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State-owned PT Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) will offer rights
shares in the first semester of this year to raise additional capital
of up to Rp 4 trillion (about US$439 million) to support its expansion
plans.
"We are still in the process of obtaining permission from the
Indonesian Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency
(Bapepam-LK), and fulfilling other requirements," BNI president
director Sigit Pramono was quoted by Antara as saying Sunday.
He said that the bank's expansion would reduce its capital and that,
therefore, it was hoped that the rights issue would raise between Rp 3
trillion and Rp 4 trillion in fresh capital.
"BNI's average lending growth stands at 25 percent. Given that its
total loans currently amount to about Rp 66 trillion, this means that
lending will increase by between Rp 12 trillion and Rp 15 trillion by
the end of the year," he said.
He added that the rights issue was also expected to help the bank meet
the requirements of the Basel II risk-management system, which will be
implemented by Bank Indonesia gradually beginning in the third quarter
of this year.
Sigit said that BNI's capital adequacy ratio (CAR) could fall by
between two and three percent from 18 percent at the present time after
the implementation of Basel II.
He said the bank also planned to divest about 30 to 40 percent of its
government-owned shares to the public in the second semester.
The government currently holds a 99.9 percent stake in the bank.
State Minister for State Enterprises Sugiharto said the government had
actually approved the sale of up to 49 percent of the bank's shares to
the public.
However, he added that the decision on the amount of shares to be
offered would depend on consultations with the House of Representatives.
"The decision will be related to the timing, pricing and sizing of the
share issue," he said.
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