Banking
Sterling Bank Declares 3 Kobo Dividend After 15% Rise in Profit
By Dipo Olowookere
Shareholders of Sterling Bank Plc will get a cash dividend of 3 kobo for each stock of the company held by shareholders of the organisation as at the close of business of Monday, May 4, 2020.
The disclosure was made on Thursday by the board of the mid-tier bank after it released the financial statements of the company for the year ended December 31, 2019.
The lender said while it would close its register of members from May 5 to 8, 2020, the payment would be done on May 20, 2020, advising shareholders to update their records to receive the payment.
In the results released today, Sterling Bank marginally improved its gross earnings by one percent to N150.2 billion from N148.7 billion in 2018, posting an interest income of N127.3 billion in 2019 over N125.2 billion in the prior year, and a lower interest expense of N62.6 billion in the period under review versus N69.9 billion of the previous year. This left the firm with a net interest income of N64.7 billion in FY 2019, higher than N55.3 billion in FY 2018.
The lender raked more in net fees and commission income in FY19, N14.6 billion, compared with N11.8 billion in FY18, while the trading income reduced to N5.1 billion from N8.6 billion, with other trading income flat at N3.2 billion in the two financial years under comparison.
Furthermore, Sterling Bank printed an operating income of N87.6 billion in 2019 versus N78.8 billion in 2018 and with a credit loss expense of N5.8 billion (vs N5.8 billion in 2018), it closed December 31, 2019 with a net operating income after credit loss expense of N81.8 billion, higher than N73.0 billion as at December 31, 2018.
During the 2019 fiscal year, personnel expenses gulped N14.9 billion compared with N13.2 billion in the corresponding period of 2018, while other operating expenses took N18.1 billion from the bank’s purse as against N16.7 billion in the previous year, with N22.9 billion spent on general and administrative expenses in FY19 versus N20.8 billion in FY18. The lender said the total expenses for the year under consideration stood at N71.1 billion in contrast to N63.5 billion a year earlier.
For the bottom-line of the results, Sterling Bank recorded a profit before tax of N10.7 billion in the 2019 fiscal year, higher than N9.5 billion in the 2018 financial year. Also, its profit after tax increased by 15.2 percent to N10.6 billion from N9.2 billion as a result of the N70 million paid in the year under review as against the N271 million paid 12 months earlier.
Business Post reports that the earnings per share (EPS) of Sterling Bank improved in the FY 2019 to 37 kobo from 32 kobo and on the balance sheet, the total assets slightly increased to N1.2 trillion from N1.1 trillion, while the total liabilities jumped to N1.1 trillion from N1.0 trillion.
During the year, the loans and advances to customers reduced to N618.7 billion from N621.0 billion, while the deposits from customers increased to N892.7 billion from N760.6 billion, with the retained earnings improving to N6.2 billion in 2019 from the N3.3 billion loss in 2018.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The six edition of the Hackaholics of Wema Bank Plc has produced 20 top finalists shared equally between two streams, Ideathon and Hackathon.
The Hackathon finalists are Rapid DEV, Secure IT, Neurafeed, Trust Lock Babcock, Pulse Track, IlluminiTrust, Trust Lock FUTA, Fix Fraud AI, KASH Flow and VOC AI.
The Ideathon finalists include PLOY, Fertitude, VarsityScape, Mama ALERT, StockMed, Chao, All Arbitrate, FarmSlate, Sane AI and Cycle X.
They emerged after a two-day pre-pitch held on December 16 and 17, 2025, for the grand finale slated for Friday, December 19, 2025.
They grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0 will convene the top players in Africa’s tech and innovation ecosystem, creating an avenue for these finalists to not only put their creativity to the ultimate test but also give their solutions visibility to potential investors for additional funding opportunities beyond the prizes to be won.
The prizes to be won for the Ideathon include N25 million for the winner, N20 million for the first runner-up, N15 million for the second runner-up and N5 million each for two women-led teams.
In the Hackathon category, the first to fourth-place winners will receive N20 million, N15 million, N10 million and N5 million, respectively.
