PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BBRI.JK) said its first-quarter net

PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BBRI.JK) said its first-quarter net profit rose 9 percent from the year-earlier period on an increase in interest income.

Net profit for the January-to-March period rose to Rp 1.2 trillion from Rp 1.1 trillion a year earlier, Bank Rakyat's president Rudjito told reporters.

The bank's expansion in consumer lending helped fuel 7.7 percent growth in net interest income to Rp 2.8 trillion for the quarter, from Rp 2.6 trillion a year earlier, he said.

At the end of March, the bank's total outstanding loan portfolio stood at Rp 63.36 trillion, up from Rp 49.96 trillion at the end of March 2004. The lending-to-deposit ratio rose to 76.5 percent, among the highest in the banking industry, from 65.99 percent.

BRI's net interest margin stood at 11.44 percent, compared with 11.71 percent a year earlier. Rudjito didn't explain why the bank's net interest margin fell.

Rudjito said BRI's capital adequacy ratio, which is the ratio between its own equity capital and risk-weighted assets, stood at 22.85 percent at end-March, up from 20.86 percent a year ago.

The bank's total assets rose to Rp 107.21 trillion from Rp 94.5 trillion a year earlier. BRI is Indonesia's fourth- largest lender by assets after PT Bank Mandiri, PT Bank Central Asia and PT Bank Negara Indonesia.

BRI, which is 69.5 percent owned by the government, focuses on promoting the country's microfinance and small business sectors.

Rudjito expects the bank's net profit this year to rise by 10 percent to Rp 4 trillion from Rp 3.63 trillion in 2004.