Bank Central Asia’s low costs, strong liquidity steadies earnings growth

Ample liquidity and low funding costs will optimise its returns, Maybank Securities said.

Bank Central Asia’s (BCA) low funding cost, strong liquidity, and solid asset quality should support steady earnings growth, said Maybank Securities.

“We believe BCA will continue to experience healthy and sustainable growth despite challenging macroeconomic conditions,” said Maybank Securities’ analysts Jeffrosenberg Chenlim and Faiq Asad in a report published in April 2025.

The Indonesian bank’s net profit grew by 9.9% year-on-year (YoY) to IDR14.1t in Q1 2025 on the back of stronger pre-provision profit growth, despite a rise in provisions.

Net interest margin was 5.8%, 20 basis points (bp) higher compared to Q1 2024; whilst non-interest income grew by 5.3% YoY. Operational expenses were flat with a 0.3% YoY growth.

Loan growth was robust at 12.6% YoY for Q1, outpacing the industry’s 9% YoY lending growth rate, Maybank Securities said.

“Looking ahead, we believe BBCA will remain resilient amid macroeconomic volatility, by leveraging its ample liquidity and low funding costs to optimise returns through higher-yielding assets,” said Chenlim and Asad.

“Moreover, due to its strong asset quality, the spike in credit cost should moderate and credit cost remain at a relatively low level,” they added.