News

The bank will meet investors in 9 European cities from Nov. 17 to sell five year debt.

Deal frustrated ANZ’s intent to purchase Lone Star's 51% stake, which would have boosted its efforts to expand in East Asia.

Entrepreneurs who cannot fulfill the lending requirements can avail loans of up to $15,960.

Higher trading and foreign exchange gains, bank fees and commissions and strong contribution from key subsidiaries boosted growth.

HNB recorded a pre-tax profit of US$42 million and a post tax profit of US$25.9 million for the nine months ended September.

Bank Bukopin plans to raise up to US$ 112 million through a rights issue to finance credit expansion. The sale could potentially see the bank change hands.

State Bank of India is keen on expanding its presence in South East Asia by acquiring an Indonesian bank. The bank has allotted USD 100 million for the deal.

Banco de Oro recorded a net income of US$146 million in the first nine months of 2010. This is higher by 58 percent compared to the US$91.27 million earnings for the comparable period in 2009, and is mainly attributed to sustained growth in business volumes amid a tempered hike in operating expenses.  Net interest income rose 14 percent to US$579.5 million in the first nine months of 2010 due to a larger level of earning assets and lower funding costs. Gross customer loans expanded by 18 percent to US$11.4 billion arising from broad-based demand from various sectors. Total deposits grew 10 percent to US$16.2 billion, driven by robust growth in low-cost deposits generated from an expanded branch network. Non-interest income increased by 17 percent to US$298.9 million on the back of steady growth in fee-based service income and a 39 percent rise in trading and foreign exchange gains. The Bank continued its conservative provisioning policy, boosting provisions by 13 percent to US$116 million leading to an improved non-performing loan coverage of 90 percent from 82 percent in the prior quarter. Return on Equity moved up to 11.2 percent in the first nine months of 2010 compared to 8.8 percent in the first nine months of 2009. Capital Adequacy Ratio remained robust at 14.2 percent due to profitable operations and the US$250 million in fresh capital raised in April. Following its solid performance during the interim period, the Bank is on track to attain its net income goal of US$184.8 million for the full year of 2010.  

PACRA has upgraded the long-term rating of Bank AL Habib Limited to “AA+”. It also maintained the short-term rating at “A1+”. Meanwhile, the ratings of the unsecured, subordinated TFC issues have also been upgraded to “AA”. These ratings denote very low expectation of credit risk emanating from a very strong capacity for timely payment of financial commitments. The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency or PACRA ratings reflect the bank’s exceptional asset quality and robust financial profile, an outcome of management’s prudent risk management policies and low risk appetite. The management’s proactive stance towards strengthening its systems and controls and initiatives in product innovation, technology upgradation and outreach expansion have assisted growth prospects, while improving the bank’s relative positioning among peers. Meanwhile, the bank continues to sustain a strong foothold in its core area of focus – trade finance to commercial segment – despite intensifying competition.  

ANZ invested another US$124.9 million in BoT to support the latter's strategic growth agenda.

Central Huijin to participate in ICBC’s move to replenish capital following successful attempts of the bank’s rivals.

ICBC opened a branch Bangkok to mark its foray into the Thai market. The new Branch, formerly ACL Bank before being acquired by ICBC, was officially renamed as ICBC (Thai) Public Company Limited or ICBC Thai.

TBB will to promote personnel exchange and renminbi-based loans to Taiwanese enterprises in China. A MOU with the Bank of Beijing will be signed. According to the China Economic News Services, Taiwan Business Bank or TBB will set up a representative office in Shanghai by the end of this year. It may  be upgraded to branch a year later.   Mr. Peter T. C. Lo, chairman of TBB, indicated that financial institutions in China can obtain better profits than its counterparts in Taiwan since they see much higher interest rate gap of 5-6 percentage points. So, TBB will explore the financial market in China after inking the MOU with Bank of Beijing or BOB and establishing a foothold in Shanghai.

 Unrestricted Level I ADR facilities for Taiwanese companies could greatly expand overseas investment opportunities in Taiwan, says BNY Mellon.

Moody's upgraded the long-term ratings of three big policy banks in China to Aa3 from A1. The three banks are China Development Bank, Export-Import Bank of China, and Agricultural Development Bank of China. China Development Bank’s  long-term foreign currency senior unsecured debt rating was upgraded to Aa3 from A1. While Export-Import Bank of China’s long-term domestic and foreign currency senior unsecured debt ratings was upgraded to Aa3 from A1. On the other hand, Agricultural Development Bank of China’s long-term foreign currency was also issuer rating upgraded to Aa3 from A1. The action follows Moody's decision to upgrade China's long-term foreign currency sovereign rating to Aa3 with a positive outlook from A1. The banks' baseline credit assessments are also changed to 4 from 5, on a scale of 1 to 21, where 1 represents lowest credit risk. The action reflects Moody's view that the banks will continue to receive full support from the government as 100 per cent state-owned banks. Although the government has begun to initiate reforms to operate the banks more based on commercial interest, state ownership in these entities is not expected to change during Moody's rating horizon.  

The bank raised its home loan rate by almost double the Reserve Bank's interest 0.25% official rate rise to fund its increasing costs.