HSBC pursues "aggressive" Russian growth

By Robin Paxton and Dmitry Sergeyev

MOSCOW (Reuters) - HSBC (HSBA.L), Europe's biggest bank, will be "aggressive" in opening new Russian branches after launching its retail business in the country three months ago but has no firm plans for acquisitions, its country head said.

Stuart Lawson, chief executive of HSBC Russia, said it was difficult to value banks during an economic downturn that has pushed Russia into its first recession in a decade.

"On the organic side, I'd say that we'll be aggressive. On acquisitions never say 'never' but there's nothing on the desk at the moment," Lawson told the Reuters Russia Investment Summit on Monday. HSBC has this year opened four retail branches in Moscow and one in St Petersburg, Russia's second city. Lawson gave no details about how many branches HSBC planned to open in Russia but said its first operations had exceeded targets.

"If you're starting a bank from scratch and you're going for organic growth you can determine those customers that you're interested in and you can grow against those segments."

HSBC registered its local unit in Russia with a charter capital of 6.9 billion roubles (135 million pounds) in 2008 and has not disclosed its investment plans for Russia so far.

"We've had good response with fairly limited marketing. Over the next period we will up that so that the brand becomes more visible and we will no doubt be adding some branches," he said.

DIFFICULT VALUATIONS

Acquisitions in the Russian banking sector were difficult to assess, Lawson said, as the financial crisis has made it difficult to put a value on assets.