By Stanley Opara

Tuesday, 26 Oct 2010

Unity Bank Plc has said it will expand its operations all over Nigeria.

The bank said it would open 19 more branches before December as an addition to its existing 229 branches nationwide.

Speaking during a courtesy visit to PUNCH Nigeria Limited, Ogun state on Thursday, a corporate affairs officer of the bank, Mrs. Anita Wilcox, said Unity Bank was already negotiating with some local core investors, and for now, did not have foreign suitors.

On the bank‘s offer for increased capital base, she said the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission had approved the exercise.

Also commenting on the bank‘s expansionary move, another corporate affairs officer, Mrs. Halima Ya‘u Ishaq, said the bank would be employing more workers.

She said the bank would also lose some top executives who had completed their tenure and would subsequently replace them.

The bank, according to its Acting Group Managing Director, Alhaji Ado Wanka, had grown its capital base to N42.98bn as at September 30, 2010.

He made this known while responding to media enquiries on how the bank beat the September 30, 2010 deadline set by the CBN for the bank to shore up its capital.

Wanka had earlier said, ”We achieved Capital Adequacy Ratio of 10.45 per cent and shareholders funds of N42.98bn. These figures have been confirmed by the CBN and as you know the CBN has released a statement stating that the bank has met the statutory requirement as a national bank.”

He had also said Unity Bank would be receiving a CBN verification team, as statutorily required, that will ensure that the bank gets positive certification at the end of the exercise.

Explaining further how the bank was able to meet and surpass the N25bn statutory requirement as a national bank, Wanka said, ”As you know, we successfully raised N17.34bn through our rights issue.

The CBNhad extended the deadline for the recapitalisation of Unity Bank by three months, ending September 30, 2010. A major reason for the extension was the unanticipated three months extension in the timeline for setting up the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, which is expected to purchase non-performing loans in banks and serve as a recapitalisation vehicle for the banking industry.

Source: Punch