BRI plans to sell Rp 3t of bonds in December to boost lending

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 11/26/2009 1:28 PM

Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), the nation's second largest lender by assets, will aim to sell five-year and 10-year subordinated bonds worth up to Rp 3 trillion (about US$318 million) between December 10th and 11th to finance lending.

"The bonds carry a coupon rate of between 10 percent and 11.9 percent. They will be issued in December," BRI finance director Sudaryanto Sudargo told a media expose on the bond sales on Wednesday.

He said that the yields for the five-year and 10-year bonds were set 9.4 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively.

According to Sudaryanto, the bonds will officially be listed on the secondary market as of Dec. 17 at the Jakarta Stock Exchange (IDX).

"The rating agency PT Pefindo has given the bond issue an AA+ with a stable outlook," he said, adding that the lender had appointed PT Danareksa Sekuritas, PT Bahana Securities and PT Mandiri Sekuritas as underwriters.

The so-called book-building period, a process to help in part to gauge investor interest, has begun on Nov. 25, to last until Dec. 4.

According Sudaryanto, BRI would use the proceeds from the bond sales to help finance its credit expansion.

"The company is issuing the bonds to strengthen our capital adequacy ratio *CAR* and expand our business," he said, rejecting speculation that the bank would acquire smaller banks in the near future.

The bank's CAR, which compares a lender's capital with its risk-weighted assets including loans, is hovering at between 13.5 percent and 14.5 percent.

Next year, the lender is targeting a 25 percent growth in lending, higher than the estimated 22 percent growth this year - already far above the 15 percent average lending growth target for the banking industry for 2009.

With this lending growth target, BRI estimates to post at least a 15 percent rise in net profits next year with profits to hit about Rp 6 trillion.

This year, as of September, net profits have reached Rp 5.3 trillion, on the back of a 26.9 percent growth in lending. The BRI loan portfolio outstanding as of September reached Rp 219.56 trillion.