GTBank set to announce Olusanya as First Female CEO
By Kayode Tokede
A major Management restructuring at the final stage of completion is set to produce Mrs Miriam Olusanya as the first Female Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), one of Nigeria’s most respected commercial banks.
According to multiple sources, the bank is set to announce Miriam Olusanya as its new Managing Director.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has already been notified and a formal announcement could be made anytime soon.
Sources said a clean sweep of top management staff above the age of 45 has been effected as current maverick MD/CEO Segun Agbaje prepares to retire and proceed as MD/CEO of the bank’s Holding Company.
Agbaje is expected to leave following the end of his 10-year tenure as Managing Director of the bank.
In an internal memo dated April 28, 2021, Thomas John has been appointed Managing Director of GTB West Africa while Bayo Veracruz was appointed Managing Director of GTBank East Africa.
Others are Olayinka Odusote as Divisional Head, Digital Banking, an important position considering the bank’s ambition to transform into a full-fledged digital bank. Ijeoma Esemudje is appointed Divisional Head Corporate Bank Mainland & Agric.
As part of the management restructuring already in effect, two of the oldest and revered Executive Directors of the bank have already been asked to retire after illustrious years of service to the bank. Our correspondent gathered that four General Managers out of nine have also been asked to exit the bank paving the way for younger executives mostly under the age of 45 to take charge.
A list of appointments and exits purportedly approved by the board is already being circulated across several social media groups on WhatsApp and Telegram.
Our correspondent cannot confirm the authenticity of the list and although officials at the bank did not confirm the list, they stated that a press release would soon be made to announce the appointments.
Speaking on the succession plan last year, Agbaje, said, “What we are looking for now is a managing director for Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria. The process has started and I have always told people that we have five executive directors, and so all of them are going through a process at the moment.
“We are working with a consulting firm in the United Kingdom. We are looking at what we think the future would hold and what we think the Nigerian banking industry would look like.
“At the end of the process – which would end at the beginning of the fourth quarter – we will have a managing director for GTBank Nigeria. So, we are on track. So, succession in GTBank Nigeria is well under control.”
Earlier, the shareholders of GTBank had approved the holding company structure for the bank as they expressed excitement over the benefits they would derive from the new structure.
At the court-ordered meeting held recently, the investors gave their approval to the company for the transfer of the 29,431,179,224 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each in the issued and paid-up share capital of the bank held by them to Guaranty Trust Holding Company.
The bank’s gross earnings expanded 4.58 per cent year-on-year to N455.23 billion in 2020 on the back of a relatively strong growth in non-interest income.
In the year, the bank’s non-interest income swelled up 11.06 per cent above the amount reported in financial year 2019. Interest-related income surged marginally at 1.53 per cent as a result of low interest rates’ environment in the Nigerian economy.
Lender’s net interest margin (NIM) contracted, albeit slightly, to 9.26 per cent from 9.28 per cent in 2019, supported by efficiency in deposit mix.
In a new report, analysts at Meristem Securities said the bank’s non-interest income was buoyed by FX revaluation and financial instruments trading gains, as fee-based income (net) declined significantly by 14.80 per cent.
Meanwhile, other than the spike in impairment charges, costs were largely kept in check with cost-to-income ratio at 38.24per cent – below management guidance of 40 per cent – from 36.11 per cent in 2019.
The bank’s improved current and savings account (CASA) mix and low cost of funds that dropped to 1.19 per cent from 2.30 per cent in 2019 helped mitigate the impact of higher operating expenses.
