UPDATE 1-Portugal's Novo Banco to be IPO-ready in 2024, CEO says

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LISBON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Portugal's Novo Banco will be operationally prepared for a potential initial public offering in the first half of 2024, CEO Mark Bourke told Reuters on Tuesday, adding though that the market's opening to new listings has suffered a setback.

"For us, as a bank, our job is to be ready when shareholders are ready to do so. My view is still the same: operationally the bank will be ready (for an IPO) in the first half of 2024," he said in a phone interview.

The bank expects to seize an opportunity when one presents itself, he said, even though the markets' appetite for IPOs "had a very significant setback in recent weeks" with the tension in the Middle East.

"We compete in the market, the market configuration is there and we are actually doing very well and our job is to be ready to do an IPO as an independent bank in this market," he said.

The banks has been over the past two years "building the equity and the debt story in the market... showing people that it can set targets, meet targets and showing the progress strategically", he added.

Analysts have speculated that Novo Banco, which emerged from the ruins of the collapsed Banco Espírito Santo in 2014 and is 75% owned by US private equity fund Lone Star, could be merged with another lender looking to further consolidate its position in Portugal such as Millennium bcp. (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by Andrei Khalip)