Investigating Bank Diversification on Valuation in the Iranian Stock Market: Guidelines for Agricultural Bank

Bank diversification is one of the important results of the globalization of the banking industry and the creation of competition in this industry. This paper empirically examines the impact of diversification on the valuation of banks in the Iranian stock market. Therefore, the relationship between banking diversification and valuation in the stock market with the data of accepted banks in Tehran Stock Exchange during the period of 2010-2016 is considered. In this paper, Tobin Q is used for the stock market valuation index and the share of non interest earnings for the Bank's diversification index. The results of data analysis using the data panel method show that banking diversification has a negative effect on the banks' valuation in the stock market; thus, the diversification of the bank due to entering of banks to new business, creates potential risks and reduces the bank's valuation in the stock market. Hence, the policy of diversification in the agricultural bank should be taken in such a way that it does not expose the agricultural bank to greater risk.