Permata's profit rises 12% on lower costs
Permata's profit rises 12% on lower costs
Bank Permata, in which Standard Chartered Plc. bought a stake
last year, said profit in 2004 rose 12 percent as the lowest
interest rates in six years helped it cut funding costs and
boosted demand for loans.
Net income in the year ended Dec. 31 rose to Rp 630.5 billion
(US$$69 million), or Rp 80 a share, from Rp 564.5 billion, or Rp
72 a share, in 2003, the lender said in a press statement.
"Most Indonesian banks benefited from an expanding economy and
improved political climate last year," said Irvin Patmadiwiria,
who helps manage the equivalent of $217 million at PT Batavia
Prosperindo Aset Management in Jakarta. Patmadiwiria doesn't own
Permata shares.
Faster economic growth is stoking corporate borrowing and
consumer spending in Southeast Asia's biggest economy, which is
forecast by the government to expand 5.5 percent this year, the
most in nine years, after estimated 5 percent growth last year.
Interest rates fell to their lowest in six years in 2004,
spurring demand for bank loans and cutting deposit costs.
Permata, Indonesia's seventh-largest lender, said net interest
income, or interest earned on loans after deducting that paid for
deposits, rose to Rp 1.58 trillion in 2004 from Rp 1.16 trillion
in 2003. Interest costs dropped 33 percent to Rp 1.38 trillion.
Deposit rates have fallen faster than lending rates, improving
banks' interest margins. The average six- month deposit rate was
6.2 percent last year, compared with an average lending rate of
15.6 percent.
Permata's assets rose to Rp 31.7 trillion as of Dec 31, 2004
from Rp 29.03 trillion in 2003, the lender's statement said.
Permata is controlled by Standard Chartered, a U.K. lender
that makes two-thirds of its profit in Asia, and PT Astra
International, Indonesia's biggest auto distributor, which
jointly paid Rp 3.4 trillion for 62.2 percent of the lender.
The government, which still owns 26 percent of the lender,
plans to sell its remaining stake this year to raise fund to
cover a budget deficit estimated at more than Rp 17.4 trillion.
-- Bloomberg