By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Mid-level lender, Sterling Bank Plc, which triggered a bank war some days ago, has recorded a 63.44 percent rise in its profit in the first half of 2018.
In its financial statements released today, the company grew its profit after tax to N6.2 billion from N3.8 billion recorded in the same period of last year, while the profit before tax went up by 46.82 percent from N4.3 billion to N6.4 billion.
Various strategies put in place by management of the One-Customer bank ensured that the turnover recorded during the period under review increased by 36 percent to N77.6 billion from N57.1 billion 12 months ago.
Also, there was a 25 percent year-on-year increase in the interest income, N62.6 billion in H1 2018 versus N50 billion in H1 2017; while the interest expense went up by 61 percent to N37 billion from N23 billion.
However, the net interest income went down by 5 percent to N25.6 billion from N27 billion, while the operating income moved to N40.6 billion from N34.1 billion, representing 19 percent growth.
Under the fees and commission income, Sterling Bank posted N6.9 billion in the first half of this year against N5.9 billion in the same period of 2017, while the net trading income significantly rose by 322 percent to N5 billion compared with the N2.3 billion loss exactly 12 months ago.
For the impairment charges, the financial institution recorded N1.8 billion in contrast to N4.1 billion in the first half of last year, while the personnel expenses rose by 11.5 percent to N6.4 billion from N5.8 billion, with the other operating expenses slightly increasing by 3 percent to N7.5 billion from N7.3 billion.
The general and administrative expenses increased during the period by 64 percent to N11.9 billion from N7.3 billion, while the depreciation and amortisation closing at N2.8 billion against N2.3 billion in H1 2017, with the total expenses in the period under review at N32.4 billion versus N25.7 billion in the same period of last year.
An analysis of the company’s balance sheet by Business Post indicated that there was a slight drop, 3 percent, in the value, N1.04 trillion compared with N1.07 trillion as at June 30, 2017, while the total liabilities reduced to N934.8 billion from N969.3 billion, with the shareholders’ fund increasing to N104.3 billion from N102.9 billion.
A look at the earnings per share (EPS) showed there was a rise by 63.44 percent to 22 kobo from 13 kobo, while the return on assets grew by 0.24 percent to 0.60 percent from 0.35 percent, with the return on equity appreciating by 2.27 percent to 5.96 percent from 3.69 percent.
