PGBank pulls plug on merger plans after 2nd debacle

After calling off its merger with HDBank, lender PGBank does not plan to look for other partners and will remain independent, its chairman, Nguyen Quang Dinh, has said.

“In the last six years, PGBank planned to merge with VietinBank and HDBank, but both deals were unsuccessful, which has been affecting the bank’s business.”

“So the board of directors now aims to develop the bank as an independent entity,” he said at the lender’s annual general meeting on March 30.

Shareholders approved rescindment of the merger plan, which never received approval from the State Bank of Vietnam.

PGBank’s proposal to merge with state-owned VietinBank collapsed in 2014 after two years of negotiations.

The bank targets a 46 percent rise in pre-tax profits this year to VND310 billion ($13.4 million).

First-quarter profit was up 5 percent year-on-year to VND80 billion, according to its CEO, Nguyen Phi Hung.