BCA profit soars 88% in first quarter

BCA profit soars 88% in first quarter

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The country's largest retail bank PT Bank Central Asia (BCA) announced on Monday an 88 percent increase in its first quarter net profit to Rp 832.7 billion (US$92.30 million), due to a sharp rise in interest income.

BCA's interest income increased 47 percent to Rp 1.54 trillion during the quarter compared to Rp 1.05 trillion in 2001, company president DE Setijoso told reporters on Monday following the company's shareholders' meeting.

Operating income sharply increased to Rp 1.02 trillion from Rp 546.77 billion last year.

Setijoso also explained that the shareholders had agreed to pay a final dividend of Rp 140 per share on top the interim dividend of Rp 85 per share paid in December last year.

This brought the total dividend to Rp 225 per share, reflecting a payout ratio of nearly 43 percent of BCA's net profit of Rp 3.12 trillion for last year.

BCA's total assets are predicted to grow to between Rp 110 and Rp 115 trillion this year from Rp 103 trillion last year, while total lending is targeted to increase to about Rp 21 trillion from Rp 14.7 trillion.

Setijoso was also quoted by Antara as saying that the bank had no plans to lay off workers following the recent acquisition of 51 percent of the shares by U.S. investment firm Farallon Capital.

Farallon, he said, would not be involved in the day-to-day operations of the bank and had pledged not to install its staff in strategic or managerial level positions in the bank.

The acquisition of the bank by a foreign-based firm had prompted fears among employee, repeatedly and publicly raised by the bank's labor union, of a massive lay-off.