S. African Standard Bank unit plans Zambia listing

LUSAKA, July 23 Reuters) - A subsidiary of South Africa's Standard Bank (SBKJ.J) plans to list on the Lusaka stock exchange and provide financing to Chinese firms investing mainly in Zambia's copper and cobalt mines, officials said on Wednesday.

Stanbic Bank Zambia Ltd said it was positioning itself to be the major financier of Chinese firms that are investing in the mineral-rich country's Chambishi economic zone, where they get tax breaks.

Zambia is waiving customs duty and value added tax on imported equipment and numerous other taxes for Chinese firms, which plan an initial $900 million investments in its economic zone. A $250 million copper smelter is currently under construction there.

"Stanbic is moving to position itself as the market leader because the bank is in a very strong position. I know that over time shareholders will attempt to dilute their shareholding and that will happen through the Lusaka Stock Exchange," said Stanbic Bank Zambia Ltd's new managing director, Joseph Chikolwa.

Chikolwa said Stanbic Bank's listing would follow Zambia National Commercial Bank, a unit of Netherlands' Rabobank [RABN.UL], which will be the first bank to be listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange in September.

"Zanaco has taken that route (to list) and that is the lane we will be taking. In our next strategic plan for up to 2011, we will have a proposal for listing," Chikolwa told Reuters, but he gave no timeline.

He said the bank had identified 300 Chinese firms which have registered in Zambia and that it planned to propose meetings with the investors to agree on financing deals for their projects in copper mining, agriculture and other economic areas in Zambia.

Chikolwa said Stanbic Bank would be well-positioned to support Chinese firms because of its relationship with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (1398.HK).

ICBC bought a 20 percent stake in Standard Bank last year.

"We have identified Chinese investors that we can do business with ... so that we can tap into the ICBC investment," Chikolwa said.

Outgoing Stanbic Zambia managing director Larry Kalala told reporters at the same event that the bank had a vigorous expansion programme and that it had increased its retail customer base to 120,000 from 8,000 in 2003.

Kalala added that the bank's 2007 net profit rose to 89 billion Zambian kwacha from 23 billion in 2003.

Kalala said Stanbic planned to expand mainly through the establishment of ATMs from the current 40 to over 100 in the next few months and gradually increasing its branch network, currently standing at 11 branches. The bank employs 465 workers.

Official data shows the bank's capital base at 189 billion kwacha. Its lending portfolio is at 800 billion kwacha, with 19 percent to the agriculture sector, 20 percent to manufacturing and 12 percent to distributors in wholesale and trade. (Reporting by Shapi Shacinda)