Bank aims to expand

 Despite the challenges in Papua New Guinea, Bank South Pacific remains the leading commercial bank in the country and region and aims to expand its foreign investments, a bank official says.

Business development and asset finance head Jodi Herbert said as part of its recent major developments, the bank committed K100 million as working capital for a leading mining company.

It committed K195 million to a mining lending syndication for a leading mining operator in the country.

“Today we are the largest and most successful bank in the Pacific. BSP is the largest listed company in PNG with 6,924 shareholders which includes prominent corporate, institutional and landowner entities,” Herbert said.

He said its attractive financial performances covers an after tax profit of K436.9 million, assets totaling K15.8 billion, liabilities totaling K14.2 billion and a total shareholders’ equity worth K1.6 billion.

He said BSP’s key financial ratios exceeded major Australian and regional banks with a 29.8 percent return on equity and 19.4 percent capital adequacy ratio.

“BSP capital adequacy levels are conservative and exceeds requirements,” the former finance brokerage owner in New Zealand said.

“We are the largest provider of corporate banking services in PNG, Fiji and Solomon Islands and transacts foreign exchange with many of the major mining and oil and gas companies in PNG including Exxon Mobil, Ok Tedi, Newcrest Mining, Oil Search, Barrick Gold, InterOil Corporation and Harmony Gold Mining,” Herbert said.

While BSP has the region’s largest branch and ATM network servicing PNG, Fiji and Solomon Islands, its PNG statistics boasts customers totalling 1,110,200 who bank at 44 network branches and accessing 296 automated telling machines (ATM), 11,814 EFTPoS devices.