o2 November 2015, Lagos – Sterling Bank Plc has posted N82 billion in revenue for the third quarter ended September 30, 2015, representing 12 per cent growth over N73.1 billion achieved in the previous quarter.
Key extracts from the earnings report showed that non-interest income grew by 13.3 per cent from N18.1 billion in 2014 to N20.5 billion in the review period. Profit after tax rose by N400 million to N7.5 billion in the third quarter 2015 as against N7.1 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2014.
Commenting on the results, the Managing Director, Mr. Yemi Adeola, said: “The third quarter performance was in line with expectations as the bank continues to prioritize efficiency in the management of its balance sheet in response to a challenging operating environment.”
He explained that in spite of the pressure on earnings, the bank was able to achieve a 12 per cent growth in top-line revenue to N82 billion, driven by a 13 per cent increase in non-interest income and a 210 basis points improvement in cost-to-income ratio.
He attributed the increase in funding costs by 130 basis points to tighter monetary policy measures while the increase in non-performing loan ratio to 4.9 per cent was driven primarily by a reduction in the size of the overall loan book as a result of the re-purchase of state government loans by the federal government.
According to him, the bank would deploy the capital freed up from the liquidation of the re-purchased loans to generate further earnings and bolster the returns to shareholders. “Our capital adequacy ratio reached an all-time high of 19.3 per cent driven by asset substitution arising from the liquidation of the previously highlighted sub-sovereign loans.
- Vanguard
