Denizbank rises in value as sale talks continues

ISTANBUL

Dexia, the Franco-Belgian owner of Turkey’s Denizbank, aims to finalize the talks over the possible sale of the unit as it is already ready for Plan B, said Hakan Ateş, the chief executive of the local unit.
 
Denizbank appreciated 6 percent in market value in last three months, said Ateş during a press meeting in Istanbul yesterday.

“We are in the position of a prudent merchant –during the talks- as all the successful lenders, we are prepared for Plan B,” Ateş said.

 “This selling process of the Turkish unit of Dexia has two possible outcomes and it’s our responsibility to prepared for both outcomes,” said noting that the talks for the sale of the bank started Sept.2010 might be finalized by the end of this month. He noted that Denizbank has reached a record jump by 72 percent in its net profit by the of last year, hitting 1.61 billion Turkish Liras. Excluding the effect of the sale of Denizbank unit Deniz Emeklilik to United States insurance giant MetLife for 162 million euros on June last year, Denizbank profit rose by nearly 20 percent above the average profit rise of the Turkey’s banking sector by 10 percent last year.

“The market price of the Denizbank 2.4 fold more than the balance sheet value as of today,” said Ateş noted that Turkey’s banks have higher premiums compared with European lenders. Responding to a Daily News question whether the time butters the bread of Denizbank, Ateş said, “Yes we can well say that.” Ateş noted that the bank will increase loans by 14 percent this year, parallel to an expected growth in Turkey’s banking industry. He also noted that the bank will open 32 branches this year, raising the total 632.