Bank Negara Indonesia opens strong as loans grow 18% in January-February

Investment loan growth hit 14%.

Bank Negara Indonesia opened the year on strong footing after loan growth hit 18% in the first two months of 2019 with investment loans growing 14% and working capital expanding by 19%, according to Maybank Kim Eng. Deposit growth also hit 12% over the same period. 

Also read: Indonesian banks face liquidity crunch as loans pick up

BBNI's strong foothold in the corporate segment extended the bank's lending gains and its strong deposit base amongst big banks which sustains credit expansion. Loan quality in the segment improved as one large account
was upgraded to SML since the first month of 2019. 

"At this rate, our 13% YoY loan growth estimate for FY19F should easily be met," analyst Rahmi Marina said in a report. 

The bank's FY19 profit are expected to hit $1.26b (IDR18t) which takes into account  a 10bps increase in bad loans to 2.0%.