Bank Ekonomi increases profits by 55%

Bank Ekonomi reported profit before tax of US$33 million for the nine months to 30 September 2009. The figures represent an increase of 55 percent on the same period in 2008.

Net interest income for the nine months to 30 September 2009 increased by 36 percent, or by US$16 million, to bring it up to US$62 million. This was driven by higher yields.

Non interest income for the nine months increased to US$7 million, which is up by 34 percent or US$1.7 million compared to the same period in 2008. This mainly resulted from an increase in fees from treasury product and gain on foreign exchange of US$1 million, increase in account service fees of US$0.2 million, and a gain on the sale of fixed assets of US$0.6 million.

Operating expenses for the third quarter of 2009 were US$35 million, an increase of 21 percent or US$6 million compared to the same period in 2008. This was primarily due to increased staff costs and general and administrative expenses.

The cost-efficiency ratio also improved to 45 percent from 48 percent in the same period in 2008 as income improved significantly over expense growth. The improvement in income was due to higher interest income as a result of higher yields.
The allowance for losses on loans and financing for the nine months decreased to US$4 million compared with US$6 million for the same period in 2008. The decrease reflects the lower balances of customer loans and advances.

The bank's total assets as of at 30 September increased by US$0.4 billion, or 23 percent, compared to the previous year. Customer loans and advances of US$0.9 billion decreased by US$ 0.1 billion or 10 percent. This was due to lower trade and working capital financing activities. Customer deposits rose to US$1.9 billion from US$1.6 billion for the same period in 2008.