BANK ISLAM BRUNEI TO DELAY BURSA LISTING

Lender says it needs time to complete internal restructuring

BANK Islam Brunei Darussalam Bhd, the Southeast Asian sultanate’s biggest lender, has postponed a planned initial public offering (IPO) that could raise as much as US$500 million (RM2.11 billion), said people familiar with the matter.

Bank Islam Brunei needed more time to complete internal restructuring procedures before it could proceed with the listing here, said people with knowledge of the matter.

Bank Islam Brunei had originally planned to submit a draft prospectus to Bursa Malaysia this month and list by the end of the year, they said.

It was now targeting to sell shares in the first half of next year, said the people.

The IPO would be the first from a company based in Brunei, an oil-rich country about the size of Delaware that doesn’t have its own stock exchange, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

First-time share sales in Malaysia raised US$1.7 billion so far this year, up from US$270 million during the same period last year, the data showed.

Bank Islam Brunei was “constantly reviewing” options to continue its business growth and create shared value, said a representative in an emailed statement, declining to comment on the delay.

Shareholders of Bank Islam include the Brunei finance ministry, the Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation, private equity firm Fajr Capital Ltd and about 6,000 Bruneian investors, according to its website.

The lender, formed through a 2005 merger of Islamic Bank of Brunei with Islamic Development Bank of Brunei, had B$9.5 billion (RM29.62 billion) of total group assets at the end of last year.

Its Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio was 20.8 per cent at that time, its website shows. Bank Islam Brunei, based in the capital Bandar Seri Begawan, has 15 branches across Brunei and employs more than 700 people. Bloomberg