KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 (Reuters) - RHB Bank Bhd  RHBC.KL ,
Malaysia's fourth-biggest lender by assets, aims sell most of
its stake in its general insurance unit by the end of the first
quarter of next year, its group managing director said on
Monday.
    The bank said at the end of July it had permission from
Malaysia's central bank to commence talks to sell up to 94.7% of
its shares in RHB Insurance to Tokio Marine Asia Pte Ltd, a unit
of Japan's Tokio Marine Holdings Inc  8766.T .  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N24W32J
    On Monday, Group Managing Director Khairussaleh Ramli told
reporters at an earnings briefing that discussions are ongoing
and that Tokio Marine has started due diligence on the insurer.
    Ramli said the bank hoped to complete discussions by the end
of October and seek regulatory approval in November.
    "Hopefully everything goes well and we can come up with
something we can put forward to both Bank Negara as well as the
Ministry of Finance for their approval," he said.
    RHB Bank reported net profit of 615.4 million ringgit
($146.87 million) for April-June, 7.9% more than the same period
last year, due mainly to higher non-funds based income and lower
expected credit losses.
    Revenue rose 12.1% to 3.42 billion ringgit.
    The bank's shares rose as much as 1.1% after it announced
its earnings results on Monday. The broader market fell 1.0%
 .KLSE .
    ($1 = 4.1900 ringgit)

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Malaysia's RHB Bank to hold talks to sell insurance unit to
Japan's Tokio Marine     urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N24W32J
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 (Reporting by Liz Lee; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
 ((liz.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +60323338039;))