SCB denies 'stake sale' in life insurer

Arthid Nanthawithaya, senior executive vice president of SCB and a director and chairman of the investment committee of SCB Life, yesterday told The Nation that the report was untrue, and the bank had no plan to sell shares in SCB Life.

According to Reuters, the stake sale was expected to be worth around US$600 million based on SCB Life’s current market value of $2.4 billion.

At the end of the second quarter, SCB Life’s market share in terms of gross premiums ranked fifth in the country with 9.7 per cent, or a total of Bt24.725 billion.

Early this year, SCB divested its entire shareholding in The Siam Commercial Samaggi Insurance (SCSMG) to global insurance giant ACE Group.

SCB president Kannikar Chalitaporn earlier said the bank had no plan to sell its stake in SCB Life, but would delist it from the Stock Exchange of Thailand by buying the rest of its shares from retail investors, as the free float of SCB Life was not in line with the requirements of the SET.

SCB controlled a 94.7-per-cent stake in SCB Life.

A source familiar with the matter said SCB had sufficient funds to run the life-insurance unit after divesting its entire stake, amounting to Bt6.15 billion, in SCSMG to ACE Group. Therefore, if it were to sell some of its shares in SCB Life, it would be because it wanted a silent partner to help strengthen know-how and technical strategies for SCB Life more than for financial reasons.

Firms such as Muang Thai Life Assurance and Ocean Life Insurance also have silent partners, which are not involved with their management but contribute know-how, the source noted. Both Siam Commercial Bank and SCB Life stock prices yesterday rose in response to the report. SCB closed at Bt192 per share,  up Bt2 from Monday while  SCB Life rose to Bt1,132 per share,  up Bt2 from Monday.