Book Profit Of IDR 15.98 Trillion, BRI Pede Is Able To Face Global Challenges

President Director of BRI Sunarso. (Photo: Doc. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk was able to record positive profit growth in the first quarter of 2024 amid the dynamics of global economic and geopolitical conditions that were full of challenges.

Just so you know, until the end of the first quarter of 2024, BRI managed to score a profit of IDR 15.98 trillion.

BRI President Director Sunarso said the company will continue to monitor the development of global economic conditions and at the same time will focus more on domestic challenges.

He explained that currently global economic conditions are experiencing high uncertainty, because the Fed is expected to longer maintain its benchmark interest rate at a high level to reduce inflation in the US.

"On the other hand, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are heating up, investors are moving their assets to'safe haven' so as to reduce the Rupiah exchange rate against the Dollar and the Composite Stock Price Index (JCI)," explained Sunarso in an online press conference in Jakarta, Thursday 25 April.

Despite this, Sunarso remains optimistic about BRI's future performance and will focus more on domestic challenges.

Sunarso said, the company sees the current national economic condition as resilient to global economic stability and BRI is committed to supporting government programs that support domestic economic growth.

One form of BRI's commitment to supporting national economic growth is to continue to encourage job creation, especially in the MSME segment through quality lending.

Until the end of March 2024, BRI managed to disburse loans amounting to Rp1,308.65 trillion or double-digit growth of 10.89 percent year on year.

From the credit disbursement, 83.25 percent of them or Rp1,089.41 trillion are credit portfolios for the MSME segment.

The double-digit growth of credit has an impact on the increase in the company's assets, where BRI's assets were recorded at Rp1,989.07 trillion or grew 9.11 percent yoy.

BRI is also able to maintain the quality of loans it distributes. Until the end of the first quarter of 2024, BRI's Non Performing Loan (NPL) ratio was controlled at 3.11 percent with an improved Loan at Risk (LAR) ratio, from 16.39 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2023 to 12.70 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2024.

In terms of liabilities, the company was able to raise Third Party Funds (DPK) of IDR 1,416.21 trillion or grew 12.80 percent yoy by the end of March 2024.

Cheap funds or Current Account Savings Account (CASA) still dominate the deposit portfolio with a growth of 7.80 percent yoy.

"This CASA growth cannot be separated from BRI's aspiration to carry out liabilities transformation through strengthening the funding base with a focus on low-cost funding from CASA which is more stable and sustainable," he continued.

In the midst of the strict liquidity of national banking as a result of the era of high interest rates, BRI managed to maintain its liquidity ratio at an adequate level, where the Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR) bank at the end of March 2024 was recorded at 83.28 percent.

In terms of capital, BRI is also able to maintain a strong capital ratio with a Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 23.97 percent.

With these adequate liquidity and capital conditions, the company still has room to grow better.

Meanwhile, non-interest income or Fee Based Income (FBI) which grew 6.92 percent yoy became one of the factors driving BRI's profit growth.