OTP Bank, OTP Credit merging
Kyiv, May 22 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Kyiv-based OTP Bank and OTP Credit, whose core business is consumer crediting, are to merge, according to OTP Bank CEO Tamas Hak-Kovacs.
"We plan, and I believe, that it – the merger of OTP Credit with OTP Bank - will be realized from July 1. In summer we'll start issuing [consumer] loans from the bank's balance… The group has a large structure, and various subsidiaries [in Ukraine]. One of the first steps is to merge with OTP Credit," he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.
According to him, the merger of the bank and its subsidiary will ease the management of the group's divisions in Ukraine.
The banker said that the share of OTP Credit on the consumer crediting market by the fourth quarter of 2011 was 12%, and its chain consisted of over 2,000 outlets. OTP Bank's strategy foresees that the bank's share in that segment will double by the fourth quarter of 2012.
Hak-Kovacs also reported that the bank's loan portfolio in 2012 may remain at the level of 2011, while its net profit could be lower than last year's indicator.
The banker said that OTP Bank's regional chain, which includes 151 units, is the ideal for the development of business and will not change in number. At the same time, there are plans to use OTP Credit's sale channels to develop consumer crediting.
As was reported, OTP Bank's net profit in 2011 stood at UAH 581.76 million, which was 3.2% up on 2010 (UAH 563.5 million).
The bank's total assets January through March 2012 grew by 4%, to UAH 23.401 billion, while loans and clients' debts shrank by 4%, to UAH 16.228 billion.
OTP Credit LLC was founded in July 2010. Its participants include OTP Bank (Ukraine) with 84.3% and OTP Bank (Russia) with 15.7%.
OTP Group in Ukraine is represented by OTP Bank, OTP Capital, OTP Pension, OTP Leasing, OTP Factoring, and OTP Credit.
OTP Bank, formerly Raiffeisenbank Ukraine, was founded in 1998. Its only stockholder is Hungarian-based OTP Bank Plc.
The bank ranked 13th among 175 operating banks as of January 1, 2012, in terms of overall assets estimated at UAH 22.785 billion, according to the National Bank of Ukraine.