Why Hungary’s MKB Wants To Sell Romexterra

05.31.2011 By Loredana Fratila

Assets halving to 1.6 billion lei (about EUR388 million), a 76% rise in provisions for non-performing loans, a 23% personnel cut, the deterioration of the cost/income ratio to over 75% and losses doubling to RON247 million, were the most visible effects of the crisis that MKB Romexterra Bank, controlled by Hungary’s MKB (in turn held by Germany’s Bayern LB) suffered last year.

The prolonged recession worsened problems registered in 2009, so a decision was made to clean up the bank's loan portfolio by transferring problematic assets to a special entity, Corporate Recovery Management, which came under the ownership of the parent bank.

According to MKB's annual report, the loan portfolio that remained in Romexterra's balance sheet fell by 66% against 2009, to RON633 million (around EUR150 million).

Under the circumstances, the Hungarian bank decided to radically change the business strategy and virtually started to build a new bank: as of November 1, Romexterra began operating under a new brand (an unusual move on the Romanian market) - MKB Nextebank, and focused on the retail segment of SMEs.

However, the longer-term strategic decision is to exit the Romanian market, with a deadline to sale the local subsidiary set for 2013, according to an MKB report. (EUR1=RON4.1207)