The Bank of Bermuda said it will not make public a property appraisal it commissioned to determine the market value of its 261,000 square feet of commercial property.

The bank?s property, both in Bermuda and around the world, was sold off to multinational banking giant HSBC Plc. in the $1.3 billion deal closed last month.

Although the bank has declined to release information from this evaluation, it is understood that local real estate firm Bermuda Realty was hired to do the appraisal prior to the close of the bank?s sale to HSBC last month. The results of the evaluation were not to be ready until this month.

Previously the bank put a value of $94.4 million on its worldwide property holdings, but the going market rates for commercial property on the Island would put the value of the bank?s Bermuda property alone between $75 million and $200 million. In a statement the bank said: ?The aggregate value of the bank?s global properties, including Bermuda, as of 31 December 2002, is listed in the annual report at $94.4 million. We are unable to provide a further breakdown of this figure. As part of our annual financial statements, we are required to disclose the fair value of our assets, including property. Therefore, an assessment of their value is carried out periodically, as was the case recently.?

A bank spokesperson underscored that its most recent evaluation was not commissioned in connection with the sale: ?Our assets, including property, are carried as part of our assets on our balance sheet. The value of these assets has to be periodically reviewed to ensure an accurate accounting of them for our annual reports. We have in the past done this every couple of years. We have been obliged under SEC regulations only to report the aggregate value of the bank?s global properties.?

Yesterday, real estate agents told that the commercial property market was currently very tight, both for sales and rentals, with less than a dozen buildings on the market. Although the market rates per square foot varied widely according to the building?s location and amenities, the range was put at anywhere from $300 per square foot up to $780 a square foot. At those rates, the bank?s property could have fetched between $75 million and $200 million in the current market. These numbers show, by estimates, that the bank?s holding of Bermuda property alone could have been worth up to 15 percent of the total sales price.