HSBC Bank Oman has agreed to sell its banking business in Pakistan to Meezan Bank, a sharia-compliant Pakistani lender, it said on Sunday.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory and other approvals, is expected to be completed during the second half of 2015, the bank said in a statement.

The business had one branch and gross assets of around $40 million as of March 31, it said. The sale, at a small discount to the net asset value of the business, will not materially impact the full-year profits of HSBC Bank Oman, it said.

The bank is an indirect 51 per cent-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings.-Reuters