State-owned lender PT Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) reported resilient performance through the first nine months of 2025, maintaining solid profitability despite margin pressure and tight liquidity across the banking industry.

BNI booked a net profit of Rp15.11 trillion (US$905 million) as of September 2025, equivalent to about 73 percent of its full-year target, in line with analysts’ expectations. The result came even as the bank’s net interest margin (NIM) narrowed to 3.8 percent amid rising cost of funds (CoF).

Despite industry-wide margin compression, BNI managed to post 10.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) loan growth to Rp812.2 trillion, driven mainly by the corporate and medium segments.

Corporate lending expanded 12.4 percent YoY to Rp450.7 trillion, while medium-sized loans rose 14.3 percent YoY to Rp120 trillion. The bank’s loan at risk (LAR) ratio improved to 10.4 percent, down from 11 percent in the previous quarter.

Yap Swie Cu, an analyst at Yuanta Sekuritas Indonesia, said BNI’s third-quarter performance demonstrated the bank’s internal resilience and strong execution.

“Quarterly profit rebounded 6.5 percent, supported by a 24.8 percent quarter-on-quarter surge in fee-based income,” Yap wrote in a client note, on Monday, November 3, 2025, highlighting the success of BNI’s income diversification and digital banking strategies.

Yuanta also noted that government fund placements totaling Rp55 trillion significantly helped reduce funding costs. Third-party funds (DPK) grew 21.4 percent YoY to Rp934.3 trillion, with current and savings accounts (CASA) climbing 13.3 percent YoY to Rp613.4 trillion, cutting CoF to 2.8 percent in September from 3.1 percent a month earlier.

“With a healthier funding structure, BNI has room to expand lending more aggressively in the fourth quarter without increasing funding risks. We expect margins to gradually recover as interest rates normalize,” Yap added.

Digital momentum

BNI’s non-interest income also remained strong, growing 11.5 percent YoY, supported by digital banking expansion and higher transaction volumes among corporate and retail clients.

Its digital platform, wondr by BNI, recorded 10.5 million users as of September nearly quadrupling from a year earlier with transaction value reaching Rp783 trillion. The platform has become a key driver of recurring fee income, strengthening BNI’s balance between interest and non-interest revenues.

With capital adequacy ratio (CAR) at 21.1 percent, loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) of 86.9 percent, and non-performing loan (NPL) coverage of 222.7 percent, analysts view BNI as well-positioned to navigate upcoming economic challenges.

Yuanta maintained a BUY rating on BNI shares with a target price of Rp5,700, implying around 30 percent upside from the previous Friday’s close at Rp4,380.

Industry outlook

Frederick Daniel T, equity portfolio manager at STAR Asset Management, said recent earnings growth across banks reflects their internal fundamentals rather than broader structural changes.

“We see the earnings improvement more as a result of individual banks’ fundamentals, operational cost structures, provisioning policies, and risk management, rather than systemic factors,” Daniel told Indonesia Business Post on Monday, November 3, 2025.

He added that in the final quarter of 2025, key indicators to watch will be loan growth, NIM trends, and asset quality as reflected in NPL ratios.

“Credit growth momentum amid economic recovery will benefit both state-owned and private banks, provided they can maintain quality and efficiency,” he said.

Despite sector-wide challenges, analysts agree that BNI’s strong liquidity, efficient funding, and expanding digital ecosystem provide a solid foundation for sustained growth into 2026.