By Margit Feher
BUDAPEST--Chief executive and chairman of Hungary's biggest bank
by assets and market share OTP (OTP.BU) Sandor Csanyi denied
Wednesday recent reports that he would resign.
He also denied market rumors that the government's latest plan
to relieve the burdens of foreign-currency mortgage holders
further, details of which are sketchy, was behind the sale of
nearly all of his OTP stake.
"I have fully recovered" from heart surgery in February, "I feel
stronger than before surgery," Mr. Csanyi said at a press
conference, adding that he had been planning to sell the shares in
the course of the year.
Hungarian national daily Magyar Nemzet said this week that Mr.
Csanyi has sold down his OTP stake because he was planning to
resign.
Mr. Csanyi confirmed he will use the proceeds from the OTP stake
sale to finance investments at his various companies engaged in the
farm sector.
Mr. Csanyi sold 2.34 million OTP shares in recent days to a
total market value of 10.6 billion forints ($47.2 million), leaving
him with 500,000 shares in indirect and a further 10,000 shares in
direct ownership of his.
OTP remains a strong bank, its capitalization is high as is its
liquidity reserves, Mr. Csanyi said.
Mr. Csanyi, Hungary's richest man based on his net worth, also
said OTP isn't any more under attack by the Hungarian government
than local peers--negating press reports that the government had
singled out OTP when it tried to curb OTP's market position by
increasing its stake in fellow Hungarian bank Takarekbank Zrt.
The bank will continue to seek acquisitions in the domestic
market, he said, without providing further details. Any purchase,
however, will hinge on the impact of the government's latest
mortgage relief plan on OTP's bottom line, he added.
The bank would survive the government's mortgage relief plan,
though it may hamper its plans to make acquisitions, Mr. Csanyi
said.
Write to Margit Feher at margit.feher@dowjones.com