Bank Jago, Which Owned By Conglomerates Jerry Ng And Patrick Walujo Loses IDR 47 Billion In First Semester Of 2021

JAKARTA - PT Bank Jago Tbk (ARTO) still recorded a net loss of IDR 47 billion in the first semester of 2021, the gain was down 8 percent compared to the same period last year which recorded a loss of IDR 50.91 billion.

Bank Jago President Director Kharim Siregar in his official statement, quoted on Monday, July 26, explained that the achievements during the first semester of 2021 show that the company is on the right track in realizing Bank Jago's great aspirations as a technology-based bank embedded in the ecosystem.

Karim said that after completing the rights issue in April 2021, the bank whose shares are owned by conglomerates Jerry Ng and Patrick Walujo and Gojek will continue to expand. In the last three months, the company has succeeded in increasing lending and expanding collaboration with the digital ecosystem.

Collaboration is realized through collaboration with a number of peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, multi-finance, digital ecosystem companies, and application integration with the Bibit investment platform and the Gojek super app.

Furthermore, Kharim said credit growth in the first semester raised interest income by 289 percent. With interest expense which only increased by 46 percent, Bank Jago was able to record a 423 percent increase in net interest income to IDR 139 billion.

This resulted in a decrease in the cost to income ratio from 289 percent in the first semester of 2020 to 129 percent in the first semester of 2021. This condition also boosted the net interest margin (NIM) ratio from 4.1 percent to 5 percent in the same period.

He explained, as a developing technology bank, the company continues to allocate capital expenditures for IT investment, application development, and recruitment of new talent. This made operating expenses increased by 135 percent to IDR 183 billion.

The increase in operating costs had an impact on profit for the first semester of 2021, which still posted a net loss of IDR 47 billion.

"So, our performance has not been positive because of the investment factor. We view this as something reasonable and still in line with the initial planning. This investment will certainly be enjoyed in the future", said Kharim.