Indonesian stocks jumped by the most in three weeks after higher-than-expected dividend payouts by the biggest state-owned banks helped pull investors back to the beleaguered market.
The benchmark Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) gained as much as 3.7% Wednesday, the most since Mar 3. PT Bank Central Asia, PT Bank Mandiri Persero and PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Persero were the top contributors to the gauge’s rise.
“Generally, boosting bank dividends is a good way to make the shares more attractive from an investor’s standpoint,” said Ken Wong, Asian equity portfolio specialist at Eastspring Investments.
Indonesian stocks are down about 9% this year amid concern about the pace of changes by President Prabowo Subianto, as well as use of state funds to pay for some of his projects. The IDR slumped to its weakest since the Asian financial crisis on Tuesday, prompting Bank Indonesia to intervene.
Bank Mandiri shareholders approved on Tuesday plans to pay IDR43.51 trillion ($3.51 billion) in dividends, or IDR466 a share. PT Bank Negara Indonesia Persero allowed a dividend with a 65% payout ratio, versus last year’s 50%, and Bank Rakyat’s offered IDR51.7 trillion in dividends.
Mandiri’s payout is “attractive” and should help support the price, RBH analysts said.
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“Healthy internal capital generation is likely to keep pace with its growth for most lenders,” said Rena Kwok, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. “Major Indonesian banks’ capitalisation levels would broadly remain robust this year, supporting their dividend plans.”
Analysts expect trading may be more volatile ahead of a long holiday. The Indonesian market is shut from Mar 28 through Apr 7 for holidays.
