UPDATE 1-Kazakh Kazkommertsbank sells stake in pension fund

* Sold stake in Ular Umit pension fund

* Also sold stake in Zhetysu Asset Management company

* To focus on Grantum pension fund and asset management.

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ALMATY, March 10 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's No.2 bank Kazkommertsbank (KKGByq.L) said on Tuesday it had sold its stakes in the loss-making Ular Umit pension fund and Zhetysu Asset Management company for an undisclosed price.

Kazakh banks have been hit hard by the global financial crisis after years of rapid growth fuelled by heavy foreign borrowing.

Kazkommertsbank said the total loss at the fund -- one of the largest in Kazakhstan -- and at Zhetysu, the company that manages it, amounted to 7.5 billion tenge (about $50 million) last year. The bank had large, but non-controlling stakes in both.

"A decision was reached to sell Kazkommertsbank's 49.35 percent stake in the fund and 50 percent stake in the company to the controlling shareholders with the aim of ensuring the stability of Ular Umit," Kazkommertsbank said in a statement.

It did not say how much the bank had been paid for the stakes. Kazkommertsbank said it would focus on developing Grantum pension fund and Grantum asset management company, both of which are fully controlled by the bank.

Kazkommertsbank said last week its 2008 net profit could be lower than previously forecast due to a higher expected provisioning rate. The bank had earlier projected 30 percent profit growth for the year. (Writing by Olzhas Auyezov, editing by Alfred Kueppers/Will Waterman)