KB Bank Records New Credit Growth Of IDR 1.1 Trillion

Photo illustration. (Doc. Freepic)

JAKARTA - KB Bank (BBKP) reported growth of IDR 1.1 trillion for new credit during the first quarter of 2024 or grew 114.3 percent compared to the same period the previous year.

The number of new KB Bank loans in the first quarter of 2024 reached more than IDR 2.0 trillion. With this growth, KB Bank also managed to record net interest income growth of 3.5 percent year on year (yoy).

Deputy President Director of KB Bank, Robby Mondong said, this growth record was able to be balanced by controlling interest expense and operating expenses which managed to decrease by 2.1 percent and 12.4 percent year-on-year, respectively. With this performance improvement, KB Bank managed to increase net interest income (NIM) to 0.9 percent in the first quarter of 2024 from 0.7 percent in the previous year period.

Our focus is on making fundamental improvements while encouraging the growth of KB Bank's performance. The loan at risk ratio continues to improve and the quality of assets from new loans is also maintained," said Roby, Saturday, June 1.

As is known, KB Bank managed to improve the low-quality credit ratio or loan at risk (LAR) to 34.3 percent in the first quarter of 2024 from 50.3 percent in the same period the previous year.

Until April 2024, the LAR ratio was recorded to continue to improve by 26.9 percent. Based on historical data, the LAR ratio is a challenge for KB Bank, since the transformation program began in 2021. After KB Kookmin Bank became the controlling shareholder of the Company, the LAR ratio was recorded at 65 percent at the end of 2021.

The LAR ratio is then recorded to continue to improve in the following years by 50 percent at the end of 2022 and in the range of 40 percent by the end of 2023.

In addition to fundamental improvements, this year KB Bank is also targeting performance growth from credit expansion. The corporate or wholesale segment is the anchor in an effort to encourage this growth by creating a business ecosystem for the MSME and retail segments.

Based on the bank's business plan, the Company targets to achieve operating profit before the positive pre-provision operating profit (PPOP) in 2024 and can record a net profit by 2025.

"In the midst of the current dynamic global and domestic economic situation, we remain optimistic that we can achieve our growth targets," concluded Robby.