Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, Mrs. Funke Osibodu, has assured shareholders of the bank that better days are ahead as a result of the changes being implemented in the Bank.

In her report to the shareholders of the Bank ahead of the 41st Annual General  Meeting (AGM) holding in Maiduguri, Borno State onThursday,  16, December  2010, obtained  by our correspondent, Osibodu said that the changes being implemented in the bank will yield the desired results such that shareholders  would begin to reap good  returns from their investments in the bank in the near future.

“We would like to assure our shareholders that better days lie ahead. We are confident that the changes being implemented  in the bank will yield  the desired results such that  they will begin to reap good returns from their investments in the bank in the near future,” she said.

According to her, in order to reposition the Bank to deliver optimal value to its stakeholders, the management accelerated the rejuvenation of the workforce during the year by  employing 789 new staff, including 11 in  the general  management cadre.

“These recruitments were designed to address the dearth of skills in the critical areas of our operation such as risk management, corporate banking and foreign operations. We have also identified 55 branches in different locations across the country  that are in the process of being developed as model branches   for the bank. This is both in terms of physical infrastructure as well as the  quality of employees that would manage those branches,” she said.

She explained that the idea is to initiate the ideal ambiance and quality of services the bank plans to offer its customers at these pilot branches, saying  this will be replicated across the bank’s branches network as its resource base  improves.

Union  Bank boss  said that  through  focus on the customer as the driver of value, staff performance management, debt recovery and write-back of loan loss  provisions, the bank is prepared to  exploit the opportunities that economy  offers.

According to her, the Nigerian economy is  expected to have relative stability in the naira/dollar exchange rate, increased public sector expenditures, leading  to a fall in interest rates, a satisfactory resolution of the banking crisis as  the Asset Management Corporation (AMCON) takes off and a modest recovery  of the
stock market.