The Nation Newspaper

Tag: SKYE BANK

  • Skye Bank to assist states improve IGR

    Skye Bank to assist states improve IGR

    Skye Bank Plc has expressed its readiness to assist states improve on their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), plug leakages in revenue channels and stem the ghost workers syndrome through efficient payroll software expertise.

    The bank, which  has led IGR mandate in no fewer than six Northern states in the last 12 months, handles several  revenue services for Ministries, Departments and Agencies of many states and that of the Federal Government.

    The bank has mandate as the payroll bank for Kogi, Nasarawa and Katsina states, in addition to being re-appointed as lead collecting bank for Kogi, Kano, and Taraba states in  IGR and services.

    In addition, the bank handles the Hajj Commission Collections accounts for several states in the North, as well as the Federation Account and Allocation Committee’s accounts of some states.

    Also, the Lagos State Government directed all its Agencies, Ministries and parastatals to increase business relationship with the bank, just as Kogi re-appointed the financial institution as its lead collecting bank for the state’s IGRs.

    The news of the re-appointment of Skye Bank was contained in a letter signed by the  state Accountant General, Alhaji Momoh Jibrin and addressed to the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Bank, Tokunbo Abiru

    The bank’s IGR and service mandates also cover states in the South South, Southwest, Northcentral and the Southeastern parts of the country.

    The bank has helped and still helps several states raise their revenue profile as well as block leakages in their tax administration system.

  • Skye Bank gets CBN’s loan to boost liquidity

    Skye Bank gets CBN’s loan to boost liquidity

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has provided loan to Skye Bank Plc to boost its liquidity after the lender breached requirements on capital and lending.

    The short-term lending facility will allow the new management to “ensure that some withdrawals it suffered in the wake of the undue panic of last week do not adversely affect its operations,’’ Isaac Okorafor, a spokesman for the CBN told Bloomberg.

    The regulator has also issued guarantees to the bank’s depositors and creditors as a demonstration of its health, he said.

    The CBN replaced top managers of the lender earlier this month after it breached required thresholds for liquidity and non-performing loans. While the regulator moved to calm markets, assuring that the bank and indeed, the industry remained healthy, its stock plunged to record lows, leading to declines among other lenders.

    Skye Bank’s shares, however, rose for the fourth straight day yesterday, gaining nine per cent to 85 kobo in Lagos trading, the best performance on the 171-member Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index. Almost 53 million shares were traded, more than three times the three-month average. It has declined by 46 per cent this year, compared with a 1.8 per cent retreat by the Nigerian All Share Index. The CBN said it has no plan to sell Skye Bank.

    In an earlier statement, the new management at Skye Bank said the lender’s fundamentals remained strong and virile, assuring customers and other stakeholders of the safety of their funds and investments.

    Its Group Managing Director/CEO, Tokunbo Abiru, said his team would leverage on the bank’s reputable information technology platform to make it not just a frontline retail and commercial bank, but also an industry leader.

    Abiru, who outlined his vision for the lender, said his team would harness the expertise and skill sets of the bank’s employees and the reconstituted board to take the bank to new heights.

    He noted that as a Systematically Important Bank (SIB), Skye Bank occupies a sensitive role in the financial life of Nigerians and the entire West African sub-region.

  • Skye Bank rallies amid sustained stocks’ depression

    Skye Bank Plc for the second consecutive trading session played the lead contrarian stock at the Nigerian stock market as sell-pressure continued to depress the values of most quoted companies.

    Against average decline of 0.85 per cent yesterday, Skye Bank led the seven-stock gainers’ list with a gain of 9.09 per cent to close at 72 kobo. It had risen by the highest possible percentage change of 10 per cent on Monday, leading the upside in a market that saw average decline of 0.25 per cent.

    Skye Bank’s price appreciation was driven by increased market orders for the shares of the troubled bank, after key institutional customers, including the Lagos State Government, said they would stand by the bank irrespective of the recent forced change in the board and management.

    Skye Bank was again the most active stock yesterday with a turnover of 57.71 million shares, sustaining the lead that started on Monday when it led activities’ chart with a turnover of N138.25 million shares.

    The CBN had on Monday, July 4 took over the management of the bank, claiming that the former board and management voluntarily resigned after they failed to turn around the fortunes of the bank. CBN subsequently appointed Alhaji Muhammad Ahmad, the founding director general of the National Pension Commission (Pencom), as the new chairman and Mr. Tokunbo Abiru, a former commissioner for finance in Lagos state and executive director at First Bank of Nigeria as the new group managing director.

