Rakovec said that that the insurer's supervisory board had endorsed the management's proposal for Triglav to take part in the capital increase in Abanka in a bid to keep its 25.6% share.
Shareholders of Slovenia's third largest bank Abanka decided at the end of May to increase the core capital of the bank by issuing fresh shares of up to EUR 50m. The increase will be conducted in two phases, CEO Jože Lenič noted today. According to Lenič, more details will be revealed when all the necessary permits are obtained, especially the consent of the Securities Market Agency (ATVP). He added that the bank would like to see the capital increase carried out as soon as possible. Lenič is confident that the recapitalisation will be successful. "The bank is getting stronger in terms of capital and this trend will continue. We have also launched numerous other projects and all this is a step forward," he pointed out. The government is currently pushing for the banks to be given the right to issue conditional convertible bonds (Co Co bonds) to boost their capital adequacy which can under certain conditions (for example, if the bank's capital drops bellow 7%) be converted in the bank's capital, which is also something that the bank will look into, according to its CEO.
"Of course the most precious and the best is share capital and we will be happy if shareholders will have confidence in the bank and the first recapitalisation succeeds," Lenič said. Lenič and Rakovec also discussed today the project of merging Abanka and Gorenjska banka, which is still on the table, according to Lenič. It is not clear yet whether the merger will be carried out or not, but "we as the management have backed the project and some major shareholders support it as well", he said. "The goal is to get a good, not to say the best financial institution, which will foremost meet the clients' needs. These two banks are undoubtedly complementary in their business challenges," Lenič said. Rakovec meanwhile said that Abanka needed to get fresh capital first and then the process of merging it with Gorenjska banka could begin. "I think this would also be in the best interest of the regulator - to create one strong and relatively big bank for the Slovenian market," he stated.
SOURCE: The Slovenia Times
