Niaga allocates profit for dividend

Niaga allocates profit for dividend

JAKARTA: PT Bank Niaga on Thursday said it plans to set aside around 13 profit of its 2003 net profit for cash dividend payment, a company senior official said.

Bank Niaga President Director Peter Stok said the bank's shareholders have approved the plan to use Rp58.68 billion for a payment of Rp0.75 cash dividend per share.

For 2003, the bank reported a net profit of Rp467.25 billion, compared with Rp141.12 billion a year earlier.

He didn't say when the bank will distribute the dividend.

Stok said in efforts to improve its lending performance, the bank plans to issue rights shares to raise Rp1 trillion in the third quarter of the year.

Bank Niaga's lending is expected to grow 30 percent this year, he added. As of December last year, the bank's total outstanding loans stood at Rp14 trillion. -- Dow Jones