J&T Bank Receives HNB Approval for Indirect Entry of Chinese Investors

The Varaždin J&T Bank announced on Friday that the Croatian National Bank has granted preliminary approval for the indirect acquisition of ownership stakes in the bank by Chinese investors – CEFC Hainan International Holding and CEFC Shanghai International Group.

– The preliminary approval was issued on the condition that the Czech National Bank, as the consolidating supervisor, grants approval for the acquisition of 50 percent of the shares in the capital of J&T Bank a.s. Prague, which is a prerequisite for acquiring a qualifying stake in J&T Bank d.d., J&T Bank stated.

A qualifying stake of 50 percent in J&T Finance Group

They remind that this is an indirect acquisition of shares since the Chinese investors would acquire a qualifying stake of 50 percent in J&T Finance Group, which is the 100 percent owner of J&T Bank a.s. Prague, which in turn is the majority owner of J&T Bank with a stake of 82.55 percent.

The Czech J&T Bank entered Vaba Bank in mid-2014, when it acquired 58.33 percent ownership in Vaba Bank through a capital increase of 75 million kuna. J&T Bank recapitalized Vaba Bank twice during 2015 (in January and September), thereby increasing its ownership stake to 76.81 percent.

Business Results

In mid-July last year, J&T Bank also conducted a third recapitalization of the Varaždin bank, amounting to 76 million kuna, which increased the core capital of Vaba Bank to 307.1 million kuna, and J&T Bank’s ownership stake rose to 82.55 percent.

According to preliminary unaudited data on the operations of credit institutions published by the Croatian National Bank at the beginning of March, J&T Bank is one of eight banks that reported a loss from operations last year, amounting to 86.57 million kuna. This is a bank with assets worth 1.5 billion kuna, which accounts for a 0.39 percent share of the total assets of Croatian banks, ranking 19th among the 26 banks currently operating in Croatia.