ANNUAL STAKEHOLDERS’ COCKTAILS
BULLION LODGE, HILL STATION
FRIDAY, 7TH JANUARY 2011

STATEMENT OF THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Our Distinguished Guests

On behalf of the bank’s Board of Directors, Management and Staff and, indeed, on my personal behalf, I welcome you all to this occasion this evening.  May I also extend Seasons Greetings to you all even at this tail end of the Christmas and New Year festivities. 

As a feature in our corporate calendar, our Annual Cocktails provide a time - just a couple of hours but very significant - to thank our valued and loyal customers, to assure our stakeholders that our company is performing very, very well.  And third, but by no means least, to congratulate ourselves for another year of stellar performance.

As we reflect on 2010, we cannot underestimate the daunting challenges both within the industry and without.  These are known to all of us, as well as their impact on our respective balance sheets and bottom lines particularly in the banking industry.  However, these challenges notwithstanding, we worked side-by-side successfully to serve our clients, shareholders, our communities and met our corporate obligations and responsibilities with integrity and diligence. 

Tonight, we shall not give you the results of our operations; however, we shall leave you with a hint: that subject to certification by our auditors, our net profit for 2010 almost doubles that for 2009.  No doubt, that will be most welcome to both our shareholders and the Minister of Finance and his NRA.

Consistent with our motto, we seized every opportunity to serve our clients with characteristic goodwill and sincerity - starting up and growing their businesses, help in the planning of their incomes, financing their consumer needs, and sending their children to school – all of these routine but otherwise quite burdensome tasks of modern living.  To us, every transaction counts – whether it is providing a guarantee, paying for imports, financing produce farming, mega- or micro-finance – UTB simply empowers Sierra Leonean commerce countrywide, because that is what we do best as a patriotic corporate citizen. 

Understandably, we are proud of our Business Model, justifiably so because it is not only sound, it is effective, relevant and clearly proactive.  And it is on this continuing relevance and effectiveness of our corporate vision and mission that we want to assure all Sierra Leoneans that we shall remain focussed, occasional distractions notwithstanding, focussed in achieving results, year-in and year-out, to make us proud as a major indigenous enterprise. 

As is now clearly manifest, it is that business model that accounts for the fact that UTB is the only banking and financial institution in the country that has another sound national financial institution as a subsidiary and is a major promoter of yet another.  More fundamentally, as a beacon of private sector entrepreneurship, UTB will not only be fully compliant with statutory and regulatory provisions, but will strive to promote good corporate governance, high ethical standards and received international best practices across our operating landscape.  On that commitment, we stand on the firm belief that with your continued support, commitment and loyalty, UTB’s best days are still ahead.

On behalf of the Shareholders, Directors, Management and Staff of the bank, I want to thank you all for sharing this moment with us.  We wish each of you good health, happiness and prosperity in your business endeavours in the year ahead.