Sterling Bank records N5.6 billion in H1

Sterling Bank Plc has reported gross earnings of N74.499 billion for H1 ended recently, down from N77.608 billion in the corresponding period of 2018. Net interest income growth grew by 19.1 per cent to N30.4 billion as against N25.5 billion for the corresponding period of 2018.

In contrast, the profit after tax dropped from N6.214 billion to N5.662 billion.

In an Overall look, the bank recorded a 5.5 percent improvement in operating income and a profit after tax of N5.66 billion. But customer deposit arose to N818.6 billion during the period under review compared to N760.6 billion 2018, showing growth of 7.6 percent, while total assets grew by 4.8 per cent to N1.156 trillion against N1.102 trillion in 2018.

The Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman, gave his comment on the financial achievement he said: “Underlying our half year performance was a concerted effort in improving the quality of our funding base, increasingly through digital products and initiatives  Though top line earnings were impacted by a selective approach to lending, the bank remained focused on building a sustainable business model and continued to see considerable improvement across business lines, particularly our retail and consumer and digital and transactional banking businesses.”

Specifically, he said that, the bank managed to achieve a 14 percent decline in interest expense in line with the bank’s strategic objectives, resulting in a 170 basis points drop in cost of funds and, consequently, a 131 basis points increase in net interest margin.

The bank achieved 14.5 per cent growth in low cost funds, delivering a 7.6 per cent growth in customer deposits while net operating income grew by 4.3 per cent. He noted.