OCBC, NISP venture bank to open here soon
JAKARTA (JP): A joint venture bank owned by Overseas Chinese Bank Corporation (OCBC) of Singapore and Bank NISP of Indonesia would start its operation here this month.
Bank NISP managing director Pramukti Surjaudaja said here yesterday that the new joint venture, to be called Bank OCBC- NISP, had secured its principal license from the Ministry of Finance.
He added that it had filed a proposal to the ministry for an operating license.
"We hope the operating license will come out this month, and we can start out business also this month," Pramukti told journalists.
He said the new bank would have a paid-up capital of Rp 150 billion (US$63 million) -- the minimum requirement for a new foreign exchange bank.
OCBC would take majority stake at the new joint venture by 85 percent, while NISP would hold the remaining 15 percent. "We hope we can increase our stake in the venture in the coming years," he said.
Pramukti said the new venture bank would focus its business on corporate banking and trade financing, especially to support Indonesia's exports.
After a period of 12 months, according to regulations, a joint venture bank or a sub-branch of a foreign bank should have an export lending position of at least 50 percent of their total lending portfolio.
As for local foreign exchange banks, they are also required to extend 50 percent of their loans in foreign exchange to export- related activities.
Pramukti said the partnership would create a synergy because OCBC has a strong middle class customer base. On the other side, NISP is well-positioned in retail banking. Currently, its retail banking constitute some 40 percent of its overall business.
He said that the new bank, which will open its headquarters in Jakarta, would not affect the operation of another NISP venture, Bank Daiwa Perdania, because the two banks will target at different customers.
Performance
Pramukti yesterday also reported that his bank had recorded an unaudited net income of Rp 20.3 billion in 1996, a 20 percent increase over 1995.
He projected that the company's net profit would increase by some 25 percent this year.
The bank, which recorded total assets of Rp 1.1 trillion as of the end of last year, extended some Rp 900 billion in loans last year, representing a 25 percent increase over 1996.
The bank had split its shares and distributed bonus shares recently to increase the shares' market liquidity. The stock split cut the nominal share price from Rp 1,000 to Rp 500.
The bank's main shareholders, PT Suryasono Sentosa and PT Udayawira Utama, had sold some of their 8.125 million shares to 14 foreign fund managers, increasing public ownership to 33 percent. (rid)