HBOS Plc Chief Executive James Crosby dampened hopes of a UK bid for Abbey National on Wednesday as he forecast strong HBOS performance in 2004 and 2005 after a rise in first-half profits.
Crosby said a bid for Abbey by HBOS or a UK rival was unlikely after the No 2 British mortgage lender agreed to be bought by Spain's Santander Central Hispano on Monday.
"(UK banks) will look at the competition analysis and come to the same inevitable conclusion - that there are big difficulties," Crosby told Reuters in an interview.
Some investors are hoping a British bank mounts a challenge to Santander's 8.1 billion pound ($14.7 billion) offer. Lloyds TSB had made a 19 billion pound bid for Abbey that was rejected by the authorities in 2001 for competition reasons.
Santander's move has also raised speculation that Citigroup and US rivals might try to buy other UK lenders, but Crosby said a wave of cross-border mergers was only in the minds of merger and acquisition bankers.
"I am not attracted by all this noise of investment bankers chasing fees ... You have 10 times as much noise coming from investment bankers as you have deals."
Asked at a press briefing whether Citigroup or other big US banks had approached HBOS, Crosby said: "I think we can safely say no."
HBOS reported a 21 percent rise in first-half pre-tax profit to 2.16 billion pounds, in line with expectations of about 2.13 billion in a Reuters poll, as it sold more credit card accounts and insurance, added current accounts and boosted corporate banking.
Crosby said revenue growth and cost control would continue to drive the biggest UK mortgage lender forward next year.
"Don't just think about this year. That's going to be a very strong year, but think about next year. That's also going to be a good year," Crosby said.
Crosby told an analyst presentation he was more positive on full-year results. HBOS had said in June it was comfortable with forecasts of 4.51 billion pounds in pre-tax profit this year.
"James Crosby hadn't been sounding as upbeat (at the June trading statement), but he has got his bullishness back," said Britannic Asset Management fund manager David Ridland. "The market, not just towards HBOS but towards banks in general, had been down on them going into this results season."
HBOS, formed in 2001 from the merger of Halifax and Bank of Scotland, is the biggest UK bank to announce first-half results so far. The fourth-biggest British lender by assets has piled on assets in mortgages, unsecured loans and corporate lending, taking market share from rivals.
HBOS's net interest margin, a measure of profitability, dropped to 1.68 percent from 1.77 percent for full-year 2003.
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