    Skye Bank, which had opened July 4 at N1.05, tumbled to a low of 60 kobo. The recovery followed the appointment of Skye Bank as revenue collector by Kogi State, coming on the heels of a state-wide circular by the Lagos State Government reiterating its commitment and confidence in Skye Bank.

    In a circular circulated to all Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Local Governments yesterday by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance/Accountant General, Lagos State, Mrs A. S Umar, Lagos State had stated that it remains a stakeholder in Skye Bank, expressing confidence in the new board and management of the bank.

    The circular described the bank as safe and in good financial health, noting that negative rumours making the rounds about the health of the bank were unfounded.

    There were also reports that some hugely indebted customers of the bank might be paying their loans, thus bridging the liquidity gap, one of the major reasons for the apex bank’s takeover.

  • Kogi re-appoints Skye Bank as collecting bank

    Less than a week after Lagos State Government directed all its Agencies, Ministries and parastatals to increase business relationship with the Skye Bank, another state in the federation, Kogi State, has re-appointed the lender as its lead collecting bank for the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and services.

    The news of the re-appointment of Skye Bank was contained in a letter signed by the state’s Accountant-General, Momoh Jibrin, addressed to the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Bank, Tokunbo Abiru.

    Dated July 18 with reference number KSG/TRY/2/S.07/VOL.II/20, the four paragraph letter titled: Re-appointment as Lead Collecting bank for Kogi State Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and Services lauded the track record of the Bank in meeting its obligations and responsibilities which informed the decision of the State government to re-appoint the lender, even as it promised continued patronage of bank by the state.

    It stated: “We wish to inform you of the State Government’s decision to re-appoint your bank as lead collecting bank for the Kogi State IGR and services. Please accept the assurance of the state government’s highest regards and continued patronage.”

    Kogi State, popularly referred to as Confluence State, has in its labyrinth confluence of River Niger and River Benue with its capital, Lokoja, being the first administrative capital of modern-day Nigeria.

    Historically, Agriculture is the mainstay of the state economy, with abundance of other mineral resources such as coal, steel and other mineral industries. There are many farm produce from the state notably coffee, cocoa, palm oil, cashews, groundnuts, maize, cassava, yam, rice and melon.

    Mineral resources include coal, limestone, iron, petroleum and tin. The state is home to the largest iron and steel industry in Nigeria known as Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited and one of the largest cement factories in Africa, the Obajana Cement Factory, owned by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote.

  • Skye Bank, COPE partner on free breast cancer screening

    Skye Bank, with a non-governmental organisation, COPE Foundation, is  offering free breast cancer screening to the public.

    The event, which is scheduled to hold on Saturday July 23 from 8am to 5pm at the NGO’s office at 39B, Adeniyi Jones Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, is intended to stem the growing incidence of the scourge through early detection and treatment of the disease.

    The bank said in a statement that to take advantage of this opportunity, interested customers are required to pre-register on www.skyebankng.com/skyepearl/free-breast-cancer-screening<http://www.skyebankng.com/skyepearl/free-breast-cancer-screening>.

    Skye Bank has in the last three to four years sponsored over 30 indigent cancer patients for treatment in addition to providing free screening programmes for over 10,000 women within and outside Lagos. The prevalence of the scourge in younger women and the late presentation is still on the increase.

    The bank said it is committed to supporting worthy social causes in the health sector to improve the wellbeing and healthcare of Nigerians, noting that a healthy nation is a wealthy nation.

  • Skye Bank’s board assures investors on increased returns

    Skye Bank’s board assures investors on increased returns

    The new board of Skye Bank Plc has assured shareholders that the new board and management team would work to increase returns on their investment.

    According to a statement issued by the bank yesterday, the bank would uphold sound banking practices as a way of delivering value to both the customers and shareholders as they form the core support base of the bank.

    The bank promised to adopt a policy of close engagement with the shareholders and other stakeholders as a path to growth and development as well as ensure that the fortunes of the bank are improved.

    The new Group Managing Director/CEO, Tokunbo Abiru, had on Wednesday,  affirmed  the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) statement that Skye remains healthy and strong.

    He spoke while taking over from his predecessor, Timothy Oguntayo, affirming that Skye Bank’s  fundamentals remain strong and virile, and assured customers and other stakeholders of the safety of their funds and investments.

    The new Skye Bank boss said his team would leverage on the bank’s its reputable information technology platform to make the bank not just a frontline retail and commercial bank, but an industry leader.

    The CBN had on Monday approved the reconstitution of the Board of Skye Bank Plc., with the apex bank appointing Mr M.K. Ahmad and Mr. Tokunbo Abiru as the new Chairman and Managing Director  of the bank respectively. Other members of the reconstituted Board are Bayo Sanni, Idris Yakubu, Markie Idowu and Abimbola Izu, all of whom were serving in the Executive Director capacity of the Bank prior to now.

