Indonesian state banks enjoy big jump in net profits

Three Indonesian state banks reported solid growth in their earnings in 2011 as lending rose substantially during the year.

The banks were Bank Negara Indonesia, Bank Rakyat Indonesia and Bank Tabung-an Negara.

BNI, the fourth-largest bank in terms of assets, booked Rp 5.81 trillion in net profits in 2011, increasing by 42 percent from Rp 4.1 trillion in 2010 on the back of the sharp decline in provision for bad debts.

Meanwhile, Bank Rakyat, Indonesia's largest bank in terms of assets, reported a 31.47 percent increase in net profits to Rp 15.08 trillion in 2011 from Rp 11.47 trillion year-on-year.

BRI said healthy lending supported the increase in net profits as the bank’s net interest income rose only 4.14 percent to Rp 33.87 trillion in 2011 from Rp 32.52 trillion in 2010.

Bank Tabung-an is also expecting that it will expand quickly this year after the company for the first time booked Rp 1.1 trillion in net profits in 2011, a 22.16 increase from the previous year’s figure.

“This is beyond our expectation. The 22.16 percent increase in net profit and CAR at the level of 15 percent means we are included in banks that are allowed to perform a quick expansion,” Bank Tabung-an  president director Iqbal Latanro said.

Iqbal said that BTN expected that its total assets would touch Rp 100 trillion this year.

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