Bank Central Asia's 2004 Profit Rises 34% on Loans

Bank Central Asia's 2004 Profit Rises 34% on Loans

Bloomberg
Jakarta

PT Bank Central Asia, Indonesia's second-largest lender by
assets, said profit rose 34 percent last year as an expanding
economy spurred companies and individuals to borrow more.

Net income rose to Rp 3.2 trillion (US$341 million), or Rp 260
a share, from Rp 2.39 trillion, or Rp 197 a share a year earlier,
the lender said in a statement.

Bank Central and other Indonesian banks are benefiting as
interest rates at six-year lows propel loan growth. The decline
in interest rates is helping spur the construction of homes and
shopping malls and more consumer spending, which already accounts
for more than two-thirds of the nation's $208 billion economy.

Southeast Asia's largest economy may expand 5.5 percent this
year, the fastest pace in nine years, after 5.1 percent growth in
2004, according to the government.

Bank Central Asia, a unit of U.S. hedge fund Farallon Capital
Management LLC, said net interest income, or interest revenue
from borrowers after interest was paid to depositors, rose to Rp
6.59 trillion from Rp 5.34 trillion in 2003.

The lender made Rp 11.1 trillion in new loans last year,
taking its outstanding loans to Rp 40.4 trillion, the statement
said.

Bank Central Asia is also seeking to provide as much as Rp 6
trillion in financing for toll-road projects and power
generation, President Director Djohan Emir Setijoso said at a
news briefing on Tuesday.

"We will only provide financing for projects of less than
seven years," he said. "We will not finance projects of more than
10 years."

The Indonesian government on Jan. 17 said it may need as much
as $150 billion of investment in roads, power plants and other
infrastructure projects to create more jobs and accelerate
economic growth over the next five years. Indonesia will offer at
least 91 projects worth about $22 billion this year, State
Minister of National Development Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati
said in January.

Indonesia may sell remaining government stakes in Bank Central
Asia and other lenders this year to raise funds to cover its
budget deficit, Raden Pardede, vice-president director of Asset
Management Company said Feb. 24. The government has a 5.02
percent stake in Bank Central Asia.

Bank Central Asia's share rose 78.9 percent in 2004, outpacing
a 45 percent gain in the benchmark Jakarta Composite Index,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The stock rose Rp 25, or
0.7 percent, to Rp 3,450 at the 4 p.m. close on the Jakarta Stock
Exchange on Tuesday.