Awards for Excellence 2009: Indonesia

Bank Mandiri is one of several institutions across Asia to have benefited this year from concentrating on the basics of banking. Indonesia’s largest bank also deserves to be named its best for a steady approach that saw its net NPL ratio shrink from 1.51% to 1.09% in financial year 2009, while net interest margin rose 8.3% to 5.45% so that earnings after tax were up an impressive 22.3% at Rp5,313 billion ($523 million). The state-owned bank has focused on cleaning up its balance sheet and building a strong deposit base over the past few years, so that savings now contribute over 30% of the firm’s balance sheet as opposed to just over 10% in 2001. Last year’s citation for this award alluded to the politicking that prevented Mandiri’s chief executive, Agus Martowardojo, from taking over the central bank; rumours persist that he is still after a cabinet role but for now he is doing a fine job heading Bank Mandiri.