Danamon selects bonds issue underwriters

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Bank Danamon, the country's fifth-largest lender in terms of assets, has appointed Danareksa Sekuritas as one of the underwriters for its Rp 3 trillion (US$328 million) bond issue this year, a top executive of the firm says.

Director Daniel Iskandar said on Wednesday that the rupiah- denominated bonds, which are scheduled to be issued in June, were also underwritten by HSBC Securities Indonesia and PT Trimegah Securindo Lestari.

A senior officer at the bank, Kun Kim Lan said the proceeds would be used to expand lending, which was expected to grow by 20 percent this year.

Last March, Danamon issued $300 million of subordinated bonds to raise funds to finance its acquisition of automotive financing company PT Adira Dinamika Multi Finance.

Adira's acquisition was aimed at smoothing the way for its credit expansion.

Consumer and commercial loans -- including those to small and medium enterprises -- have boosted lending. Based on its financial reports, as of last September, outstanding loans of the bank had grown by 27.7 percent to Rp 26.75 trillion from Rp 20.95 trillion in the same nine-month period last year.

In the first nine months of last year, Danamon recorded a net profit of Rp 1.73 trillion. The bank is 62 percent controlled by Singapore's Temasek Holdings Pte and Deutsche Bank AG.