DBS says ‘no truth’ to rumour that subsidiary will merge with major Indonesian bank BCA

DBS dismissed rumours of a potential merger of PT Bank DBS Indonesia, its subsidiary in Indonesia, with PT Bank Central Asia Tbk.

ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Published Oct 29, 2026, 11:15 AM

Updated Oct 29, 2026, 11:46 PM

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s DBS Group has dismissed market speculation of a potential merger between its Indonesian subsidiary and Bank Central Asia Tbk (BCA), the largest private bank in Indonesia.

In recent days, talk had spread on social media platforms in Indonesia that Bank DBS Indonesia could be merged into BCA, leaving BCA the surviving entity.

The social media posts also stated that DBS Indonesia shareholders would receive newly issued BCA shares as compensation for their 99% stake. BCA holds the remaining 1%.

“There is no truth to this rumour,” a DBS spokesman said in response to queries.

BCA’s President Commissioner Jahja Setiaatmadja also rejected the speculation, according to Indonesian media reports.

On Oct 28, BCA’s share price surged 7%, with the rumour cited as the reason for the spike.

Indonesia is one of DBS’ six core markets, alongside Singapore, Hong Kong, China, India and Taiwan.

Bank DBS Indonesia is a subsidiary of DBS Bank in Singapore. Established in 1989, it has a network of 13 branch offices and 13 sub-branches across 15 cities in the archipelago, providing corporate, small- and medium-sized enterprise, consumer, and wealth management banking services.

At the end of 2025, it had about 139 trillion rupiah (S$9.8 billion) in assets, 81 trillion rupiah in loans and 98.5 trillion rupiah in customer deposits.

The Jakarta-headquartered BCA is Indonesia’s largest private bank by market capitalisation, with Robert Budi Hartono as the ultimate controlling shareholder following the death of his brother, Michael Bambang Hartono, in March.

The Hartono brothers have ranked at the top of Indonesia’s rich list for more than a decade. Forbes placed their combined fortune at US$43.8 billion (S$56 billion) in its 2025 Indonesia’s 50 Richest list.

They bought a stake in BCA after another wealthy Indonesian family, the Salims, lost control of the bank during the 1997-98 Asian economic crisis.

The bank’s stock was among those mentioned as attractive options to buy when the Jakarta Composite Index fell sharply earlier in 2026, following index compiler MSCI’s warning about a downgrade to Indonesia’s emerging-market status.

BCA reported a 1.8% year-on-year increase in its net profit for the first half of 2026 to 29.5 trillion rupiah, supported by strong growth in non-interest income that offset softer lending margins in a high-interest-rate environment.

According to market speculation, a union could create opportunities in corporate lending, transaction banking, cross-border financing, wealth management and fee-based income.

However, Ricky Ho, chief investment officer of Four Capital, said the financial contribution would be relatively modest to BCA.

Ho said DBS Indonesia generated 1.72 trillion rupiah in net profit in FY25, compared with BCA’s 45.2 trillion rupiah in the first nine months of 2026 alone.

“On a simple annualised basis, DBS Indonesia’s earnings would represent less than 3% of BCA’s existing profitability, before any synergies or adjustments,” he said.

BCA’s share price closed 6.35% lower on Oct 29.

Banks and financial institutions

星展银行否认了有关其在印度尼西亚的子公司 PT Bank DBS Indonesia 与 PT Bank Central Asia Tbk 可能合并的传闻。

ST 照片：林耀辉

发布于 2026 年 10 月 29 日上午 11:15

更新于2026年10月29日晚上11:46

新加坡——新加坡星展集团驳斥了市场对其印尼子公司与印尼最大的私营银行——亚洲中部银行（BCA）可能合并的猜测。

近日，印尼社交媒体平台上流传着这样一种说法：星展银行印尼分行可能会并入BCA银行，BCA银行将成为存续实体。

社交媒体上的帖子还指出，星展银行印尼分行的股东将获得新发行的BCA股票作为补偿，以换取他们持有的99%股份。BCA持有剩余的1%股份。

星展银行发言人回应询问时表示：“这一传言毫无根据。”

据印尼媒体报道，BCA总裁兼专员Jahja Setiaatmadja也驳斥了这一猜测。

10月28日，BCA股价飙升7%，传闻称这是股价飙升的原因。

印尼是星展银行的六大核心市场之一，其他五个核心市场分别是新加坡、香港、中国大陆、印度和台湾。

星展银行印尼分行是新加坡星展银行的子公司。该行成立于1989年，在印尼群岛的15个城市设有13家分行和13家支行，提供企业、中小企业、个人和财富管理银行服务。

截至 2025 年底，该公司拥有约 139 万亿印尼盾（98 亿新元）的资产、81 万亿印尼盾的贷款和 98.5 万亿印尼盾的客户存款。

总部位于雅加达的印尼中亚银行（BCA）是印尼市值最大的私营银行，其最终控股股东是罗伯特·布迪·哈托诺，此前他的兄弟迈克尔·班邦·哈托诺于3月份去世。

哈托诺兄弟十多年来一直稳居印尼富豪榜榜首。福布斯在其2025年印尼50位最富有的富豪榜中，将他们的财富总额列为438亿美元（560亿新元）。

在 1997-98 年亚洲金融危机期间，另一个富有的印尼家族萨利姆家族失去了对 BCA 银行的控制权，之后他们收购了 BCA 的股份。

2026年初，雅加达综合指数大幅下跌，此前指数编制机构MSCI发出警告，称印尼的新兴市场地位可能被下调。当时，该银行的股票被列为值得买入的股票之一。

BCA公布2026年上半年净利润同比增长1.8%，达到29.5万亿印尼盾，这主要得益于非利息收入的强劲增长，抵消了高利率环境下贷款利润率的下降。

根据市场猜测，合并可能会在企业贷款、交易银行、跨境融资、财富管理和手续费收入方面创造机会。

然而，四方资本首席投资官何瑞基表示，对BCA的财政贡献将相对有限。

何先生表示，星展银行印尼分行在2025财年创造了1.72万亿印尼盾的净利润，而BCA银行仅在2026年前九个月就创造了45.2万亿印尼盾的净利润。

他表示：“按简单的年化计算，星展银行印尼分行的收益将不到BCA现有盈利能力的3%，这还不包括任何协同效应或调整。”

10月29日，BCA股价收盘下跌6.35%。

银行和金融机构