By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Union Bank of Nigeria Plc (UBN) Monday said it will sell off its non-banking subsidiaries by the end of 2014.
Emeka Emuwa, group managing director (GMD) of the bank disclosed this at a media parley with business editors at the bank’s stallion plaza in Lagos Nigeria.
Emuwa said the bank will be divesting from all its non-banking business; except Union Bank United Kingdom (UK).
‘’As a clarification on subsidiaries, I had mentioned that we are divesting from all our subsidiaries with the exception of Union Bank UK, all our non-bank subsidiaries, we are divesting from.
We are well on track with regards that process, we are at various stages of completion; unfortunately I cannot share the details with you right; but as we complete them, we will share that and they would be public knowledge; but we have communicated to the public at large that we are divesting from all our non-banking subsidiaries with the exception of Union Bank UK,’’ he said.
Nigeria’s Union Bank was one of the nine (9) banks that were bailed out by the central bank of Nigeria (CBN) during year 2009 debt crisis with the sum of N620 billion.
Following this, in year 2010, the CBN proposed a new banking model that requires banks not to undertake businesses or own subsidiaries outside their core function of financial intermediation.
However, the new model allows banks that still want to engage in capital market activities, insurance, registry, trustees and asset management to form a holding company (HOLDCO).
Emuwa said Union Bank’s current strategic ambition is to become a highly respected provider of quality banking services, ‘’we have identified a number of focus areas, six (6) of them and there will be focus and commitment within this broad ambition,’’ he said.
He said by this time last year, the bank was focused on stabilising its operations; dealing with both operational and service charges.
The focus area he said include, the quality of its customer’s experience, quality of the bank’s client base, quality of its talent, quality of its banking platform, the quality of Union Bank’s professional standards and quality of the banks’ earnings.
According to him, during the cause of the year, the bank spent time to develop a roadmap towards fully establishing the bank as a significant player within the banking industry.
Emuwa further affirmed that Union Bank would focus on core commercial banking and fully complying with Nigeria’s central bank regulation three (3) on the scope of banking activities and ancillary matters. ‘’ As we go forward, you will see us focused on commercial banking and our earnings will come from commercial banking; like I mentioned earlier, we are already in the process of divesting from our subsidiaries except Union Bank UK,’’ he said.
The Union Bank GMD said as part of the bank’s strategy, it has determined areas in the banking industry which it will focus on; ‘’we will operate in the retail, corporate and commercial banking space,’’ Emuwa said.
At the close of trading on the Nigerian bourse, Union Bank shares gained 0.10 percent as it opened N10.19 kobo and closed at N10.20 kobo.
