Sterling Bank announces 5.1% increase in profit to N5.7bn in H1

By Kayode Tokede

Sterling Bank Plc has reported N5.7billion profit in half year ended June 30, 2021 unaudited result and accounts, a 5.1 per cent increase when compared to N5.4billion reported in prior half year results.

The lender’s gross earnings rose by 5.1 per cent to N68.6billion in H12021 as against N66.9billion reported in H1 2020. Sterling bank performance in the period under review showed impressive performance across profit & loss figures and balance sheet position.

The bank reported 12.7per cent increase in total assets to N1.46trillion as at June 30, 2021from N1.29trillion reported in full year ended December 31, 2020.

The Chief Executive Officer, Sterling bank, Abubakar Suleiman in a statement said:”The pace of economic recovery in the first half of the year, exceeded expectations and with it, rising consumer and corporate confidence despite looming threats of a third wave of Covid-19. This was evident in the performance of key business lines.

“Consistent with the last several quarters, we reported meaningful organic deposit growth, improvement in our credit quality, and a stable core expense base.

“During the period, a key focus for us was to deliver innovative solutions to support businesses – SME’s and Corporates alike.

“We successfully launched the Beta version of our digital corporate lending platform, Gazelle. This platform is designed to facilitate credit to corporates leveraging digital technology and machine learning functionalities.

“We also launched SocialPay, an innovative payment platform for SME’s.

“In the second half of the year, we will continue to enhance our execution capacity to deliver solutions that enable our customers to thrive in a dynamic environment.”