OTP Bank chairman-chief executive Sándor Csányi on Wednesday said reports about another government bailout for borrowers with foreign currency-denominated loans were not the reason for the sale of many of his shares in the bank last week. He also denied rumours that he would resign.
Reports about further government assistance for borrowers with foreign currency-denominated loans affected the sale, but were not the reason for it, Csányi said. The sale was not a message to the government, he told the selected press, which excluded right-wing media.
Csányi said he would have sold the shares anyway this year to fund planned investments in his agribusinesses, and he did not want the sales to take place over a period of months. “I may still buy and sell OTP shares; in future I want to practice more active portfolio management,” he said. “Small investors don’t have to be alarmed: I still think OTP is a very good investment and I will continue to buy,” he added.
OTP Bank would survive any bailout package for FX borrowers, he added. He said a new bailout would carry implementation risks because of falling loan stocks, a low loan-to-deposit ratio and ebbing financing from parent banks. Csányi sold a big part of his direct and indirect stake in OTP Bank last Thursday and Friday.
– MTI
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