Thread by @UBAGroup

A VISION IS BIRTHED

In 1997, an isolated bank, Crystal Bank Ltd was acquired by a young banker,@TonyOElumelu & renamed Standard Trust Bank (STB) Ltd
So began the journey to the actualization of a vision by the then 34-year old & the youngest CEO of a bank. #StoriesOfUBA #UBAAt70

Young Elumelu set out on a mission to make a distressed bank;
-A viable financial institution,
-One of the top 10 banks in Nig.
-One of the top 3
He introduced a novel concept & barely 7 months after, the STB team turned around the bank’s position of N6.49million to N473million

Driven by an uncanny foresight, a guerrilla strategy was devised & STB targeted non-commercial locations in state capitals. The brand was gradually domesticated across all the other states when other banks skewed towards commercial locations. #AfricasGlobalBank

When Nig. returned to democratic rule, each state & local govt needed to execute their project. STB was already strategically positioned to provide financial assistance. It was able to scale up its branch expansion drive whilst building its retail banking business & customer base

By the year end of 1999, STB had become the first Nigerian bank to declare annual profits above the billion-naira mark. In 2003, the bank got listed on the NSE. The IPO was oversubscribed by 156%, the largest subscription level in the history of Nigeria at the time.

In 2004, CBN announced a new minimum capital base of N25billion, heralding a consolidation exercise. STB was already the 5th largest bank & was aiming to hit a N40billion mark. This presented an opportunity for growth & STB explored M&A options with the then top 3 banks. #UBAAt70