BNI 1st-half profit up

BNI 1st-half profit up

JAKARTA: State Bank Negara Indonesian (BNI) said on Wednesday
its first-half net profit rose 7.7 percent to Rp 1.512 trillion
(about US$170 million), benefiting from Bank Indonesia's lower
benchmark rates over the period.

The bank said its interest costs fell by Rp 346 billion to Rp
5.317 trillion, and its interest earnings rose by 252 billion to
Rp 7.258 trillion.

Its unaudited first half capital adequacy ratio (CAR) stood at
18.22 percent, up from 17.28 percent last year.

"The decline in Bank Indonesia's rates has lowered the cost of
serving interest payments (on customer deposits)," said BNI's
director for risk management, Binsar Pangaribuan.

Bank Indonesia's benchmark rates have fallen by about two
percentage points on the back of a stronger rupiah in the first
six months of this year.

Binsar said BNI's overseas branches were also performing
better than last year. He gave no details, but said BNI had
branches in Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, New York and London.
--JP