  • Skye Bank boss Abiru assures customers of funds safety

    Skye Bank boss Abiru assures customers of funds safety

    •Nigerian banks are healthy, says CBN

    There is no need to panic, Skye Bank Plc customers were yesterday assured following the changes in the bank.

    The new Group Managing  Director/Chief Executive  Officer,  Tokunbo Abiru, affirmed the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) statement that the leader remains healthy and strong.

    Abiru, who spoke after taking over from his predecessor, Timothy Oguntayo, said the lender’s fundamentals remained “strong” and “virile”, assuring customers and other stakeholders of the safety of their funds and investments.

    His assurance came on a day Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele gave banks a clean bill of health (see page 11).

    The Skye Bank chief said his team would leverage on the bank’s reputable information technology platform to make the lender not just a frontline retail and commercial bank, but an industry leader.

    Abiru, who outlined his vision for the bank, said his team would harness the expertise and skills of the bank’s employees and the reconstituted board to take the lender to new heights. He noted that as a Systematically Important Bank (SIB) bank, the lender occupies a sensitive role in the financial life of Nigerians and West Africa.

    The CBN on Monday approved the reconstitution of a new Board. It named M. K. Ahmad and Abiru as Chairman and Managing Director.

    Other new directors are Bayo Sanni, Idris Yakubu, Markie Idowu and Abimbola Izu.

    The reconstitution of the board followed the voluntary resignation of the former Chairman, Dr. Tunde Ayeni and other Non – Executive Directors,  namely Victor Odozi, Babajide Agbabiaka, Dr. Jason Fadeyi, Kunle Aluko, Victor Adenigbagbe, Abdul Bello and Hajiya Amunna Lawan Ali.

    Oguntayo resigned as Group Managing Director /CEO, along with Mrs. Amaka Onwughalu, Dotun Adeniyi and Mrs. Ibiye Ekong who were DMD and EDs.

    The former management , sources said, resigned to pave the way for a new team to further the new strategic direction of the bank in the retail and commercial business space.

    Also, the challenge of accelerating growth in the new strategic direction becomes more urgent, given the economic challenges in the global and domestic operating environment and the attendant challenges.

     

  • Skye Bank gets new MD, chairman as CBN takes over

    Skye Bank gets new MD, chairman as CBN takes over

    •‘Depositors’
    funds safe’

    A New helmsman has taken over at Skye Bank Plc. Mr Adetokunbo Abiru, a Harvard Business School graduate who headed Investment Banking at First Bank of Nigeria Ltd., is the Managing Director/CEO.

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele announced the management and board changes, which led to the resignation of Group Managing Director Timothy Oguntayo and Chairman Olatunde Ayeni.

    Muhammad K. Ahmad, the pioneer Director-General/CEO of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), is the chairman.

    Emefiele, who announced the changes at a media briefing in Lagos, said the regulatory action followed poor liquidity ratio and capital adequacy hitches, as well as rising cases of non-performing loans found to be hurting the lender’s balance sheet positions.

    He said the apex bank decided to act before the problems confronting the lender reached an irreversible state, adding that the appointments are solely to ensure a speedy restoration of the health of the lender.

    Emefiele also announced the sacking of all non-executive directors and independent directors on the board of the bank as well as the deputy managing director and the two longest-serving executive directors. But the more recently appointed executive directors will remain to ensure continuity and smooth transition.

    “These proactive moves have become unavoidable in view of the persistent failure of Skye Bank Plc to meet minimum thresholds in critical prudential and adequacy ratios, which has culminated in the bank’s permanent presence at the CBN lending window. In particular, Skye Bank’s liquidity and non-performing loan ratios have been below and above the required thresholds, respectively, for quite a while,” Emefiele said.

    According to Emefiele, the CBN had several meetings with the management and board of the bank as part of its strategy of close engagement whenever a bank’s financial or governance situation poses potential threats to the overall stability of the financial system.

    “Despite the expectation of relevant regulators, market watchers, financial analysts and interested stakeholders that Skye Bank should be doing much better than it is right now, we have seen about the opposite in reality,” he said.

    Emefiele assured customers and other stakeholders that Skye Bank is not in distress and remains healthy. He said although the bank’s liquidity ratio had been badly hurt, it is not at a point where depositors’ funds are threatened.

    “The CBN hereby assures depositors, shareholders and all relevant stakeholders that there is no reason for concern or panic as we seek their continued cooperation at this time. It is our expectation that the shareholders and remaining executive directors will work seamlessly with the new team to ensure that the fortunes of the bank are restored in the shortest possible time,” he said.

