Bank Central Asia on track to meet 12% loan growth target for FY18

Loans already grew 11% in the first four months of 2017.

According to Maybank Kim Eng, Bank Central Asia (BBCA) indicated that working-capital demand from the corporate sector has picked up.

"Along with a strong deposit base to support mortgage expansion, we believe it is on track to reach our FY18E loan-growth target of 12% YoY while keeping NPL ratios below peers and the industry."

"BBCA said demand for working-capital loans has improved since Apr 2017. This helped to jack up its loan growth to 11% YoY in 4M17 from 9% YoY in 1Q17. The new demand is dominated by the heavy-equipment business in the commodity sector. We believe this augurs well for FY18E loan growth, when commodity prices are widely expected to remain strong. We maintain that its loan growth could accelerate to 12% YoY in 2018E from 10% YoY this year," added Maybank Kim Eng.