30th March, 2017
Sterling Bank Plc on Thursday declared gross earnings of N111.4 billion for the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2016.
This is contained in the audited result statement issued by the bank in Lagos.
The gross earnings closed higher at N111.4 billion in contrast with N111 billion declared in the corresponding period of 2015.
The bank during the review period posted a profit before tax of N6.0 billion compared with N11 billion achieved in the comparative period of 2015.
Profit after tax stood at N5 billion in contrast with N10 billion posted in the previous year.
The financial highlights showed that net interest income increased by 41.6 per cent to N56 billion against N39.5 billion posted in the corresponding period of 2015.
The bank stated that the growth was on account of a 22.5 per cent increase in interest income and a 4.2 percent increase in interest expense.
The bank’s net loans and advances increased by 38.2 per cent to N468.2 billion in contrast with N338.7 billion in 2015 driven primarily by foreign exchange revaluation.
Its customer deposits decreased marginally by 1.0 percent to N584.7 billion compared with N500. 9 billion recorded in 2015.
Also, total assets (excluding contingent liabilities) increased by 4.3 percent to N834.2 billion against N799.5 billion in the previous year.
Commenting on the financial performance, Mr Yemi Adeola, the bank’s Managing Director, said that 2016 was a difficult year for the Nigerian economy as it was characterised by high inflation, weak oil prices, lower crude oil output and foreign exchange supply shortages.
Adeola said that these multiple challenges and the various regulatory responses put significant downward pressure on the earnings of banks.
He said that the bank during the year, deployed the “best in class” core banking application – Temenos T24; grew its active customer base and launched the disruptive, award winning payments solution, ChatPay, as the Bankoptimized its traditional electronic channel offerings.
He added that these initiatives would enable the bank to optimise its operating efficiency and position it to exploit emerging business opportunities.
Commenting on the outlook for the bank under its 2017- 21 Strategic Plan, he said that the bank expected that the government’s fiscal intervention schemes alongside supportive economic policies would create pathways for economic recovery.
“Over the next 5 years, we will be steering our ship differently and aggressively growing the retail business through electronic channels,” Adeola said.
He said that the bank would prioritise efficiency over scale with the goal of achieving steady growth and sustainable returns to all our stakeholders and optimise its cost profile while providing its customers with ‘best in class’ service.
Adeola also said the bank would bolster innovative banking driven by market insights that would enable it to satisfactorily serve its customers and earn their trust.
He added that the company would implement significant investment in technology-led growth initiatives as well as accelerate remarkable growth of its non-interest banking segment.