Security Bank plans unit
SECURITY BANK Corp. will not be adding the branches of Premiere
Development Bank (Premiere Bank), which it is acquiring, to its own as
it wants to spin it off as its thrift bank arm.
"Premiere Bank will keep its thrift bank license, and will be the thrift
bank arm of Security Bank," said Joey E. Mape, Security Bank senior vice
president for the financial control division, in a phone interview last
week.
Premiere Bank will be turned into a subsidiary "housing" Security Bank's
consumer lending business, he said.
Mr. Mape also said Security Bank will continue to pursue its branch
expansion plans.
Security Bank, a universal bank and eleventh largest among the country's
banks as of the second quarter, entered into a share purchase agreement
with Premiere Bank last June, with the former acquiring 98% of the
latter's outstanding capital stock for P1.3 billion.
The agreement is still subject to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP)
approval.
Security Bank's application to purchase Premiere Bank was submitted to
the central bank last July, Mr. Mape said, but amendments were made to
the share purchase agreement.
He did not elaborate on what these changes were.
"Within the first week of October we should be able to submit the
complete documents to the BSP. Once everything is submitted, we could
secure the approval after one or two months," he added.
Once the BSP's approval is secured, he said, members of Premiere Bank's
board of directors and different committees would be changed.
The bank would be renamed and a new president appointed. Its employees
would be retained.
At present, the two bank's officials are holding meetings to determine
how to best integrate the two banks' systems.
Still, Security Bank has started to oversee Premiere Bank's operations
and to check its "manual processes."
"Operations of Premiere Bank are still under the old management while we
wait for the central bank's approval, though we are overseeing their
operations and there are transactions they need to be approved by us,"
Mr. Mape said.
"We are identifying Premiere Bank's best practices that would be
retained by the bank and of course those that would be changed," he added.
There are also plans to change Premiere Bank's accounting system to
allow it introduce certain products to clients.
Asked how Premiere Bank would contribute to Security Bank's earnings,
Mr. Mape said, "it is hard to determine as we are still in the planning
stage."
Security Bank has 132 branches nationwide, while Premiere Bank has 38
branches located within the Metro Manila and CALABARZON (Calamba,
Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) areas.
Security Book posted a net income of P2.4 billion in the first half of
the year, 33% higher than the P1.8 billion it earned in the same period
last year. -- Ann Rozainne R. Gregorio
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