The pre-pitch saw the top 43 contenders battle in a game of innovation and problem solving, presenting compelling pitches for a chance to make it to top 10 in their respective streams.
After a rigorous stretch of pitches and presentations, the top 20 emerged, securing their spot in the grand finale of Hackaholics 6.0.
“Hackaholics started off as a hackathon and morphed into an ideation. For Hackaholics 6.0, the sixth edition, we decided to give both the builders of new solutions and the refiners of existing ones, an opportunity to make meaningful impact.
“For us at Wema Bank, we understand that innovation isn’t just building from scratch. Sometimes, it’s looking at what exists and developing new ways to optimise that and create more efficiency. This is the idea behind our two-stream Ideathon-Hackathon structure.
“Every year, Hackaholics shows us just how eager and motivated Nigerian youth are when it comes to exploring creativity and innovation, and we are honoured to be the institution that provides them with the platform and resources to put this drive to good use.
“We toured seven cities, indulged 1,460 participants and discovered hundreds of remarkable ideas; some of which needed some refining and some of which deserved to move to the next stage.
“For those who needed to go back to the drawing board, we provided useful guidance and for the top contenders, we were able to shortlist to the top 43, who proceeded to the pre-pitch. To every participant, Wema Bank is proud of you. This is just the beginning,” the chief executive of Wema Bank, Mr Moruf Oseni, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it will enforce penalties against designated banks that delay the remittance of customs revenue, in a move aimed at strengthening transparency and safeguarding government earnings.
This was disclosed in a statement on the NCS official account on X, formerly known as Twitter and signed by its spokesman, Mr Abdullahi Maiwada, who said the delays undermine the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has noted instances of delayed remittance of customs revenue by some designated banks following reconciliation of collections processed through the B’odogwu platform,” the statement read.
“Such delays constitute a breach of remittance obligations and negatively impact the efficiency, transparency, and integrity of government revenue administration.
“In line with the provisions of the Service Level Agreement executed between the Nigeria Customs Service and designated banks, the Service hereby notifies stakeholders of the commencement of enforcement actions against banks found to be in default of agreed remittance timelines.”
Mr Maiwada disclosed that any bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed timeline will be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the period of the delay.
He added that affected banks would be formally notified of the delayed amounts, the applicable penalty, and the deadline for settlement.
“Accordingly, any designated bank that fails to remit collected Customs revenue within the prescribed period shall be liable to penalty interest calculated at three per cent above the prevailing Nigerian Interbank Offered Rate for the duration of the delay.
“Affected banks will receive formal notifications indicating the delayed amount, applicable penalty, and the timeline for settlement,” the statement read.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deputy managing director of First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Limited, Mr Ini Ebong, has offloaded some shares of FBN Holdings Plc, the parent firm of the banking institution.
A regulatory notice from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited confirmed the development on Thursday.
It was disclosed that the transaction occurred on Friday, December 12, 2025, on the floor of the stock exchange.
The sale involved about 11.8 million shares, precisely 11,783,333 units traded at N31.14 per share, amounting to about N366.9 million.
Mr Ebong, who studied Architecture from University of Ife and obtained Bachelor and Master of Science degrees, became the DMD of First Bank in June 2024. Prior to this appointment, he was Executive Director, Treasury and International Banking since January 2022.
He was previously the Group Executive, Treasury and International Banking, a position he held since 2016 after serving as the bank’s Treasurer from 2011 to 2016.
Before joining First Bank, he was the Head of African Fixed Income and Local Markets Trading, Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited, the Nigerian registered subsidiary of Renaissance Capital. He also worked with Citigroup for 14 years as Country Treasurer and Sales and Trading Business Head.
He has a passion for market development and has worked actively to drive change and internationalisation of the Nigerian financial markets: foreign exchange, fixed income and securities.
He has worked closely with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) in assisting with the development of fresh monetary and foreign exchange policies, to broaden and deepen markets and open them up to international practices.
At various times he has facilitated and delivered courses and seminars on a wide variety of subjects covering Money Markets, Securities and Foreign exchange trading and market risk management subjects to regulators, corporate customers, banks and market participants.
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