Mandiri's profit last year rose

Mandiri's profit last year rose

PT Bank Mandiri, Indonesia's biggest lender by assets, said profit probably rose about 4.6 percent last year, as companies and consumers borrowed more in an expanding economy.

Net income in 2004 was about Rp 4.8 trillion (US$522 million), in line with the company's forecast, President Director E.C.W. Neloe said in a telephone interview on Friday.

Mandiri had a profit of Rp 4.59 trillion in 2003. Last year's profit lagged the estimates of analysts such as Kim Kwie Sjamsudin and Irvin Patmadiwiria.

While Kim, an analyst at PT Danareksa Sekuritas in Jakarta, predicted a 5.4 trillion rupiah profit, Patmadiwiria, who helps manage the equivalent of $217 million for PT Batavia Prosperindo Aset Management in Jakarta, had expected Mandiri to report a profit of 5.9 trillion rupiah for 2004.

Bank Mandiri and other Indonesian banks are benefiting from increased demand for credit after interest rates last year fell to the lowest in six years.

Faster economic growth is stoking corporate borrowing and consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of the $208 billion economy.

The financial results are being audited and should be ready on Feb. 15, Neloe said.

"We will announce the results after that," Neloe said.