|
HSBC in talks to increase stake in Bao Viet Insurance
HSBC Holdings Plc., Europe’s biggest bank, is in talks to increase its stake in Bao Viet Insurance & Finance Group to 18 percent, according to Clive Bannister, head of insurance.
“Vietnam is a high priority for the group,” said Bannister, 50, in an interview. “We are in discussions with Bao Viet and we think they have gone well.”
HSBC bought a 10 percent stake in Bao Viet Insurance & Finance in 2007 for $255 million, with the option to buy an additional 8 percent in the biggest state-owned insurer. The company will find out in the second half of the year whether it can increase the holding.
The bank was granted a life insurance license in China in 2007 and is awaiting approval to begin trading, said Bannister.
Its wholly owned insurance operation in Shanghai would seek to sell life coverage to its “higher-end” customers through its own branches, he added.
HSBC also holds a 16.8 percent stake in Ping An Insurance (Group) Co., which sells products with about 200,000 salespeople across China, Bannister said.
In India, HSBC’s joint venture with Canara Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce has received about $60 million in gross written premiums since it began trading in June through the end of March, the company said in an e-mail.
HSBC said in March that 2008 insurance pretax profit fell 19 percent to $2.6 billion as weaker equity markets trimmed investment income. Ping An also reduced its contribution because of a writedown related to its investment in Fortis, though profit increased in Latin America and North America. Overall premium revenue rose 20 percent to $11 billion.
thanhnien, Bloomberg
|
