Bank NISP to issue 300m rights shares
JAKARTA (JP): Bank NISP plans to issue 300 million rights shares by the end of this month to strengthen its capital structure, the bank's president Pramukti Surjaudjaja said on Tuesday.
Pramukti Surjaudjaja said on Tuesday that the rights shares issue was expected to raise Rp 150 billion (US$20 million).
He said that existing shareholders would have the right to buy 1,200 new shares for every 1,183 shares they currently hold. The new shares are priced at Rp 500 each.
"Proceeds from the rights shares issue will be used to increase Bank NISP's paid-up capital to Rp 297.87 billion from its current level of Rp 147.87 billion," he told journalists after an extraordinary meeting of the bank's shareholders.
He said the bank issued new shares as dividends for existing shareholders earlier this month, bringing paid-up capital up to Rp 147.87 billion from its previous level of Rp 87.5 billion.
Pramukti said several foreign investors from the United States, a number of European countries, Singapore and Hong Kong had expressed an interest in buying the new shares, despite the gloomy outlook for the country's economy.
"Although foreign investors are concerned by the situation here, they still believe the country's economy has good long term prospects," he said.
He said that among the foreign investors to have expressed an interest were Aberdeen Fund Management from Scotland, Warburg Invest from the United States and Perpertual Life from continental Europe.
Bank NISP's total assets were worth Rp 2.94 trillion as of September this year. The banks' assets were valued at Rp 1.50 trillion in the corresponding period last year.
Pramukti said that the bank's net profit rose to Rp 18.57 billion in the first nine months of this year, up from Rp 13.55 billion in the same period last year.
"Despite the crisis, we managed to book a profit due to our conservative approach," he said, pointing out that the bank is expected to record a net profit of about Rp 25 billion in this calender year.
He said that Bank NISP issued loans worth Rp 1.15 trillion during the Jan to Sept. period of this year, compared to Rp 1.06 trillion in the same period last year.
He said that out of total outstanding loans, around 5 percent were classified as non-performing.
"Non-performing loans are expected to rise to 10 percent of our total outstanding loans by the end of this year," he said.
Most of the loans were issued to small and medium-sized businesses in urban centers throughout West Java.
The bank, which is 33.46 percent owned by PT Udayawira Utama, 33.46 percent owned by PT Suryasono Sentosa, 0.08 percent owned by Karmaka Surjaudja and 33 percent owned by the public, booked a 135 percent increase in time deposits and public savings in the first nine months of this year. Total savings deposits rose from Rp 841 billion in the first nine moths of last year to Rp 1.98 trillion in the first nine months of 1998. (aly)