Andrea Mager also issued an evening announcement about the new big bank



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The Hungarian state was a good owner of the Budapest Bank, declared the Minister without Portfolio of National Assets in a statement after announcing overnight that the majority ownership of the Hungarian state in Budapest Bank had ceased, thus Magyar Bankholding Zrt.

In the last 5 years, Budapest Bank has proven to be a good investment: the financial institution achieved a capital increase of HUF 54.5 billion, with a dividend payment of HUF 22.5 billion, wrote Andrea Magyer, Minister without Portfolio, in a release.

Budapest Bank, which employs about 3,000 people, has been operating successfully during the five-year period of state ownership: it has doubled its total balance sheet to 1,927 billion HUF since 2015, making a total profit of 66.5 billion HUF. Thanks to its high-quality retail and corporate portfolio, Budapest Bank, with nearly 600,000 retailers and nearly 75,000 corporate clients, is one of the most crisis-resistant financial institutions in the domestic banking sector, believes the minister.

Hungarians bought a bank for 200 billion

In a statement, Andrea Mager did not mention that Corvinus International Investment Ltd., a member of the state-owned MFB group, paid $ 700 million to owner General Electric Capital Group five years ago for its 100 percent stake in Budapest Bank. The purchase price of approximately HUF 196 billion was 1.7 times the book value at the end of 2014.

“We are proud that Budapest Bank has achieved significant success during 5 years of state ownership and has become a key partner in the SME sector for the competitiveness of the Hungarian economy and job creation. I would like to thank management and all employees of Budapest Bank for their joint achievements and I wish them every success in their future work, ”said Andrea Mager, Minister without Portfolio of National Assets, according to the statement quoted by MTI.

The Hungarian state made its indirect majority state stake in Budapest Bank available to Magyar Bankholding Zrt. Through the contribution, the Hungarian state fulfilled its commitment to the EBRD, in addition, Bankholding, through Corvinus International Investment Ltd., acquired a 30.35 percent stake, the announcement reads.



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