Bank Rakyat Indonesia 2009 net up 23%

27% loan growth and 17% net interest income surge boosted lender’s net profit that beat expectations.

Indonesia's second-biggest bank, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia), said on Tuesday that 2009 net profit rose 23 percent to 7.308 trillion rupiah ($804.4 million), beating expectations, thanks to strong loan growth.

Analysts had forecast 2009 net profit of 6.849 trillion rupiah, according to Thomson Reuters.

"Profit was driven by strong loan growth of around 27 percent," said Sudaryanto Sudargo, finance director.

The bank expects loan growth of 20-25 percent this year.

BRI, which has a market capitalisation of about $11.1 billion, reported a consolidated net interest income of 23.05 trillion rupiah ($2.55 billion), up 17 percent from a year ago.

BRI bank itself reported net interest income of 22.89 trillion rupiah ($2.53 billion), excluding contributions from its sharia unit.

View the full story in Reuters.