Standard Chartered PLC will fully exit its operations in Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Jordan, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe in a bid to refocus and simplify its presence in the Middle East and Africa, or MEA.
The U.K.-headquartered banking group said it also intends to exit its consumer, private and business banking operations in Tanzania and Côte d'Ivoire to focus solely on its corporate, commercial and institutional banking business.
StanChart recorded a 2021 pretax profit of $3.35 billion, of which $831 million was generated by the group's operations in the Middle East and Africa, the second-largest contributor to its total pretax profit, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.
The group is sharpening its focus on the most significant opportunities for growth while also simplifying its business, CEO Bill Winters said, noting that StanChart's actions will position the Middle East and Africa franchise for its next phase of growth.
StanChart said it is currently present in 59 markets and serves clients in a further 83. The group recently opened its first branch in Saudi Arabia and secured preliminary approval for a banking license in Egypt. Its first Egyptian branch is set to open in Cairo by September and another branch in Alexandria in 2023, Daily News Egypt reported.
The markets it will exit generated about 1% of its group income in 2021 and a similar proportion of pretax profit, StanChart said. The move will allow the lender to redirect its resources within the Middle East and Africa region to areas where the group can have "the greatest scale and growth potential."
Other news
* First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, or FAB, withdrew its offer to acquire a majority stake in Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes Holding SAE amid global market uncertainty and volatile macroeconomic conditions. Sources told Bloomberg News that the United Arab Emirates-based lender dropped its bid after facing regulatory delays in Egypt. Had a deal come to fruition, it would have boosted FAB's banking activities in Egypt and in the Middle East and North Africa as a whole.
* UAE-based ADQ, formerly known as Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Co. PJSC, said it acquired stakes in five key companies in Egypt, including Commercial International Bank (Egypt) SAE, or CIB, and Fawry for Banking Technology and Electronic Payments SAE, but did not specify the size or value of the stakes. ADQ purchased 340.1 million shares in CIB for $911.5 million and 215.1 million shares in Fawry for $68.6 million along with a rights issue for another 201.6 million shares in the digital payments company amounting to $54.9 million, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, National Bank of Egypt said it reduced its stake in CIB to 0.336% from 9.504% by selling 181.8 million shares for $487.1 million, the news wire reported.
* The Saudi National Bank's shareholders approved the board's proposal to distribute dividends of 4,030,200,000 Saudi Arabian riyals, or 90 halalas per share, in respect of the second half of 2021. Taking into account the 65 halalas per share in dividends paid for the first half of 2021, the bank's total dividend payout for the year amounts to 1.55 riyals per share. Similarly, shareholders of The Saudi British Bank approved its proposed 36 halalas per share dividend for the second half of 2021.
* Bank Hapoalim BM appointed Merav Ben Shushan Cohen chief risk officer and head of the risk management division. Ben Shushan Cohen replaced Amir Bachar, who was named chief internal auditor of the Israeli bank.
* Qatar Islamic Bank QPSC's first-quarter net profit attributable to equity holders rose on a yearly basis to 855.1 million Qatari riyals from 750.0 million riyals. In Oman, Bank Muscat SAOG posted a 2.4% year-over-year rise in first-quarter net profit to 48.3 million rials from 47.2 million rials.
* Commercial International Bank (Egypt)'s first-quarter consolidated net profit after minority interest rose 48% year over year to 4.24 billion Egyptian pounds from 2.87 billion pounds.
* Union Bank of Nigeria PLC reported a group net profit attributable to equity holders of 16.80 billion Nigerian naira for the year ended Dec. 31, 2021, down from 18.54 billion naira a year earlier.
* One Swiss Bank SA officially opened its office in Dubai. In 2021, the Switzerland-headquartered bank acquired UAE-based Falcon Private Wealth Ltd. Dubai, which was renamed ONE swiss private wealth Ltd.
* Plus500 Ltd.'s board of directors approved a new share buyback program, set to run from April 13 until Dec. 31, to purchase up to an additional $50 million of the London-listed company's shares. The Israel-based online trading platform's new buyback will run alongside its existing program of $55 million.
* The disposal process of MyBucks SA's 100% shareholding in Malawi-based unit MyBucks Banking Corp. Ltd. to an unspecified strategic investor is underway, with the support of Malawi's central bank. The unit, which continues to operate as normal, said its Luxembourg-based parent is currently under the management of a receiver after being placed into bankruptcy in December 2021.
