Jakarta – Amid the dividend rain of jumbo-class banks, there are also bank owners who do not enjoy dividends. Of the 106 commercial banks in Indonesia, 95 banks managed to book profits throughout 2022. Of the 95 banks that made a profit, 11 of them experienced a decline in profits.
While the other 11 banks experienced losses. The saddest thing is that the Banten Provincial Government, which has owned Bank Banten since 2015, has never received dividends because the bank has always lost money since 2014, or since it was still called Bank Pundi. The accumulated losses for nine years until 2022 reached Rp1.98 trillion, or as much as the investment or capital invested by the Banten Provincial Government which reached Rp2 trillion.
However, there are also banks that posted profits and even increased the number but did not distribute dividends. For example, PaninBank is accustomed to not distributing dividends. The bank owned by tycoon Mu’min Ali Gunawan last paid dividends in 2005. After 17 years of fasting dividends, PaninBank only distributed dividends in 2022 amounting to IDR 481.60 billion on net profit in 2021 of IDR 1.81 trillion. In 2023, PaninBank, whose profits soared 80.14% to Rp3.27 trillion in 2022, has not yet realized dividend payments.
In fact, PaninBank’s horses look strong with a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 30.07%, the second highest after PermataBank in the ranks of banks with assets of more than Rp100 trillion. An Infobank source from PaninBank said that shareholders always prioritize strengthening the horses to deal with economic developments that are not always conducive. Because of its conservative owners, history has recorded PaninBank as the only top-tier bank to weather the 1997/1998 monetary crisis without government assistance.
Capital capacity is essential to strengthen the bank’s stance in anticipating various economic developments. Related to the jumbo dividend payments issued by a number of banks, Mahendra Siregar, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Financial Services Authority (OJK), also signaled that the regulator would regulate the dividend payments of banks.
“We observe that the dividend payout ratio of various banks appears to be too large which can limit the ability of banks to invest in supporting the much-needed digital transformation and innovation,” he said in the agenda of the General Meeting of Members of the Indonesian Bankers Association (IBI) recently in Jakarta.
Which banks are on the list of the biggest dividend payers? How is the bank’s resilience in enduring crisis shocks after issuing such large dividends (dividend payout)? What are the factors that boosted the profit of Indonesian banks, which set the highest record in history? Which banks have the best performance and make their owners smile broadly? Read more in Infobank Magazine Number 544 August 2023!
