Bank Universal finalizes deal

Bank Universal finalizes deal

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed Bank Universal said on Thursday
it was expecting approval from Bank Indonesia and the Indonesian
Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) for a financing deal that would
raise its capital adequacy ratio to the minimum 8 percent later
this year.

Bank Universal corporate secretary Ade R. Satari would not
elaborate on the financing deal that he said had been worked out
with the assistance of a financial consultant.

"We are optimistic our financing deal will be approved and
this package will surely increase our capital adequacy ratio
(CAR) to the minimum 8 percent," Satari said in a statement.

Satari issued the statement following Bank Indonesia deputy
governor Miranda Goeltom's remarks on Wednesday, that the central
bank would not back down on the capital requirement.

Miranda told reporters that nine banks had yet to meet the
mandated capital standard and they would surely be closed if they
failed to meet the 8 percent CAR.

In a related development, Bank Universal reported to the
Jakarta Stock Exchange that its new lending in the first five
months of this year had reached Rp 1.5 trillion and its net
interest income amounted to Rp 104.58 billion, as against Rp
84.56 billion in the same period last year.

"We also cut down our non-performing loans to 10.94 percent as
of May, from 31.23 percent a year earlier," Bank Universal
president Stephen Z. Satyahadi said.