UOB INDONESIA'S PROFIT UP 19 PCT LAST YEAR

Jakarta, March 21 (ANTARA) - Publicly-listed PT Bank UOB Buana Indonesia said on Sunday it posted a net profit of Rp389 billion last year, up 19.3 percent from a year earlier.

"The growth was contributed by growing net interest income which rose 19 percent to Rp975 billion in 2009 from Rp817 billion in 2008," UOB Indonesia President Director Iwan Satawidinata said in a press statement.

The bank's loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) was recorded at 81.7 percent last year.

The amount of third party funds raised by the bank rose 2 percent to Rp9.307 trillion last year thanks to an increase in the number of time deposits.

The bank noted time deposits rose 4 percent or Rp325 billion to Rp8,130 billion last year on competitive interest rates.

Almost all the bank's financial ratios rose last year, suggesting that it was getting close to optimum performance, the statement said.

Last year the bank managed to keep its net interest margin (NIM) at 4.2 percent. Return on equity (ROE) climbed to 16.6 percent in 2009 from 1.6 percent a year earlier.

The ratio of cost to income fell to 64.5 percent in 2009 from 71.3 percent in the previous year.