank Bira's total deposits rose from Rp 1 trillion as of March 1995 to Rp 1.4 trillion as of March 1996.
The statement said the bank has been active in fee-based businesses in addition to its normal banking activities, including the arrangement of loan syndication and fixed income papers.
"Today, Bank Bira is the market leader in both the arrangement of loan syndication and fixed income papers," it said
The bank has arranged fixed income papers amounting to US$918 million and syndication loans amounting to $675 million, mostly for the Indonesian blue chip companies listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX).
Early this year, the International Financial Review selected Bank Bira as one of the top ten syndicated loan arrangers in Indonesia during the whole of last year based on the amounts of the loans.
The bank was the arranger of the $50 million syndicated term loan facility for a textile company, PT Hadtex, the $50 million term loan facility for PT Duta Anggada and other syndicated loans for companies including PT Mulia Keramik Indahraya, PT Sinar Mas Multiartha of the Sinar Mas Group, PT Medco Corporation, PT Kawasan Industri Jababeka and PT Mulia Glass.
The bank claimed that its bad loans are estimated at only 0.04 percent of its total loans.
"To guarantee good asset quality, the bank is implementing a conservative provisioning policy, with a provision rate of 1.2 percent of loans," the statement said.
The minimum provision rate set by the monetary authorities is 0.5 percent of all loans.
The statement also said that the bank is now in the process of issuing 145.60 million rights shares at Rp 1,150 each on the JSX.
The rights issue, which is being managed by PT Merrill Lynch Indonesia, is expected to raise Rp 167 billion to strengthen the bank's capital base and improve the liquidity of its shares on the JSX. (08)