As part of its rationalisation strategy, Intercontinental Bank Plc is set to do reappriasal of its branches which will entail retaining or letting go of some of them.

The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mahmond Lail Alabi, noted that the reappraisal of its branch retention and expansion strategy and its staffing requirements is central to its cost rationalisation strategy.

Consequently, he maintained that it has embarked on a thorough appraisal of the performance of sale its bouquet of products and this is because the nuclear of the bank’s imposing presence in the market place remains its very customer friendly, product range, mainly in electronic and other retail banking products.

Alabi explained that the board also approved the implementation of a comprehensive strategic repositioning exercise tagged “Project Transformation” saying it is in response to the unfolding industry challenges and has is its objectives the need to reestablish the bank as the leading financial services institutions in Nigeria.

Furthermore, he argued that the projects will be implemented in phase, with a view to harnessing the existing strength of the bank through measures targeted at instituting a culture of good corporate governance, and other core values such as transparency and integrity.

Given that a well driven and motivated staff will remain central to the entire process, a lot of focus being divested at building and improving staff morale.

“Under the first phase, the current debt recovery drive, which has resulted in the recovery of over N78 billion during the last three months, will be aggressively pursued, while a lot of premium will be place on balance sheet efficiently” he said.

The business transformation process also includes initiatives to strategically manage cost, increase branch profitability and improve the mix and cost of deposits by aggressively growing savings and current accounts, while maintaining its current strengths in public sectors.

The second phase, the rebuilding phase, is generally aimed at business development and growth.

The Tide learnt more that the focus is on retooling the bank’s products, especially liability generation and e-banking products in such a way as to enhance customer satisfaction.

“These products will now be delivered with renewed enthusiasm focusing on market satisfaction. During this phase, the bank will retain its share of markets in the products. The third phase, the consolidation phase, will derive from the significant outcomes of the first two.

During this phase, the bank intends to significantly increase value to its shareholders”, he concluded.