By LEE C. CHIPONGIAN
Philippine National Bank President and CEO Lorenzo V. Tan is resigning from the bank effective April 10, PNB said in a statement.
Tan has opted not to renew his three-year contract in favor of "greener pastures" offered to him by a reputable foreign institution with businesses in insurance and financial services, according to sources.
The PNB board of directors announced yesterday Tan’s decision not to extend his contract with the bank. "Mr. Tan tendered his resignation to the PNB board, advising them of his decision to move towards some of the goals he has set for his career by exploring opportunities with a foreign institution," the statement said.
Tan was hired by both the Lucio Tan group and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. in April 2002 for a three-year stint to help turn around the bank’s finances, which he successfully did.
Sources said the PNB board is currently considering two names, Executive Vice Presidents Omar Mir and Carmen Huang as replacement for Tan.
Mir is a professional banker hired by Tan in 2002 when he came on board to take over the leadership of PNB while Huang is from the Lucio Tan group.
When Tan tendered his resignation last Thursday, most of the bank’s directors were rooting in favor of Mir as replacement. Sources privy to government negotiations said Mir has most of the votes.
However, Huang is not out of the race yet since her backer is no less than Lucio Tan, who controls half of the bank.
Banking sources said they are sorry to see Tan vacate his PNB post after steering the bank in the right direction.
Tan joined the bank after PNB’s two major shareholders PDIC and the Lucio Tan Group invited him to take over the top management post of the country’s national bank.
At that time, according to the press release, the PDIC had just infused
P7.8 billion in equity, in the form of preferred shares in the bank to help finance the five-year rehabilitation program.
"(Lorenzo) Tan’s principal mandate was to lead the bank’s five-year rehabilitation efforts and turn around the financial performance from losses to profits," PNB said.
The statement lists Tan’s contribution within the limited period. He is credited with the adoption of the good bank-bad bank strategy that enabled the PNB to turn in a modest profit of
P168 million in 2003 after five years of successive losses.
For 2004, based on preliminary unaudited financial statements, the net income has been sustained and doubled to a level of
P353 million.
"Tan was able to attract a number of highly qualified senior officers from other banks to join him in the rehabilitation," the bank said. "The board of directors expressed its deep appreciation to Tan for all his efforts and dedication towards the turnaround of the Bank and wished him all the best in his future endeavors."
Observers hope Tan’s resignation will not hamper PNB’s pending joint sale arrangement, possibly next month. The Department of Finance is drafting the guidelines to tap financial advisers for the sale of its holdings in PNB.
DoF legal sources said the government is preparing the guidelines now in anticipation that tobacco magnate Lucio Tan will not agree to an extension of the shareholders’ agreement when it expires on September 16.
The deal, signed in 2001 allows the government an option to initiate a joint sale of its public stake in PNB, along with the Lucio Tan’s group. Both have 45 percent ownership of the bank. Public investors own the balance of ten percent since PNB is a listed financial institution.
