OTP Makes Offer for Bank in EU - CEO
OTP Bank made an offer on Thursday to acquire another bank in a European Union member state, chairman-CEO Sándor Csányi told shareholders at an annual general meeting on Friday, according to a report by state news wire MTI.
If the deal materializes, the acquisition would be the biggest in the lender's history, Csányi said.
Addressing the AGM, Finance Minister Mihály Varga said OTP was a "fixture" on the local banking market and acknowledged the necessity of a capital-strong banking system for credit to support the operation of the economy and the country's economic resilience. The stability of Hungary's economy is also served by full employment, the high investment rate, and the reduction in state debt levels, he added.
Shareholders approved payment of a HUF 535.7-per-share dividend at the meeting. The dividend fund comes to HUF 150 billion.
At a press conference after the AGM, Csányi said the bank for which OTP had made an offer was in an EU member state in which OTP did not have a presence. He added that OTP had long weighed the chances for an expansion in Poland and that it had "not gladly" pulled out of Romania, but it had become clear that it would not get the chance to make acquisitions there.
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