BusinessDay... the voice of business: Skye Bank posts N7.52bn profit, opens shop in Sao Tome

Skye Bank posts N7.52bn profit, opens shop in Sao Tome
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Admin on 03 February, 2008 01:00:00
 
The managing director of the bank, Akinsola Akinfemiwa, disclosed this  to
journalists in Enugu last Wednesday shortly before the commencement of the
bank’s annual general meeting held in the city.
This brings to three, the number of off-shore branches the bank would be
opening.
Others include its branch in Sierra Leone and that of The Gambia which is
almost completed.
According to Akinfemiwa, “as opportunities open in more frontiers, the bank
would continue to expand its branches accordingly.”
Although the Akinfemiwa would not speak further on the Sao Tome subsidiary,
BusinessDay however gathered that the reason for going to that country is
informed by the huge oil business there.
Nigeria is currently involved in joint oil operations in that country and this
has led to considerable investments by prominent Nigerians in that country as
well.
A top management staff of the bank further told BusinessDay that another reason
for going to open shop in Sao Tome is as a result of its proximity to Equatorial
Guinea and Angola.
According to him, Equatorial Guinea currently has one of the highest per capita
incomes in the world and Angola is a rich oil producing country.
“So if Skye Bank is firmly established in Sao Tome, not only would it take
advantage of its proximity to these countries to reap good returns but could be
a good launch pad for the bank to open shops in Equatorial Guinea and Angola in
the future,” he said.
While reviewing the bank’s performance for the 2007 financial year, the
chairman, Musiliu Smith noted that the “first year of the bank’s “5 in
5” campaign ended on a very spectacular note, with the bank already attaining
the eighth position in the industry.”
The bank recorded gross earnings of N39.4 billion and a balance sheet size of
N516 billion during the year.
This represents 87 per cent and 145 per cent increase from last year end
positions respectively.