Subway operator Tokyo Metro Co. is in talks with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on a possible merger with Toei subway, its president said.

"We are discussing the matter with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government," Hisashi Umezaki told a news conference Wednesday. But he added that Toei subway needs to resolve his huge accumulating debt before a merger can take place.

Umezaki also said the recession has forced his company to postpone becoming a public company until the next business year. The plan had been to go public before next March 31.

It has not been decided which brokerage will become its chief agent, he said.

Tokyo Metro's net profit plunged 11.2 percent to ¥21.3 billion in the April-September period on sales of ¥189.6 billion, down 0.5 percent from the same period last year.