HBL and MCB Compete to Buy RBS Pakistan Operations

by MJK on 2009/04/13 · 4 comments

in Business & Economy



As Pro-Pakistan reported earlier that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Pakistan operations are up for sale, we recently came to know that Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and Muslim Commercial Bank Limited (MCB) are interested in acquiring the bank. Both banks are very strong and will give tough time to each other. According to Bloomberg;

MCB Bank Ltd., Pakistan’s biggest by market value, and Habib Bank Ltd. are competing to buy Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s local operations as the U.K. lender seeks to raise capital following a government takeover.

MCB and Habib Bank, the second-largest, plan to apply to the central bank for approval to begin a due diligence review of RBS Pakistan, the lenders said in separate statements to the Karachi Stock Exchange today.
The purchase would give the banks an edge in a nation that forecasts an economic revival starting in the next fiscal year. Pakistan’s economy may expand more than 6 percent annually on average over the next five years, Shaukat Tarin, adviser to the prime minister, said last month, as the nation seeks $6 billion in aid from countries including the U.S. and Japan.

“Habib Bank would turn into the biggest by assets and deposits, while it is already the biggest by branches,” following the purchase, said Farhan Rizvi, an analyst at JS Global Capital Ltd. in Karachi. The Karachi-based lender is interested in RBS’s market share in Pakistan’s consumer lending market, he said.
RBS, the U.K.’s biggest government-controlled bank, said in February that it plans to reduce operations in 36 countries in the Middle East and Asia and sell assets after posting the biggest loss in British corporate history. The bank has received expressions of interest about the possible sale of its Asia unit, Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hester said on April 3.

Share Performance
RBS Pakistan shares rose 8.7 percent to 12.48 rupees at 12:29 p.m. local time on the Karachi Stock Exchange, trimming its decline for this year to 38 percent. The unit has a market value of 21.4 billion rupees ($266 million).

Habib Bank shares rose 5 percent to 117.13 rupees. The stock has almost doubled in 2009, compared with a 31 percent climb in the nation’s benchmark equity index. MCB rose 5 percent to 179.46 rupees, its biggest advance in almost four months.
Pakistan’s economic growth is forecast to slow to 2.5 percent in the year ending June 30, the slowest pace in eight years, and a drop from the average 6.8 percent expansion in the past five years.
The nation’s largest bank by assets is National Bank of Pakistan.

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Tagged as: Habib Bank, HBL, MCB, Muslim Commercial, Pakistan, RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland, UK



{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

yasir arshad December 6, 2009 at 9:40 am

house no 4 , street no7 main bazar said pur multan road lahore

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yasir arshad December 6, 2009 at 9:43 am

i am a student in 1st year (i come) in punjab collere lahore

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yasir arshad December 6, 2009 at 9:46 am

i am student and live in lahore code no 423933

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Yasir Umair December 9, 2009 at 7:07 am

@Yasir Arshad
Bhai jan kia comments ker rahay hoo samjh sy bahir hai..
Hbl is best and biggest having branches in almost every city of Pakistan.

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