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Dubai: Emirates NBD, the largest regional bank by assets, is planning to start investment banking operations in Saudi Arabia, according to senior officials.
Confirming that the bank has obtained a licence for investment banking operations in the Kingdom from the Saudi Capital Markets Authority, Rick Pudner, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates NBD, said the bank is planning to launch investment banking operations in Saudi Arabia by the fourth quarter of this year.
Commenting on the expansion of the bank in Saudi Arabia, Pudner said the bank is looking at both organic growth and expansion through acquisitions.
"As for the organic growth we have applied for more branch licences in Saudi Arabia. As far as acquisitions are concerned we are looking at some opportunities. We are very optimistic about the branch licences," he said.
In May this year there were reports that Emirates NBD was interested in buying Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS) stake in Saudi Hollandi Bank (SHB) to tap retail business in Saudi Arabia. RBS owns 40 per cent of Saudi Hollandi, a stake worth about $1.72 billion. Pudner said yesterday that although there hasn't been any progress on a potential acquisition of the RBS stake, Emirates NBD is interested in such opportunities in Saudi.
Announcing the second quarter results yesterday, the bank said the creation of Emirates NBD through the merger of Emirates Bank and National Bank of Dubai is delivering synergies that are much more than originally anticipated.
Initiatives
In the first half of 2008, Emirates NBD has executed initiatives to deliver annualised recurring synergies of Dh178 million and one-off synergies of Dh22 million.
"These exceed the full year 2008 target by 61 per cent. The recurring synergies are ahead by 55 per cent and one-off synergies are ahead by 144 per cent. Realisation of synergies demonstrates the outstanding progress in integration and Group's continued focus on ensuring that the merger is delivering value to the shareholders," said Sanjay Uppal, Chief Financial Officer of Emirates NBD.
The first half 2008 financials include revenue synergies of Dh39 million and cost synergies of Dh39 million. "Realisation of synergies demonstrates the outstanding progress in integration and Group's continued focus on ensuring that the merger is delivering value to the shareholders," said Pudner.
During this period the Group spent Dh40 million towards integration costs. Senior officials said yesterday that integration process is progressing steadily and is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2009.
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