We are expanding from 156 to 450 branch network
Francis Atuche
Bank PHB offer is on-going and the bank’s Managing Director, Francis Atuche, in this interview with FEMI IBIROGBA & TUNJI ADELEYE, speaks on why investors should buy into the offer, purposes of raising funds, promising returns on investment (ROI), among other issues. Excerpts:
Why should investors buy into Bank
PHB initial public offers this time
around?
Typically, investment decisions are made for liquidity, medium or long term purposes. For a rational investor, he would like to invest in an investment that has performed. Bank PHB is a 23-month-old post-merger banking institution. In less than 20 months, the returns on investment have been more than 500 per cent.
If someone were to put the money in a current account, he would get zero return, if he put it in a savings account, he would get three or four per cent and if he put it in a fixed deposit account, he would get eight to 10 per cent, as the case may be.
So, an investment that has delivered more than 500 per cent in less than two years, and with potentials to even do better, is a better investment. We are not selling an IPO, we are selling an IDEA. An idea that identifies how customers define success, and we in turn only think about how to give customers what they are looking for. It is only when an investor or a customer is successful that the bank is successful.
So, what keeps us awake at night is that we are working on the vision, the vision that would make the idea deliver values. And that is the idea we are now selling to the general public. We invite you to come and own part of this great IDEA, so that a piece of this idea that you own would become a material success to you 12-20 months down the line. That is why I believe that a rational investor should invest in this offer.
Ibadan is a mega city and economic activities abound, what are you doing to increase your branches from two that you operate now?
We are on the verge of opening four more branches in Ibadan alone. The properties have been paid for and reconstruction and renovation works are going on. So, by January next year, we would have opened four more branches, bringing the number to six.
Part of the reasons we are raising funds is to expand our branch network all over Nigeria from 156 to 250 by June next year. We want to increase the branches to 450 by June 2010. By that time, we would have 15 to 20 branches in Ibadan. So, we are coming. We are just on our way to take over the market here.
Apart from branch network expansion, what other things are you putting in place to sustain post-consolidation success of the bank?
We want to enhance our retail infrastructure. We want to make sure that we are able to upgrade our technology such that we can meet the customers needs which we have promised.
We also want to establish a training school that will have Bank PHB Business School, where our staff would be instructed on how to enhance these customer experience and needs. And in returns, researches will be conducted on things that affect customers, how to improve on our services and engage in corporate social responsibilities in identified areas.
For us, it is a cooperation between us and our customers. We realise the customers are kings.
We have to ensure we give them what they want and even exceed their expectations.
We are also increasing our ATMS from 47 to 1000. We are upgrading our internet banking platform to make sure that more than 50,000 people can access our internet and post transactions. We are also investing in some of our subsidiaries to empower them for better performance and profitability.
What should be the expectation of investors a year after this sale of your IDEA in terms of returns on investment?
In July 2004, when the CBN Governor announced the increase in capital base from 2 billion to 25 billion, one of the comments at that time was that returns on investments would not be good because they thought the money would be under- utilised.
After, the consolidation and merger, most Nigerian banks have delivered values far above what they were before capitalisation.Now,when you raise additional money to increase shareholders’ money to N100bn and beyond, you will also initially reduce the return on equity, but in less than 18 months, you will be even better in terms of value and returns on equities.
So, the ultimate thing to do after getting the money is to ensure that there is operation efficiency embedded inside the bank.
As a matter of fact, we are architects of values. We think shareholders. We know that if we deliver for them, they will support us. We are therefore working hard to add values to our shareholders’ investments.
What legacy do you desire to bequeath the bank?
The greatest legacy I can leave behind is that my successor should do better than me. To underscore that, all the executure directors and other directors are even smarter than me. They are better educated. The environment is that of meritocracy. You perform well, you get elevated.
If you perform, you don’t have to beg for promotion or beg for courses abroad.
The legacy I therefore desire to leave behind is the banks, post. My era, that would even do far better than what I have done so that I would say that they rubbish Francis Atuche’s performance.
Bank PHB is not a one-man show. It is a team work. So, weather I am there or not, I know the bank would do better.
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