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