Instead Of Staying Idle During The Pandemic, BPR Lestari Group Growed By 370 Billion And Launched A Digital Initiative

BPR Lestari Group recorded a pretty solid performance in the third quarter of 2020. This is shown from the asset figures that on a consolidated basis, the total assets of BPR were recorded at Rp. 7.2 Trillion as of September 2020, grew by 5.4% Year-Over-Year (YoY) from Rp. 6.8 Trillion in the same period in 2019. 

"The assets grew positively, meaning that the size of the business is growing, while the group's total profit per September was recorded at Rp. 121 Billion. All business groups are performing positively. Profit, although not as good as last year, is not too bad considering the unfavorable situation,” said Alex P. Chandra, Founder and CEO of PT. Lestari Capital, the holding company in charge of 7 BPR Lestari Group, during a press conference with several media crews.

With regard to liquidity, Alex P. Chandra said that currently the liquidity of BPR Lestari Group is in a safe condition. Recorded cash reserve of Rp. 1.8 Trillion is owned by BPR Lestari Bali while on a consolidated basis the BPR Lestari Group has a cash reserve of Rp. 2.2 Trillion. 

This is due to the 'prudent' and 'conservative' credit policies. The Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR) of several BPRs under the auspices of the BPR Lestari Group is recorded to be in the range of 50% - 65%." Thus, there is adequate reserve liquidity," he said.

Meanwhile, in terms of credit risk, NPLs of each BPR are in the range of 0.85% - 4.3%. "At BPR Lestari Bali, our subsidiary with the largest NPL can be controlled at 2.06%; below the average banking industry in Bali.”

At the press conference conducted through Zoom, the credit restructuring carried out by national banks including BPR Lestari was also mentioned. "We have conducted stress tests on the readiness of BPR Lestari Group to face this crisis. Based on calculations, we are ready and able to get through this crisis," said Alex.

In the midst of challenging business conditions, BPR Lestari Bali continues to innovate. BPR Lestari Bali has successfully completed several digital initiatives, one of which is DepositoGo. Customers no longer need to come to the office to place deposits; they just need to use LestariMobile from home.

"You can place deposits on holidays. So with this, BPR Lestari becomes a 24/7 BBT (24/7 Open Bank)," he joked.

In addition, there are initiatives being undertaken to help MSMEs in Bali to survive and to sell their products with the Lestari Discount Application. With the ‘Order From Home’ feature, application users can order MSME partner products from home, and the order will be delivered home. 

"This pandemic period is perhaps the most innovative period in the history of BPR Lestari. In the past 6 months, we have successfully completed six digital initiatives. Including 'live' DepositoGo and Orders From Home, and Online Accounts Opening which are just waiting for OJK approval," said Alex.

"And we have successfully completed the acquisition of a BPR in Jogja, which will complement the BPR Lestari Group network in 7 provinces. In order to be complete our presence in all provinces in Java and Bali," he said.

It is worth mentioning that there are currently 7 BPRs in 7 provinces in Java and Bali that operate under the Lestari Group, including BPR Lestari Bali (Denpasar), BPR Lestari Jatim (Malang), BPR Lestari Central Java (Solo), BPR Lestari Banten (Tangerang), BPR Lestari Jabar (Bekasi), BPR Lestari Jakarta (West Jakarta) and the one that has just been acquired is BPR Bina Arta Swadaya Yogyakarta, which will later change its name to BPR Lestari Jogja (Yogyakarta).