The proposed sale of Enterprise Bank by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) before the end of October 2014 does not distract the bank, the MD/CEO, Mallam Ahmed Lawan Kuru, has said.
Fielding questions from business editors in Lagos last Tuesday, Kuru said the management of the bank has achieved much considering the mandate they were given when they were appointed. He said the bank is now strong and ready for sale.
“I can confirm to you that we’re not part of the sales process. Professionals have been appointed and they have the resources. What we are doing is to run the bank and allow the consultants to do their work. We have sensitized our staff and everyone is ready.”
Kuru recalled: “When we came on board, we met an institution that had people that were clearly demotivated, people that were poorly paid, people that were not sure of the future. So right from the beginning, our task was how to motivate the staff, how to train them and how to position them to be able to compete with others. By and large, we have achieved that, we have built their confidence level so they are now able to compete effectively with any other bank in the industry.”
Stressing that the management has done quite a lot, Kuru said the bank is now back to profitability unlike when they took over the bank. “When we came on board, the issue of profitability was not there. But we’ve been able to turn things around,” he said.
The MD said since they took over the bank, his management has been growing the book by 20 per cent yearly. He added that the bank now has strong financials and the quality of risk assets, active accounts and customer character have all improved considerably.
“We are ready. We have nothing to hide. From the beginning we have been under closer supervision more than other banks because we are owned by AMCON.”
He said that about 18-24 investors have shown interest.
“Many of them have been calling us -both local and international. They have seen the strong financials, the strong potentials. That is why AMCON decided to showcase us first, he said.”
