Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., November 20, 2008 Cheshvan 22, 5769 | | Israel Time: 00:20 (EST+7)
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Analysts applaud portfolio selloff
By Sharon Shpurer
Tags: stocks

Analysts breathed a sigh of relief as Bank Hapoalim finally shed its mortgage-backed securities (MBS) portfolio - and dispelled the uncertainty factor.

Yuval Ben Zeev of Clal Finance Batucha raised the firm's recommendation for Bank Hapoalim from Market Perform to Market Outperform, following the sale of its portfolio. Ben Zeev maintained the bank's target price unchanged at NIS 20.5 - compared to the market price of NIS 16. Bank Hapoalim share prices jumped 5% on news of the sale yesterday morning, on a turnover of NIS 107 million.

Ben Zeev said that the sale will allow the bank to move from a defensive to an offensive position and get back to the business of banking, after a year of being primarily preoccupied with mortgage-backed securities.
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Ben Zeev says that compared to the bank's earlier reports, the move will cost it an additional $140 million beyond expected losses. Nevertheless, he believes that this is a positive move, and that management will now be able to direct its attention to ongoing operations and expanding its voluntary retirement program, corporate banking activities, overseas operations and others.
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