    Emefiele explained that since Skye Bank is a domestic Systematically Important Bank (SIB) with significant interconnectedness, the CBN would be failing in its duties if it does not take immediate action to nip the steadily declining health of the bank in the bud and correct the situation.

    “In view of the long grace period allowed the bank to correct the situation, we came to the conclusion that although the existing board had done its best to steer the ship, it had come to a realisation that it would be unable to bring the bank out of its present precarious situation. Fortunately, and in the overall interest of the bank, the Chairman and some board members have decided to resign their appointments from the bank,” he said.

    Ahmad is a seasoned public sector executive with over 35 years of distinguished experience spanning the public sector and the financial services industry. He is a pioneer member of the staff of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Company (NDIC) where he became a director.

    He has been on the board of various companies and committees, including banks and not-for-profit organisations.

    Abiru, an accountant, was Lagos State Commissioner for Finance from 2011 to 2013 and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

    Ahmad in a statement expressed optimism about the bank, given its vast potentials and strategic position in the economy. He stated that the bank is well positioned to deepen the retail and commercial banking services in the economy, having put in place the critical building blocks to win in this sector.

    He stated that the immediate priorities of the board and the new management team is to quickly  begin to leverage the huge investment in the enhanced branch network, technology and alternative channels to improve stakeholder value in a sustainable manner.

    He assured the shareholders, customers and depositors of the bank of his commitment to preserve their investments and deposits, while further assuring that the support and backing of the CBN and other relevant stakeholders have been obtained in this respect.

  • CBN dissolves Skye Bank board

    CBN dissolves Skye Bank board

    … Appoints Abero as new MD

    Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday sacked top executives of Skye Bank Plc over failure to meet required capital adequacy ratio, poor liquidity ratio and high level of non-performing loans.

    The bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Oguntayo, and the chairman resigned before the CBN announcement.

    Mr. Tokunbo Abero has been appointed the new Group Managing Director/ CEO, while M.K Ahmad is the new Chairman of the bank.

    The Governor of CBN, Godwin Emefiele, assured customers that the bank is not in distress.

     

     

     

     

  • Skye Bank creates 36 promo millionaires

    Skye Bank creates 36 promo millionaires

    Skye Bank Plc’s ‘Reach for the Skye’ Millionaire promo season one has produced 36 millionaires nationwide.

    In celebration of this landmark achievement, the bank yesterday hosted a cross-section of the promo-made millionaires in Lagos. The event was part of the activities to mark the successful conclusion of the first phase of the promo. The millionaires were drawn from various parts of the country.

    Sharing his experience as a beneficiary of the promo, Job Abiona Fatunbi, a truck driver, who won N1 million in the April draw held at Ikotun, described how his life has been transformed.

    “I had no idea that 2016 would be a year of tremendous blessings for me, but thanks to Skye Bank, my dreams of financial freedom finally came true.  Winning a million naira in the promo turned my family’s circumstances around and it has changed my perception about the difficulty involved in saving,” he said.

    Abiona’s happiness was echoed by Bashiru Adeyemi, another winner from the N1 million, who emerged in the May draw at Akure. The pensioner disclosed that his business was on the verge of collapse just before he participated in the promo.”I was getting ready to close my business and look for a small job somewhere, just to keep my family fed and clothed. Despite all the challenges we were facing, my spouse insisted that our little savings in Skye Bank should remain untouched and that was how we qualified for the 1 million naira draw.  I put the money back into the business straight away and now, with advice from Skye Bank, we  thank God that we are doing well again,” he said.

    Activities moved from Protea Hotel to the popular Idumota market on Lagos Island, where a new set of three millionaires were unveiled. Four lucky winners also picked up  cheques of N250, 000 each while 10 other Skye Bank customers went home with N100, 000 each.

    Speaking on the initiative, the Head, Retail Banking at Skye Bank Plc, Nkolika Okoli disclosed that the scheme was established to increase the flow of funds to support SMEs, accelerate employment generation and development of indigenous entrepreneurship as well as encourage saving culture among Nigerians.

    Okoli also announced the commencement of the second edition of the promo in July 2016, encouraging new customers to open a Skye Save Plus account with N2, 000 to qualify for the campaign while existing customers need to fund their accounts with a minimum of N2, 000 on a monthly basis.

    Also speaking on the promo, the Executive Director, Commercial and Retail banking, Skye Bank Plc, Mr. Sanni Bayo, revealed that the initiative had remained firm despite the challenging economy, adding that the bank was committed to delivering quality innovative services to customers and the financial industry as a whole.