Jakarta. Three Indonesian banks posted more than 30 percent growth in profit during the first quarter as lenders benefited from wider interest margin.

Bank Permata, the lending unit of UK lender Standard Chartered and Indonesia’s largest car distributor Astra International, posted a 54 percent growth in net income to Rp 567 billion ($43,000) in the January-March period from Rp 367 billion in the same period last year on stronger retail banking and wholesale banking, said Sandeep Jain, Bank Permata’s finance director in a statement on Tuesday.

Permata’s net interest and Shariah income increased 17 percent to Rp 1.4 trillion and fee-based income increased 16 percent to Rp 314 billion.

Net interest margin — a measure of profitability derived from the difference between loan interest and deposit interest — rose to 3.58 percent from 3.36 percent in the previous year.

Permata’s outstanding loans as of March 2015 totaled Rp 130.63 trillion, up from Rp 120.51 trillion a year earlier. The lender’s third-party funds grew 14 percent to Rp 147 trillion.

Bank Internasional Indonesia, the local unit of Malaysia’s largest lender Malayan Banking, booked 31 percent growth in net income to Rp 256 billion.

The lender booked Rp 1.6 trillion in net interest income in the first quarter, up 16 percent from the same period last year while its non-interest income rose 26 percent to Rp 621 billion.

BII’s net interest margin rose to 4.85 percent as of March, up from 4.73 percent a year earlier. The lender’s total outstanding loans grew 6.2 percent to Rp 108 trillion but its non-performing loan also increased to 2.83 percent from 2.06 percent. BII’s third-party funds rose 1 percent to Rp 105 trillion. The lender’s loan to deposit ratio stays at 92 percent.

Bank Mega, a midsize lender controlled by tycoon Chairul Tanjung, posted a 31 percent increase in net income to Rp 376 billion in the first quarter.

The lender booked Rp 753 billion in net interest income, up 14 percent, which compensated the 5.3 percent drop in fee-based income to Rp 383 billion.

Bank Mega’s net interest margin rose to 5.47 percent in March, from 5.15 percent a year earlier.

The lender’s total outstanding loans grew 8.6 percent to Rp 33.6 trillion, with non-performing loans dropping to 1.53 percent of total loans from 1.67 percent a year earlier.

The lender’s third-party funds fell 8.8 percent to Rp 41 trillion, contributing to a decrease in its loans-to-deposit ratio to 67 percent from 68 percent a year earlier.

Bank Mega capital adequacy ratio — a measure of a bank’s financial strength — fell to 16.49 percent from 16.59 percent a year before.

GlobeAsia

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Source: The Jakarta Globe