It is really not a good outcome for Sterling Bank Plc in the first half of 2020 following a drop in its profit when compared with the corresponding period of 2019.
In its unaudited condensed and interim financial statements released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the Bank’s post-tax profit for the half year ended June 30, 2020 declined to N5.414billion from N5.662 billion in the same period of 2019.
Pre-tax profit depreciated to N5.678billion from N6.001 billion in the prior year.
Gross earnings dipped from N72.29 billion posted a year ago to N70.23 billion in the review period of 2020.
Also, deposit from customers declined to N18.22 from the N22.66billion in the half year 2019, while earnings per share fell to 19 kobo from 20 kobo in the previous year.
Consequently, the directors did not recommend the payment of any dividend for the shareholders of the bank.
The tier-two bank’s profit for the half year (HI), 2019, (though higher than the 2020 numbers), was lower than its profit in the same period of 2018. Post-tax profit for H1 2019 dropped -8.9 percent to N5.66 billion from N6.21 billion posted in 2018. Pre-tax profit declined 5.7 percent to N6.00 billion from N6.36 billion declared in the same period of 2018.
Similarly, gross earnings declined from N77.60 billion in H1 2018 to N74.49 billion in same period of 2019, a decline of 4.0 percent.
On assumption of duty as the Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, in 2018, Abubakar Suleiman, had set the bank’s mid-term objectives (2017-2021) to include growing the lender’s market share, diversifying its funding base, reducing non-performing loans and increasing return on average equity.
But the last time Sterling Bank paid dividend was in 2018, when it paid only a paltry 2 kobo per share to its shareholders.