BY JEFF McKINNEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Allen L. Davis, one of Cincinnati's most entrepreneurial bankers, is trading in his wingtips for deck shoes.
Mr. Davis, 56, president and chief executive officer of Provident Financial Group Inc., parent of Provident Bank, said Thursday that he will retire May 1.
"I'm going fishing in Cancun," Mr. Davis said in an interview with the Enquirer. "I'm sure some people are disappointed, but I don't have a job, and I don't want one right now."
He will be succeeded by Robert L. Hoverson, 56, who joined Provident in 1985 and runs some of the $9.3 billion-asset bank's most profitable businesses, including commercial and consumer lending.
News of Mr. Davis' retirement comes at time when Provident is one of the nation's most profitable banks based on its asset size. At the same time, Provident also is in the midst of trying to make two money-losing business lines it launched in recent years profitable. Those ventures are part of an effort Mr. Davis led four years ago to transform Provident into a national financial services company from a standard commercial, regional bank.
Mr. Davis, who will remain a director and serve as a consultant, said he is content with his career at Provident, pleased with the bank's condition and leaves knowing that the bank is in good hands. A major Provident shareholder, he said he made a personal decision to no longer handle day-to-day duties at Cincinnati's third-largest bank because he feels comfortable that his efforts have paid off for the bank's shareholders and employees.
According to Provident's 1997 proxy statement, Mr. Davis controlled more than 800,000 shares, or about 2 percent, of Provident's stock. At Thursday's closing price of $55.25 a share, his stock would be worth in excess of $44 million.
Mr. Davis joined Provident 14 years ago and has worked for companies controlled by Cincinnati financier Carl Lindner for the past 18 years. The Lindner family controls directly or indirectly more than 50 percent of Provident's outstanding common shares.
Under Mr. Davis' leadership, Provident's assets rose to $9.3 billion from $1 billion. Its market value rose to $2.4 billion from $523 million in 1993. The bank has provided investors with compounded annual growth of 30 percent since 1984, if dividends were reinvested. Mr. Davis' exit caught the local business community and Wall Street by surprise. Some business executives questioned Mr. Davis' abrupt retirement, and one analyst said his departure creates new challenges for Provident.
Fred Cummings, an analyst at McDonald & Co. in Cleveland, said the bank's immediate task will be to make money with MeritValu, Provident's multimerchant frequent-shopper program, and Free Market Partners, an information-based marketing division.
"The real challenge for them now is sticking with those initiatives and getting those businesses to make money," Mr. Cummings said.
