Skye Bank Shows Resilience Post-Mainstreet Acquisition

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The nine months financial performance of Skye Bank Plc shows that its acquisition of former Mainstreet Bank Limited has started yielding results, writes Goddy Egene

When Skye Bank Plc acquired former Mainstreet Bank Limited, the bank said its intention was to leverage its wealth of experience from the successful integration of five banks to drive efficiency, increase market share and, ultimately, ramp up stakeholder value. Skye Bank added that the acquisition would avail it of many benefits, including cost leadership, business optimisation, and greater ability to offer business convenience to its teeming retail and commercial customers, with a combined branch network of over 450, across all the states.

Few months after integrating Mainstreet Bank, the nine months results of Skye Bank Plc ended September 30, 2015, indicate that an impressive post acquisition performance.

Nine Months Results

Skye Bank Plc recorded gross earnings of N129.24 billion for the third quarter ended September 30, 2015, representing an increase of 33.06 per cent over the N97.13 billion recorded during the corresponding period in 2014.

The results relatively strong fundamentals in most the key performance indicators and strong growth in fees and interest income, as well as investment and other incomes. The bank’s fees and commission income grew to N25.46 billion as against N15.57 billion recorded during the same period in 2014. The result reflects a growth of 63.52 per cent. Similarly, investment and other income rose to N4.28 billion from N2.05 billion, representing 108.77 per cent growth.

The result further showed that the bank’s profit before tax increased to N14.98 billion during the year under review from N12.33 billion during the same period in 2014, a growth of 21.45 per cent. Also, profit before tax increased by the same margin of 21.45 per cent to N11.98 billion as against N9.87 billion in 2014. Loans and advances improved by 6.6 per cent from N651 billion to N694 billion.

Commenting on the results, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo, described the performance as positive and promised that the upward growth pattern would be sustained through the remainder of the year.

Oguntayo said having successfully executed one of the biggest acquisitions in the nation’s banking industry the bank was poised to deliver superior value and returns to its various stakeholders.

He explained that having concluded the integration of former Mainstreet Bank into Skye Bank, the bank has also successfully re-engineered its operations, people, and processes for seamless customer experience at all its service points and channels.

“Skye Bank is currently the fourth largest bank in Nigeria in terms of branch network. It has embarked on several game-changing initiatives that will bring about a new world of possibilities for its customers, being the first company in Nigeria to launch a ‘Customer Service Charter’; and also launched a women-focused ‘Skye Pearl Initiative,” he said.

Pearl initiative for women, professionals

As the banking industry remains competitive, the bank has embarked upon some initiatives to be ahead of the competition include the launch of the 'Skye Pearl' initiative, a programme designed for female entrepreneurs and professionals. It is a business solution to support its female customers in their various businesses.

The initiative, which was unveiled recently, is a platform that offers series of benefits to sit-at-home mothers, professionals and women-owned small and medium enterprise (SMEs), by offering them a chance to grow and expand their wealth through partnership, relationship, access to finance, information, networking, mentoring and empowerment initiative.

Oguntayo described the Pearl product as a well-thought-out offering conceived by women and birthed by women basically to cater for the needs of Nigerian women. He said it was the bank’s way of ensuring that its customers, especially the women customers enjoy fullness of our business.

“The initiative is for our women, our Pearls, who own SMEs as well as individual customers. They may be professionals or stay-at-home mothers, or better still, women entrepreneurs who are seeking to unleash their potential but have not been empowered. Our research has shown that most of these ‘Pearls’ are simply waiting to access capital to show what they can do. They need dedicated financial and non-financial services support to bring out the latent power in them and Skye Bank is positioned to provide the platform for this”, Oguntayo said.

The Skye Bank boss said for financial sustainability and participatory development involving women to take place, conscious efforts must be made to enhance women’s access to finance, adding that this realisation prompted the bank to bring women on board as national development partners through nurturing their entrepreneurial spirit.

The President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Mrs. Adebola Osibogun who was the guest speaker at the launch of the initiative commended the bank for conceptualising the Pearl initiative which recognizes the needs and aspirations of women entrepreneurs.

“Women are powerful, they are nation builders and for any nation or business to thrive, there must be a space large enough to contain women and for me, that it what “Skye Pearl initiative is bringing to the fore”, she said.
Also commenting on the initiative, Executive Director, South South/South East and Retail Banking, Skye Bank Plc, Mrs. Ibiye Ekong, said: “The six pillars of the Pearl initiative are: capacity building; information; networking; empowerment; mentoring; access and finance. This is aimed to project Pearl Woman as someone who is "precious, informed, connected, evolving and a role model.”

She disclosed that an online platform, skyepearl.com, had been created which members of the public can log on to and explore endless possibilities. Part of the activities that would be enjoyed on the “Skye Pearl” program include an online platform, where members can participate in focused group sessions, and also discuss issues that concern women. There would also be online trainings on financial education, and access to mentors and role models.

Skye attains ISO certification

Also in demonstration of its continued commitment to offer its customers and stakeholders enhanced satisfaction in a more stable and secure environment, Skye Bank recently attained three International Standard Organisation (ISO) certifications by the British Standard Institution. The three integrated management systems certifications are the Information Security Management System ISO/IEC 27001:2013, IT Service Management System ISO/IEC 20000-1:2011 and Business Continuity Management System, ISO 22301:2012.

ISO/IEC 27001:2013 is the most rigorous global security standard for information security. Ultimately ISO 27001 provides a high level of confidence and trust in organizations that are certified to it. It confirms that an organization has put in place best practices for information security processes and has ensured data integrity, confidentiality and most of all customer asset safety. By obtaining certification to ISO 27001, Skye Bank gains a competitive advantage.

ISO 20000-1 puts in place controls to measure and maintain consistent levels of IT services, through the integration of people, processes and technology to support business and customer objectives. It acknowledges a high level of efficiency in IT service provision and an ability to continuously improve the delivery of IT services.

ISO 22301 allows organisations to identify potential threats and unexpected disruptions. With ISO 22301, organizations will not only significantly reduce the risks to their businesses, but will also help achieve operational resilience.

Speaking about the integrated management system certifications, the bank's chairman, Mr. Tunde Ayeni said the certifications represented a major thrust of the bank's philosophy of service excellence and its customer-centric approach. He restated the commitment of the bank to continually improve its services using modern technology for the benefit of its customers, adding that service innovation would be a major component of the bank’s value delivery to its customers.

Oguntayo, described the certifications as a milestone towards achieving the vision of the bank of becoming a leading and first class commercial bank.

He thanked the bank's customers and dedicated the awards to them for their loyalty, patronage and dedication, promising that the bank's service charter would be implemented to the letter for a pleasant customer experience. He said Skye Bank’s commitment to these internationally accepted standards stems from a resolve to deepen customer experience through greater information security, an efficient IT management system and a robust business continuity plan that emphasises the protection of the customers and their investments in an increasingly unpredictable business environment.

Source: This Day