By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
FirstRand has announced that First National Bank (FNB) CEO Harry Kellan will take early retirement at the end of 2026, after two years at the helm.
Kelan will be succeeded by Lytania Johnson, currently CEO of the personal segment, who will take over as CEO of both the new retail and business banking (RBB) segment and FNB.
She has been with the bank for 25 years and has led the personal segment for the past three years.
Kellan, who has been with the group for 22 years, including a decade as group chief financial officer, assumed the role of FNB CEO in April 2024.
“In the two years I have been CEO of FNB my focus has been on simplification, product, platform and structure,” Kellan said.
“The reconfiguration of the retail and commercial segment model is the next step required for the business to be even more agile and responsive to customer needs,” he added.
His early retirement follows changes to FNB’s operating model, which the group says are aimed at simplifying its segment structure as the business has grown in scale.
As part of the overhaul, the existing retail and commercial segment will be replaced by a retail and business banking (RBB) segment. This will serve entry-level to middle-income individuals as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.
A separate segment will house private banking and wealth management, led by Sizwe Nxedlana, who has held the role since 2023.
FirstRand is also appointing a new group Chief Operating Officer, Gert Kruger, who will focus on increasing collaboration, operational effectiveness, and disciplined coordination across the group.
Kruger has been the group chief risk officer (CRO) since 2017, and got the role due to his deep understanding of the group’s operational structures.
Emma Mer, previously the CRO of the retail and commercial segment and FNB, will take over from Kruger as group CRO.
FirstRand CEO Mary Vilakazi said that the group is confident the new structure will reduce complexity, improve CEO accountability, and ensure ongoing execution of growth strategies.
“FNB is in a good place as demonstrated by its recent results, with the South African business delivering 10% growth in pretax profits with the overall FNB franchise increasing its ROE to 41%,” said Vilakazi.