MANAGING Director/Chief Executive Officer Coronation Merchant Bank Limited (‘Coronation MB’), Abubakar Jimoh has assured investors and the entire corporate world that despite recession and other challenges being faced in the Nigerian business environment, the lender will play significant role in bridging long-term funding gap in Nigeria.
According to him, “the first thing is that we are trying to become the most efficient and profitable merchant Bank in Africa. And to do this, we have to start from Nigeria and before the middle of the year, the impact will be felt on the economy.”
At the unveiling of its new corporate identity at the bank’s corporate headquarters in Lagos, Jimoh emphasized that the Nigerian based investment bank, with industry-leading financial stability indicators is on a journey to become Africa’s premier investment bank.
Acknowledging that the bank may not be the biggest in size in terms of operation, the bank’s boss stated that Coronation Merchant Bank will be efficient and effective, leveraging on cutting edge technology.
His words: “What we lack in terms of branches and staff number, we are going to make-up in terms of technology roll-out so that we can reach even areas where we do not have branches. We have started with strong corporate governance and our risk appetite is very conservative.”
He explained that the lion, a core feature in the design of the corporate identity, is a widely-recognized symbol of Africa; typifying courage, leadership and intelligence; attributes the emerging merchant must demonstrate to achieve its vision and become a respected brand within the African sub-region.
“There is a clear market demand for more sophisticated banking services from Nigeria’s top-tier corporates. Coronation Merchant Bank will focus on bringing world-class advisory services, accompanied by innovative products and services to the sub-region; deepen and broaden economic growth over the next decade, whilst remaining committed to our values of strong governance and transparency,” Jimoh further stated.
He revealed that the crop of professionals that has been assembled by the promoters of the financial institution have studied mistakes made by similar institutions in the past and decided to avoid them.
This he added, has given the bank an enviable record of achieving a zero Non Performing Loan in its books since July 2015 when it started full operations.
He explained further, that Coronation MB was established to fill the gap in a long-underserved market segment, seeking to address the need for long term capital across key sectors of the economy.
The provision of affordable, longer term financing is critical for sustainable economic growth and its absence is one of the key challenges African entrepreneurs and corporations.
Babatunde Folawiyo; Chairman, Coronation Merchant Bank, stated: “The transition to a new brand, with a broader and more strategic focus, is a major milestone for our organization as a full service merchant bank capable of supporting the wider economy, and with a balance sheet to support its ambitions. I would like to thank the founding Chairman, Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, for the hard work undertaken to unburden the company from its legacy issues and position it for significant growth over the coming years. We are embarking on an ambitious journey, led by a carefully constituted board and talented/credible management team who are committed to delivering exceptional value to all stakeholders”
Mr Folawiyo leads the Board of Directors incorporating some of Nigeria’s leading business figures structured to ensure broad representation from across the Nigerian economy. The new Coronation MB structure and visual identity is showcased on a new website( www.coronationmb.com), also unveiled on Tuesday.
Following the approval of Associated Discount House’s (ADH) application for a Merchant Banking licence, the company transitioned to a new entity – Coronation Merchant Bank (Coronation MB) – with a new corporate strategy, brand and objectives.
The merchant banking franchise has an “A” rating from Agusto& Co. The credit rating is a valid testament to the Bank’s strong capitalization, good liquidity profile and robust risk management framework evidenced by the zero NPL ratio, as at December 2016.
The transition to Coronation Merchant Bank as well as the incorporation of subsidiaries was led by the banks founding Chairman, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede (CON), with an aspiration of becoming Africa’s premier investment bank, a respected, well-known and trusted full service investment banking brand within the African financial services industry.
The Bank and its subsidiaries offer investment and corporate banking, private banking/wealth management, treasury services, securities trading asset management and trustee services to its diverse clients. It has two branches located in Abuja and Port Harcourt, and its Head Office is in Lagos.