Having already sold more than 10 per cent of his stake of in National Commercial Bank (NCB), Michael Lee Chin says he has no plans to further dilute his position in the bank and may, in fact, even rebuild his portfolio.

He told Sunday Business in an interview on Wednesday that he now controls 62 per cent of the NCB.

"I have no intention to sell any more shares," Lee Chin said. "In fact, I intend to start buying back shares."

declared intention

Lee Chin's declared intention not only to stay the course in the profitable NCB, but to maintain a robust ownership position, is likely to be interpreted by financial markets as a signal of the stabilisation of his finances and the likelihood that he will be able to meet obligations to bond holders - some of whom have in recent months grown nervous that the Lee Chin magic had waned.

A Jamaican-Canadian billionaire who parlayed a small fund management company operation into one of Canada's major mutuals, Lee Chin at mid-year coaxed Jamaican holders of his notes to give him until November to clear nearly US$37 million in redemptions and interest payments that were then due.

The debt, owed by Lee Chin's AIC Barbados, is secured, in part, by 877 million, or around 36 per cent, of NCB's stocks, as well as two office towers the entrepreneur owns in Kingston.

But Lee Chin's plan is to clear the current obligation through the sale of his 20 per cent stake, the fibre-optics telecoms firm, Columbus Communications, which trades in Jamaica as Flow.

Lee Chin, however, declined to say who were his potential buyers or the state of the negotiations.

"I cannot speak about that now," he said. "It would not be proper for them (bondholders) to read about it first in the newspaper."

As he in past year whittled down some of the 76 per cent NCB he acquired from the Jamaican government early in the decade, there was speculation that Lee Chin might have to forfeit a huge chunk of the bank, which now is in a tussle with Scotiabank for the title of the island's largest.

At June, NCB had assets of $311.5 billion, and reported nine-month profit of $7.3 million, an increase of nine per cent over the corresponding period in 2008.

But in Jamaica's bearish environment, NCB, like other blue chips, has not been rewarded by the market for is profitability and strong balance sheet. It closed the week at $12.85 on the Kingston exchange.

"Remember that NCB shares are the cheapest of any financial institution anywhere in the world now, but throughout the economic crisis we have not had the same hiccups or catastrophes that other banks have had," Lee chin said. "... We did not have to reconstitute our capital base but earnings still grew last year, compare that to many world-class institutions."

But elsewhere in his empire, Lee Chin has been forced to make adjustments.

sold the retail end

Two months ago, he sold the retail end of his Canadian fund management operations to one of Canada's largest insurance/financial services groups, Maulife, in a share-swop that he said is providing him with an opportunity to refocus.

"Selling the retail mutual fund business to Manulife makes me the largest individual shareholder of Manulife," he said. "We will be managing CDN$21/2 Billion in assets for them and it gives me the opportunity to pause (and) get back to what made us successful in the first place."

It was ironic, Lee Chin said, that having preached against complacency for a long time, he became guilty of it.

His intention: going back to basics and "building liquidity".