By Dipo Olowookere
Last week, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, a member of the Standard Bank Group, released its financial statements for the half year ended June 30, 2019 and an analysis showed growth in some areas of the business.
During the period under review, the company posted a profit before tax of N44.7 billion, while the profit after tax was N36.2 billion. Other results reflected an increase in non-interest revenue of N54.9 billion and a net-interest income of N39.3 billion.
In addition, there was an increase of 3 percent in the mid-year gross earnings to N117.4 billion, while the total operating income stood at N94 billion.
Furthermore, Stanbic IBTC’s balance sheet showed that the total assets closed at N1.619 trillion, while the gross loans and advances finished at N479.7 billion, representing an increase in 5 percent when compared with last year’s figures.
In the period, the customer deposits stood at N693.5 billion, while the firm recorded an improvement in current-and-savings-accounts deposits mix which went up to 68.9 percent.
In view of the performance of the lender in the first six months of the year, the board announced an interim dividend of N1 per share, the highest paid by a financial institution in H1 2019.
Commenting on the results, the CEO of Stanbic IBTC, Mr Yinka Sanni, attributed the performance of the firm to implementation of the strategies put in place by the management. According to him, the group’s business segments were profitable, despite the challenging business and regulatory environment.
“Our financial results in the first half of 2019 reflected similar trends encountered in the first quarter. The operating environment remained muted, regulatory changes coupled with the highly competitive landscape continued to impact overall returns.
“Still, our diversified business model continues to set us apart. Our business segments remained profitable and resilient although at a slower pace when compared to prior year,” he said.
Mr Sanni disclosed that there has been a return to growth in the second quarter, mainly from the communication and oil and gas sectors. He further added that the gross non-performing loan to total loan ratio which was 3.91 percent, was within acceptable regulatory limits.
Speaking on other areas of the mid-year results in which the group experienced growth, he noted that assets under custody rose to N7 trillion (representing a 42 percent growth) while assets under management grew by 8 percent to N3.5 trillion.
Mr Sanni highlighted three areas through which Stanbic IBTC Holdings achieve growth targets as: EZ cash loan/advance, a recently launched instant credit solution; enhanced migration of customers to digital platforms and the launch of RetireWell Individual Retirement Savings Account, a retirement savings account targeted at self-employed individuals.
He shed more light on those initiatives, saying, “To further drive credit growth, in the retail space, we launched an instant credit solution named EZ cash loan/advance, which gives access to loans in less than a minute to pre-approved customers. This, among other initiatives, will enable us achieve the targeted loan growth for the year.
“The disciplined execution of our digital strategy has seen customers increasingly adopting and transacting on our digital platforms. The number of transactions performed by customers on our digital channels was up 26 percent between H1 2019 and H1 2018. This translated into a year-on-year growth of 71 percent in electronic banking fees.
“Moreover, we instituted a digital academy targeted at equipping staff with digital skills at various levels while also driving collaboration with Fintech players to position us for early adoption of innovative solutions.
“Following the launch of the micro pension initiative by the government earlier in the year, we deployed the RetireWell Individual Retirement Savings Account. We have put in place strong agency network in key locations to drive growth in this area and we have made good progress in this regard,” he stated.
