Permata profit soars 11.4%

Permata profit soars 11.4%

JAKARTA: Bank Permata, the country's seventh largest lender by
assets, announced that its net profit had increased last year to
Rp 622.7 billion (US$669.5 million) from Rp 558.1 billion in
2003, thanks to higher interest earnings.

The bank's 2004 net interest earnings jumped to Rp 1.55
trillion from Rp 1.14 trillion in 2003, as interest on time
deposits and savings fell amid declining Bank Indonesia's
benchmark interest rates (SBI).

Permata now has total assets of Rp 31.6 trillion, up from Rp
28.98 trillion. Its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) as of the end of
last year reached 11.4 percent, well above the central bank's
minimum requirement of 8 percent.

The publicly listed bank also channeled about Rp 5.2 trillion
in loans last year, mainly to the retail and consumer sectors and
to small and medium-scale enterprises. -- JP