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StanChart has no intention to sell $660 million stake in Indonesian bank

Reuters
A man walks past the head office of Standard Chartered bank in the City of London February 27, 2015. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

By Eveline Danubrata and Cindy Silviana

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Standard Chartered PLC (STAN.L) has no intention to sell its 45 percent stake in Indonesia's Bank Permata Tbk (BNLI.JK), the British lender's Southeast Asia head said on Tuesday.

Standard Chartered's abrupt move to shut its global equities business in January could be a prelude to the lender selling off stakes in a number of Asian banks as it looked to boost capital, people familiar with the lender's thinking had previously said.

"We do not have the intention of disposal (of the stake) at this stage," Lim Cheng Teck, CEO for ASEAN at Standard Chartered, told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Jakarta.

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Standard Chartered and Indonesian conglomerate PT Astra International Tbk (ASII.JK) owned 45 percent each in Bank Permata as of December 2014, according to Thomson Reuters data.

The two bought the stakes together in 2004 and 2006, paying a total of $548 million. At current market prices, a 45 percent stake in Bank Permata would be valued at around $660 million (443.76 million pounds).

Bank Permata is expected to post an overall loan growth of 10 percent this year, slightly lower than 11-12 percent in 2014 due to the slowing economy, the Indonesian lender's president director, Roy Arfandy, said in an interview.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has identified infrastructure development as a priority for his administration, but rather than taking on the big state-owned banks for the projects, Permata would rather "support the supporting industries", Arfandy said.

"We can provide working capital for the contractors," Arfandy said. "Our risk appetite is five-seven years, definitely we cannot go for the 10-year projects."

Permata will also focus on lending to small and medium businesses, as well as developing its Islamic banking segment such as by attracting the funds of Muslims who make their religious pilgrimage, Arfandy said.

(Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)