Bank International Indonesia profit dips in Q3

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Publicly listed Bank International Indonesia (BII) reported a 5 percent decline of unaudited net profit in the first nine months ending Sept. 30, as a recent rise in inflation and interest rates pushed up costs.

It reported a net profit of Rp 588 billion (US$58.8 million) in the third quarter, from Rp 618 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Despite the unfavorable circumstances, the bank still saw a higher interest income during the period -- of Rp 1.84 trillion -- as compared to Rp 1.24 trillion last year. This did not include a Rp 242 billion one-off gain on marketable securities. The bank's operating income also improved by 45 percent to Rp 761 billion.

BII's outstanding loans managed to grow as well, by 71 percent to Rp 21.32 trillion, on the back of strong consumer credit and commercial loans for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME).

The bank's total deposits rose 23 percent to Rp 35.9 trillion, while its loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) improved to 54.7 percent from 42.1 percent.

"We will continue to grow our businesses prudently in light of the changing environment we are operating in, which will require closer monitoring of exposures and tighter credit criteria," BII president director Henry Ho said in a statement.

"I am pleased to note that despite loan growth, our gross non- performing loans (NPL) remain low, reducing from 7.22 percent last year, to 2.85 percent at the third quarter this year."

BII, the country's sixth-largest lender by assets, is 57 percent owned by the Sorak Consortium -- comprising South Korea's largest lender, Kookmin Bank, and Singapore's Temasek -- 6 percent by Citibank Singapore, 5 percent by the government, and the rest by the public.

BII shares on the Jakarta Stock Exchange ended unchanged at Rp 145 on Wednesday.