ASIA Trust Development Bank, a thrift bank whose shareholders include the two state-owned pension funds and the Asian Development Bank, is for sale.

The management of the Quezon City-based bank is in talks with potential buyers since last year, but no firm commitments have so far evolved because the Garcia bloc that owns more than a third of the lender’s capital stock allegedly wants a high premium.

Industry sources said a number of “very interested buyers” have expressed interest in acquiring the lender with a network of 28 branches all over the main island of Luzon.

This, the sources said, despite the bank’s rather high incidence of unaudited nonperforming loans (NPLs) of 11.9 percent at end-December 2007. This compares with its audited NPLs equal to 14.36 percent a quarter earlier.

The bank’s fiscal year ends on May 31. In the preceding six months AsiaTrust has incurred a net loss of P30.71 million, based on documents filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Industry sources said the Industrial Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC), reportedly the largest bank in China, is keen on acquiring AsiaTrust if the Garcias agree to lower their asking price.

The BusinessMirror contacted AsiaTrust president Dionisio Ong on Wednesday to confirm the reports, but was told he was held up in a long meeting.

“The Garcias want a high premium for their stake, and this has stalled negotiations with potential buyers. There is optimism a deal could be struck if they prove willing to come down a little,” sources said.

According to the sources, AsiaTrust has suffered from a high incidence of soured loans that, at the unaudited rate of 11.9 percent at the end of last year, is nearly double the industry average of 6.71 percent based on latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data.

Sources said the proposed buy-in of ICBC comes at a time when AsiaTrust is in need of fresh capital to overcome its problems.

Previously, BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said ICBC was looking for a joint-venture agreement with local lenders as part of the Chinese lender’s program to establish an overseas presence.

ICBC has presence in South Africa, Russia, Indonesia and even in Macau, but has turned to the Philippines in recent months where the potential could be huge.

The only problem is that the central bank no longer issues new bank licenses precisely to put a premium on existing franchises and make them attractive to foreign proponents.

BSP Governor Tetangco Jr. earlier said a foreign franchise could own up to 60 percent of any bank in the country.

THE World Bank board of directors has “unanimously” approved the National Roads Improvement and Management Project Phase 2, or NRIMP 2, and imposed several anticorruption measures to ensure that the projected is shielded from corrupt and colluding people.

ASIA Trust Development Bank, a thrift bank whose shareholders include the two state-owned pension funds and the Asian Development Bank, is for sale.

THE government bared on Wednesday the likelihood of increasing its foreign borrowings this year to its original plan of $1 billion.

The amount was previously halved to $500 million on account of low interest rates in the country.

THE peso yesterday extended its plunge, falling 19 centavos from the previous day’s close, after jitters set in following reports of low returns in local equities and low volume of overseas remittances, currency traders said.

FROM a handful of microlenders whose loan outstanding was a few million pesos in 2000, the number of microlending institutions today have swelled past 200 and their loan portfolio has reached P6 billion.

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has eased the rule on proof of identity and cut the number of ID cards that clients must show from the mandatory two to one.