In a different time and place, he
very likely would have been a first draft pick for a good basketball
team. But King’s College, Lagos, has never been known to produce
basketball players – at least, not from any serious engagement with the
sport, while you are at the college.
If you did, you are likely to have done so on your own, out of personal
interest. And given that Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti, the Group Chief
Executive Officer of Skye Bank Plc has a King’s College antecedent, he
is very likely to tell you when you meet him, “I played cricket and I
was very good at it.” To that claim you are likely to find many of his
fellow King’s men scream: “Up School!” It’s the nature of the banter
world, school days backslapping and encouragement from those who know
and appreciate you for making them proud.
So, if Durosinmi-Etti did not play
basketball but played cricket, what else did he go on to do that his old
school is also well known for? Well, they used to say at a time King’s
men occupied top and sensitive positions in the Civil Service that they
became synonymous with the word colossus! Alison Ayida, Philip Asiodu,
both of whom were super permanent secretaries in their time. But there
was something else – the banking profession.
They say, however, that King’s men are
actually everywhere – in the professions. But in banking they will point
to the number one banker, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, and just tell you
everything follows from there. Very much like when scientists say QED,
the point at which no further question is to be expected, however
inquisitive a mind you might have. It turned out that, instead of going
to play basketball, after getting himself thoroughly grounded in the act
of taking wickets and scoring innings and hitting the sixes,
Durosinmi-Etti chose to become a banker; and a successful banker at
that, given the road he has travelled in the profession.
A number of readers might be wondering
at the allusion to basketball. So let’s get right into it. Nigeria’s
banking CEO community is full of a mix grill of people. But if you could
bring them together in a line up, one man is going to tower above all
the others. That man will be Durosinmi-Etti. He is the tallest CEO in
the banking industry. It is not something you would not notice should
there be a parade. But as any observant financial journalist would
notice when bank CEOs file past to attend the Bankers’ Committee
meeting, Durosinmi-Etti always stands out for his height. If a CEO has
the kind of height that the Skye Bank CEO has, what are shareholders
likely to say to him by way of encouragement – the ultimate destination
being to enhance shareholders’ value?
Would they be saying to him: “The sky is
your limit, please do us proud.”? The height might just be a confidence
booster, the type a CEO needs to produce the result that shareholders
always like to see. Yesterday, Durosinmi-Etti brought shareholders
together to deliver the result of his first full-year performance as
CEO. He was appointed to the office on August 1, 2010, replacing
Akinsola Akinfemiwa, who retired after doing the regulatory cumulative
10 years allowed an individual to stay as chief executive in the banking
industry in Nigeria.
There are two things shareholders want.
They want to see results and they want to hear reassurance messages from
a CEO. Durosinmi-Etti is reassuring in his message. “For us, our
projection and future plan is all about shareholders’ value. Even though
the last year has been tough as we know, we have been able to still
achieve some positive shareholders’ value, we have paid some dividends,”
he said going into yesterday’s meeting. He is promising to ensure
adequate returns to shareholders in the years ahead, a message
shareholders like to hear.
But it is only the market place that can
help a CEO achieve growth plans and projections. So, what’s the plan
for the market place? “Going forward, the bank will focus on building
its brand value, increase its support for the real sector and continue
to invest in its people and processes.” Good talk. Prepare for the
market place, hold on to your market share and grow it so that you can
grow shareholder value.
Profit is king to many CEOs. But you
will always find those who will create a balance between the drive for
profit and respect for customers. This might come by way of his plan to
continue to leverage Skye Bank’s strength in electronic banking,
ultimately helping it to grow its profitability and enable it sustain
increased return on investment to shareholders.
What were the numbers for
Durosinmi-Etti’s first full financial year in charge? Growth in gross
earnings by 24.8 percent to N104.8 billion from N83.9 billion recorded
in 2010. Asset base grow by 31.3 percent to N927.1 billion from N705.9
billion. “It shows an appreciable expansion in our business activities
in spite of the challenging operating environment,” he explained.
“We maintained our focus on certain
business segments in which we have had good track records, in addition
to new segments where we exploited business opportunities,” he further
explained.
The growth areas for the bank for the
year were diverse. Durosinmi-Etti said of these growth areas: “The major
growth areas included oil and gas, commercial banking, retail banking,
treasury, corporate and investment banking. This growth trajectory
reflected in a 29.6 per cent increase in deposit volumes in the year,
from N507.6 billion to N658.1 billion, and a 22.3 per cent growth in
gross loans and advances from N424.8 billion to N519.7 billion.”
Durosinmi- Etti holds a first degree in
Economics from the University of Ibadan and is a fellow of the Chartered
Association of Certified Accountants (ACCA), United Kingdom. He started
his banking career with Nigerian – American Merchant Bank Limited
(Affiliate of Bank of Boston) where he was Head of Accounts/Computer and
later, Internal Control. He left for Midas Merchant Bank where he
served as Head of Treasury and as Assistant General Manager in charge of
Money Market Division, before becoming Executive Director and later
Chief Executive Officer, in 1994. He joined Lagos Building Investment
Co. Limited in 2001 as Managing Director, from where he joined the
services of EIB International Bank Plc in April 2002, and was appointed
its MD/CEO in July, 2002, a position he held until the bank merged with
four others to form Skye Bank in 2006.
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