China Bank thrift unit to merge with rural lender

The thrift bank arm of China Bank has obtained its shareholders’ consent to merge with Pampanga-based rural lender Unity Bank.

The merger between China Bank Savings (CBS) and Unity Bank has yet to be approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Securities and Exchange Commission. But once Unity Bank is folded into CBS, its branches will be integrated into CBS’ core banking system and rebranded.

“From this deal alone, we will have at least 73 branches by yearend, on track to meet the target of 100 branches by 2014,” CBS president Alberto Emilio Ramos said in a statement.

In the first half of the year, CBS opened nine more branches. To date, CBS has 42 branches, from last year’s 33.

Parent bank China Bank, which is majority owned by the family of Henry Sy, acquired 99.95 percent of Unity Bank’s outstanding shares for P400 million in November last year, a transaction meant to expand the footprint of thrift bank CBS.

China Bank Savings plans to submit the merger documents by Aug. 15.

The acquisition is seen to support a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas program to strengthen rural banks by encouraging mergers and acquisitions. This, in turn, is expected to improve the delivery of financial services to rural communities.

With the approval of the acquisition, the BSP will waive licensing fees for 18 more branches to be opened in restricted areas, and another six branches upon final approval of the merger.

Ramos also reported that the savings bank performed well in 2012, and that it was able to sustain the momentum in the first half of 2013.

CBS grew its total resources in 2012 to P9.6 billion, expanding its total loan portfolio by 126 percent to P4.3 billion as all loan product lines contributed to the growth.

Total deposits rose by 88 percent to P8.3 billion.

In the first half of 2013, CBS grew its loan book by 124 percent to P6.3 billion year-on-year, while deposits rose by 77 percent to P11 billion.

CBS, which is focused on the retail market, began operations in 2008 following China Bank’s acquisition of Manila Bank.