M. Stanley sees growth in Russia mortgage unit
ju4 wa4i dia4n zo1ng he2 ba4o da4o :\n  MOSCOW, June 4 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley, which closed its\nmortgage business in Britain and slashed lending elsewhere, is\nstill investing in its fast-growing Russian mortage bank, the\nbank's co-president was quoted as saying in a newspaper\ninterview.\nThe unit doubled its mortgage portfolio to $450 million last\nyear, Morgan Stanley <MS.N> co-president Walid Chammah told\nVedomosti in an interview published on Wednesday.\n"Now the situation is more complicated than it was a year\nago. Interest rates have increased and lending criteria are\ntougher; overdue debt has increased a little bit but it's still\nwithin the norm," Chammah said.\n"But regardless of higher rates and tough criteria, the\nbusiness is growing faster than it was a year ago, because\ndemand is still there."\nHe said the bank was considering strategic options for the\nbank and continued to invest in the meantime "so we have a good\nbusiness if we decide to sell it and if we decide to keep it."\nRussian newspapers reported last month the Wall Street bank\nhad put City Mortgages, purchased in 2006 for $185 million, up\nfor sale as it reduced exposure to home lending around the\nworld.\nOn the corporate side, he said Gazprom had unblocked the\nmarket for other borrowers with a $1.5 billion Eurobond issue in\nApril and prospects for mid-sized borrowers were good.\nRussia's flood of public offerings has slowed to a trickle\nbut Chammah said Morgan Stanley had plans to manage more.\n"For example, infrastructure companies are very popular\nright now, and so are consumer and retail companies, and a\ncouple of banks, although it's unlikely they will have IPOs this\nyear, and raw materials," he said. "The market is opening."\n(Writing by Melissa Akin; Editing by David Holmes)\n((melissa.akin@reuters.com; 7 495 775 1242)); Reuters\nmessaging: melissa.akin.reuters.com@reuters.net))\nKeywords: MORGANSTANLEY/RUSSIA