BRI Syariah plans to conduct IPO

PT Bank BRI Syariah, a sharia compliant subsidiary of state lender Bank Rakyat Indonesia, plans to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares in 2018 to boost alternative funding sources.

“During the IPO we will float our shares worth Rp1 trillion to the stock exchange,” BRI Syariah President Director Moch. hadi Santoso said after a press conference here on Wednesday.

The decision to turn the bank into a publicly listed company was taken to strengthen capital structure particularly at “Tier 1”, he said.

The bank wants to strengthen its capital through various funding sources to expand its financing business. Moreover, the bank wants to expand its financing portfolio from retail and business segments to infrastructure financing, he said.

“After the IPO, we will continue to expand our business. This year we have been engaged in infrastructure financing,” he said.

Also this year, the bank has explored several commitments for infrastructure financing. But its amount is not yet significant to boost the business growth of PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Ybks subsidiary,” he said.

The BRI Syariah has set itself the target of boosting its financing growth at 13 percent year on year from to Rp18.8 trillion from Rp16.5 trillion at the end of this year.