Retiring group managing director of Skye Bank Plc, Mr Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti, took over the mantle of leadership at Skye Bank at a crucial phase in the history of the bank and the banking industry- the period of bubble assets and bad loans that had built up through the financial crises of 2008 and 2009.
Most banks were bogged down by bad loan assets and many banks which became technically distressed were taken over by the financial services authorities. With previous experiences as managing director in two separate banks, Durosinmi-Etti launched a comprehensive business renewal strategy that not only enabled Skye Bank to wade through the murky terrain, but to also continuously improve on its performance year-on-year.
From the onset, Durosinmi-Etti knew what he needed to do and the period required for this to be done. While the banking industry rules and corporate governance practice at Skye Bank allow him to serve two terms of four years each, he had, upon assumption of office, told directors and top management staff of the bank that he would only serve a single term of four years. As he completes his four-year tenure, Durosinmi-Etti says he has kept faith with the bank, shareholders, other stakeholders and particularly himself.
“I took over at the point of global financial crisis; we had our national crisis as well then. Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) came after that, so the industry was going through crisis. All the banks had a lot of toxic assets, so at that time banks were making losses, we too were barely scraping to make profits. So, if you look at our ratios, they look terrible. But we have been able to stabilise and grow consistently over the past three and half years. One has grown the balance sheet of the bank by about 80 percent and a lot of other indices have improved tremendously. Capital adequacy was quite low at the time, today it is about 20 per cent, more than the regulatory requirement of 15 per cent,” Durosinmi-Etti recalled.
According to him, the major highlight of the success of the strategy he championed when he took over was the reduction of the number of loss-making branches from over 100 to an average of 12 to 13 within the first two years of his management.
“We reinforced our management, we establish an enterprise risk management system framework which is very strong and I believe it is one of the best-in-class in the industry. We engaged a lot of policies around everything we want to do and with the right people, training and information technology (IT), we were able to build a system that has continued to surpass expectations. We invested in people and resources, we are experimenting with another upgrade of our IT infrastructure right now, a very significant upgrade, that is what has been the backbone of Skye Bank,” Durosinmi-Etti noted about the early years.
According to him, his tenure will be remembered by staff, shareholders, customers and other stakeholders for its openness, strong frameworks, human capacity development and fair and equitable system for all.
He pointed out that management principles during the period were centred on the best practices. “We worked to ensure that the bank has an open-access system, open management system with the whole framework; whether it is corporate governance, risk management-our credit process is very strong today, and we ensured that the people were well motivated. We ensured good compensation and welfare for the employees. So all that ensured a fair and enjoyable environment that enabled us to work hard and work well to meet up on our corporate goals,” Durosinmi-Etti noted.
As he retires, Durosinmi-Etti thinks Skye Bank has gathered a strong momentum that can only lead to future growth and better returns to all stakeholders. He therefore urged staff and shareholders to support his successor.
According to him, his successor, Timothy Oguntayo, is a dependable multi-skilled financier that has what it takes to build on the successes of the previous years. “Timothy Oguntayo, right from 2006, has worked very closely with me, I have been his direct supervisor for most of the last eight to nine years and he has got all round competence both in commercial banking and merchant banking. He started his career in United Bank for Africa (UBA) so he has strong commercial background. He had worked Prudent Bank. He has the thinking of an investment banker and the skills of a commercial banker and nothing can be better than that. He has sound judgement which is key for decision making, he is experienced, he’s a people’s person, he gets on well with people, he has good leadership skills, he has the attribute to lead so he can ensure that continuity and move the bank forward, I have no doubt that he can move the bank in the right direction,” Durosinmi-Etti said.
For him, he is a fulfilled person: I have been in banking since 1987. I went in as head of accounts and computers in Nigerian American Merchant Bank which was a middle management position. I moved to Midas Merchant Bank in 1990, I rose to become chief executive officer of Midas Bank in 1995 and I left in 1997, after almost two years. I left on my own volition. I came back into banking in 2002 as the chief executive officer of Eko International Bank, and I voluntarily stepped down after successful consolidation. I thereafter became the deputy management director of the emergent Skye Bank Plc following the consolidation exercise.
