VIENNA, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Austrian bank Raiffeisen might look at whether to merge its listed international division with its unlisted parent company to become more efficient, according to a senior executive quoted by an Austrian newspaper. Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) is the bank’s division focused on central and eastern Europe which made a loss last year, and may make another loss this year, as it undergoes a major overhaul. Unlisted Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB), which also has not ruled making a loss in 2015, is the majority owner of RBI and in turn counts Raiffeisen Landesbank Oberoesterreich AG (RLB OOe) as a major shareholder. Asked in an interview with newspaper Der Kurier whether RBI might merge with RZB, the landesbank’s chief executive Heinrich Schaller said: “It’s completely legitimate to think very hard about measures to increase efficiency.” In February, Schaller had said a merger between RBI and RZB was not currently the plan but could be discussed objectively if there were good arguments to justify it. RBI rebuffed the idea. RBI declined to comment on Tuesday. Schaller did, however, rule out a merger between RLB OOe and RZB in the report. (Reporting by Shadia Nasralla and Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich; editing by David Clarke)
Senior Manager of Raiffeisen, Henrich Raiffeisen Zentralbank, says the bank has not ruled out the idea of a merger between Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) and its majority owner, Schaller (RZB), stating that "it's completely legitimate to think very hard about measures to increase efficiency". As we previously noted in February, Mr Raiffeisen Zentralbank had stated that a merger was not on the cards, and RBI had rebuffed the idea.