Pakistan's Faysal Bank to Expand, Open Islamic Unit: Bloomberg

By Naween A. Mangi

June 5 (Bloomberg) -- Faysal Bank Ltd. plans to expand its domestic branch network in Pakistan and start a new Islamic division to take advantage of rising demand for Shariah-compliant products and farm loans. Shares rose.

The bank will increase its number of outlets to 150 by December 2009, and will start the Islamic banking unit next week, Chief Executive Officer Naved A. Khan said in Karachi yesterday, in his first interview since taking the helm in March. Faysal Bank, Pakistan's ninth-biggest, has 107 branches across the nation and plans to add 23 this year.

Khan is seeking to keep up with bigger rivals including Bank Alfalah Ltd. He said he wants to expand to be better prepared for the eventual end of a ``downturn'' in the credit market. Overseas banks such as ABN Amro Holding NV and Standard Chartered Plc are expanding in Shariah-compliant finance, a market Standard & Poor's estimates is worth $500 billion and growing 10 percent annually on booming oil revenue.

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