JAKARTA - Solely focusing on institutional banking business now, Citibank N.A. Indonesia, or more popularly known as Citi Indonesia, was still able to record 82% year-on-year (yoy) surge in its net profit, arriving at IDR 2.5 trillion in 2023.

According to Financial Statement 2023 of Citi Indonesia, its credit disbursement was indeed slowing down 9.7% yoy to IDR 35.4 trillion from IDR 39.2 trillion channelled in 2022. Third-party funds (DPK) also slipped quite heavily, down 26.1% yoy to IDR 54,76 trillion in 2023.

However, as is known, Citi Indonesia had just recently divested its consumer banking unit to Bank UOB on November 18, 2023. "The transaction of consumer banking divestment to UOB resulted in assets and liabilities transfer. For credit, we transferred IDR 7.6 trillion, and third-party funds (DPK), IDR 11.6 trillion," Sujanto Su, Head of Finance of Citi Indonesia, clarified.

"In fact, our loan growth in institutional banking increased 15%, and so did the DPK," claimed Batara Sianturi, CEO of Citi Indonesia. According to the press release today (2/4), institutional banking credit growth is supported by growth in financial intermediaries sector.

Net interest income of Citi Indonesia indeed soared 32.3% yoy at the end of 2023, bringing it from IDR 3.6 trillion to IDR 4.75 trillion as of December 2023.

This year will be the first time Citi Indonesia operates on solely its institutional banking service. "So, our projection for the credit is single digit, positive growth, for 2024," Sianturi said.

Lastly, he mentioned that the credit growth will be further driven by top-tier local coporates, financial institutions, as well as multinational companies and public sectors (SOEs).

In relation to general economic trend, Helmi Arman, Chief Economist of Citi Indonesia, further added that the emerging sectors that will demonstrate positive shift this year include basic metal manufacture, mining, as well as property.

In terms of capital adequacy ratio (CAR), Citi Indonesia's position looks solid at 37.85%, supported by strong liquidity, as indicated through its Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) and Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) at 267% and 126%. (ZH)