Though many will view his decision not to seek another term as uncommon, Durosinmi-Etti says his life goals and ambitions have been the guiding compass of his timeline. “I set goals for myself that by the time I was 49, I would stop working for anybody and I am 52 this year. I feel that I should get time to do things for myself because by the time one gets to 60 years, it becomes pretty more difficult. From day one, I told the chairman at that time and some of my board members and colleagues that I would only do four years. So, that’s why I am going, I am sorry to go, it’s sad, I have enjoyed the time I have spent but that’s what I have set my mind on. I know it’s not common but I have done it few times so it is common with me. I don’t hold on to anything in terms of power, position and all the things that go with such an office, they mean very little to me. What’s most important to me is, I have been given the opportunity to serve and I have done that creditably and honourably.”
Audited reports and accounts of Skye Bank lent credence to the indelible impact of Durosinmi-Etti on the bank. Skye Bank grew net profit by about 27 per cent to N16 billion in 2013 as the bank optimized constrained top-line to deliver better returns to shareholders. Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of the bank for the year ended December 31, 2013 showed that net profit rose from N12.64 billion in 2012 to N16.02 billion in 2013. The bank would be paying N3.97 billion to shareholders, representing a dividend per share of 30 kobo. Earnings per share had risen to N1.21 in 2013 as against N1.01 in 2012. At the bank’s current market consideration at the stock market, the dividend represents above-average yield of some eight per cent.
In a year that banks generally came under pressures from cost headwinds that resulted from several regulatory changes, Skye Bank recorded a profit before tax of N17.136 billion in 2013, a modest increase on N16.510 billion recorded in 2012. Other highlights of the result include growth in total assets from N1.073 trillion to N1.116 trillion, while deposit liabilities also increased from N966 billion to N996 billion. Gross earnings stood at N127.3billion in 2013 compared with N127.73 billion in 2012.
The bank’s total equity grew during the review period from 106.8 billion in 2012 to N120 billion in 2013, indicating the bank’s financial stability. Loans and receivables also rose to N549.8 billion from N540.3 billion. As a measure of its growing good loan portfolio, the bank’s net interest income shot up to N61.69 billion from N44.5 billion in 2012, an increase of 38 per cent.
In the previous audited report for the year ended December 31, 2012, the bank had recorded three-digit growth rates, the bank had witnessed strong growth in profitability as the bank rode on the back of expansive business base and increasingly efficient cost management to deliver impressive returns to shareholders.
The report showed that profit after tax leapt to N12.64 billion in 2012, representing a remarkable increase of 872.6 per cent on N1.30 billion recorded in 2011. Profit before tax had leapt by 480.9 per cent from N2.84 billion in 2011 to N16.51 billion in 2012. The bank also recorded significant improvement in the top-line as gross earnings rose by about 25 per cent from N102.36 billion to N127.73 billion.
The bank’s balance sheet also showed impressive performance as the bank’s focus on quality growth brought down the relative level of non-performing loans to its lowest level. The bank’s assets quality improved considerably as non-performing loan/gross loans ratio surpassed industry’s target of 5.0 per cent at 4.95 per cent in 2012 as against 6.39 per cent. Deposit base expanded by 22.4 per cent at N790.09 billion in 2012 compared with N645.45 billion in 2011, reflecting the strong profile of the bank in the intensely competitive banking industry. Total assets crossed the N1 trillion mark to N1.07 trillion in 2012 as against N914.27 billion in 2011. Equity funds firmed up to N106.89 billion in 2012 as against N100.11 billion in 2011.
Before his exit, Durosinmi-Etti had laid the foundation for the next growth phase of the bank. In 2013, the bank outlined a three-year short-term plan that is expected to double its balance sheet and customer deposits by the end of the plan in 2015. The bank is also expected to significantly improve its profitability in tandem with the targets for total assets and customer deposit.
A new strategy framework that emanated from a long-drawn brainstorming retreat between the board and management of the bank and top-flight professional advisers had indicated that the bank needed to consolidate its size and expand both organically and inorganically.
The bank retooled its growth model into a more assertive and forward-looking option that sought to consolidate its historical value-based organic growth strategy with expansionary and competitive verve with a view to leapfrog and sustain the bank into a top tier bank within the medium to long term. Focused on internally-driven value creation, Skye Bank had raised comparatively lower capital and did not make any acquisition in the rush for large capital and acquisitions by several banks. The new growth model will combine this historic growth model with a stronger competitive strides aimed at exploring all available opportunities for growth.
The bank is expected to drive growth largely internally through increased capitalisation and market-facing initiatives but it would also seek to acquire value-adding commercial banking assets that could leverage its balance sheet, spread and customer base.
