Standard Chartered plans to acquire existing bank

Standard Chartered Bank is planning to acquire an existing commercial bank with a significant branch network in Metro Manila and Cebu to reach new corporate and individual client base.

Standard Chartered Bank chief executive officer Simon Morris said yesterday they are looking at a branch expansion of 20 - 40 more with the acquisition. However, he refused to name which existing bank they are planning to acquire.

Morris said the branch expansion falls in line with the bank’s strategic goal of increasing its consumer banking market.

However, Morris said the bank may opt to just move forward without acquiring another bank. "We have the option of growing organically,"he said.

To support its growth targets, it already invested $3 million for a scalable computer platform. It also plans to appoint a chief finance officer and a chief operating officer from among its local executives or hire one from another organization by 2004.

Morris also said that the bank has grown in terms of net revenues by double digits. He refused to give exact figures.

For the whole of 2003, Standard Chartered plans to triple its revenue growth.

The bank’s non-performing loan (NPLs) ratio to total loans stood at a single digit level against the industry average of over 15 percent.

For 2004, bank officials said Standard Chartered will focus on consumer market as corporate borrowing as well as deposits have been in the doldrums.

"We would like to see a real growth in consumer lending while the corporate sector has moved sideways," another senior bank official said.