BCA's profit up 121%

BCA's profit up 121%

JAKARTA (JP): The first half net profit of publicly listed
Bank Central Asia (BCA) rose by 121 percent to hit Rp 1.103
trillion (about US$129.76 million) from Rp 497.11 billion a year
earlier, the bank said on Wednesday.

BCA said in a statement that its first half net interest
earnings surged to Rp 2.23 trillion from only Rp 758 billion.

It attributed the gain on lower interest costs during the same
period, which fell to Rp 4.13 trillion from Rp 4.3 trillion.

BCA enjoys favorable interest rates from owning
recapitalization bonds tied to Bank Indonesia's interest rates.

The central bank has kept its rates high since early this year
to curb pressure on the rupiah and inflation.

Meanwhile, BCA's capital adequacy ratio (CAR), as of June 30,
fell slightly to 34.34 percent as against 36.03 percent in the
same period last year.(bkm)