By Adedapo Adesanya
Sterling Bank Plc recorded a decline in its net profit as established by its half year financial statements for the period ended June 30, 2019, Business Post is reporting.
From the brief analysis, the lender declared a profit before tax of N6.0 billion in H1 2019, lower than the N6.4 billion announced in the same period of last year, representing a decline of 6.25 percent.
Likewise, the profit after tax announced by the board in the results stood at N5.7 billion in the first six months of this year compared with the N6.2 billion made in the first six months of 2018, amounting to a 6.07 percent loss.
Similarly, the company’s gross earnings also reflected a drop when compared with the results of HY 2018. A total of N74.5 billion was declared as the gross earnings in HY 2019, while N77.6 billion was the figure in HY 2018.
It was the same situation with the company’s interest income, which marginally dipped to N62.1 billion compared to N62.6 billion recorded during the same period in 2018, with the interest expenses coming down to N31.7 billion in HY 2019 from N37.0 billion in HY 2018.
This left Sterling Bank with a net interest income of N30.4 billion in the first half of this year compared with N25.6 billion in the same time of last year.
Furthermore, fees and commission income grew to N9.8 billion from N6.9 billion, net trading income dropped to N1.2 billion from N5.0 billion, operating income increased to N42.8 billion from N40.6 billion, while the net operating income after impairment rose to N40.4 billion from N38.7 billion.
In the financial statements, the personnel expenses increased from N6.4 billion in H1 2018 to N7.3 billion in H1 2019, while general and administrative expenses reduced to N11.7 billion from N12.0 billion, with the total expenses flying to N34.4 billion from N32.4 billion.
The bank’s total assets from January through June were valued at N1.2 trillion, indicating an increase from the bank’s released asset number of N1.1 trillion recorded in December 2018, with the total cash and balance with the Central Bank of Nigeria estimated at N141.1 billion, showing a surge from N117.7 billion as at December 31, 2018.
Sterling Bank total liabilities stood at N1.05 trillion in the first six months of 2019, slightly higher than the N1.01 registered from January to December 2018.
In the first six months of this year, Sterling Bank saw a surge in deposit from customers, which stood at N818.6 billion against N760.6 billion deposited in the 2018 financial year.
