Sterling Bank earns N48.7bn in six months

Sterling Bank Plc on Friday declared gross earnings of N48.7 billion in its transactions in the half year, which ended on June 30, 2014. This was contained in a statement by the bank in Lagos.
The earnings, according to the statement, represented a growth of 16.2 per cent when compared with N41.9 billion the bank earned in the corresponding period in 2013. The statement said that the bank’s profit-before-tax during the period was N6.34 billion as against N6.27 billion it recorded in the corresponding period in 2013.
The bank said that the “top-line” growth it recorded during the period was driven by income on interests, which rose to N37.44 billion from N31.08 billion it achieved in the same period in the preceding year.
According to it, net income on interest leapt to N21.28 billion during the period as against N15.17 billion it earned in the same period in 2013. Similarly, it stated, non-interest income during the period increased to N11.3 billion from N10.8 billion the bank earned in the corresponding period in the previous year. The bank also said that its operating income during the period appreciated to N32.54 billion from N25.95 billion in 2013.
It, however, stated that its operating expenses increased by 28.5 per cent to N23.8 billion as against N18.5 billion in the preceding year. The statement quoted the bank’s Managing Director, Mr Yemi Adeola, as saying that the performance demonstrated the underlying strength of the bank’s core business. Adeola said that in spite of the challenging operating environment, the bank achieved a 130-basis-points improvement in net interest margin.
“During the period, we completed eight new branches while 13 others are at various stages of completion. We also remodeled several of our existing branches, deployed 168 additional Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and signed-on over 200 merchants to drive our Agent Banking model for financial inclusion,” he said. He said that the bank would remain focused to ensure efficient service delivery and to deliver on its full-year targets and increased returns to shareholders. He expressed optimism that the trend would continue in the second half of the year.