Briefly: Bank of East Asia buys U.S. lender
Briefly: Bank of East Asia buys U.S. lender
Bank of East Asia, a Hong Kong lender, said Tuesday that it was buying National American Bancorp as part of plans to expand in the United States.
The bank did not disclose the amount it was paying for National American, which operates three retail branches in the San Francisco area that had assets of $87.3 million at the end of June 30.
“Our move is in line with our strategy to expand our catchment area to locations where our key target customer groups reside,” said Bank of East Asia’s chairman, David Li.
Bank of East Asia has been expanding overseas, including in China, to diversify its income. It reported a 20 percent rise in first-half profit to 1.18 billion Hong Kong dollars, or $152 million, last year as fees from wealth management services and an accounting change bolstered net income.
Home prices on the rise
Singapore’s home prices climbed for a seventh consecutive quarter in the final three months of 2005 after the economy expanded and restrictions for house buyers eased.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority’s home price index rose 1.3 percent to 118.1 points in the three months that ended Dec. 31 from 116.6 points in the third quarter, when the index gained 1.2 percent, the government agency said.
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