During the group’s inaugural annual general meeting, major shareholders of Sterling Financial Holdings Company PLC, one of Nigeria’s top financial conglomerates, expressed their satisfaction with the group’s financial performance and leadership. Despite a difficult macroeconomic climate, the group managed to post impressive growth numbers in its first full year of operations, which prompted the comments.
The holding company produced N 221 billion in earnings, a 26.6% increase, and a 36% increase in assets, reaching N 2.5 trillion. The group’s performance as reported in its annual report and financial statements for the fiscal year 2023 is significantly higher than both figures indicate.
Analyzing the numbers in more detail, the group’s interest and non-interest income came to N 156 billion and N 65.7 billion, respectively, from the 2022 financial year’s numbers; this was achieved while N 1.8 trillion in customer deposits were brought into its two banking subsidiaries, Sterling Bank and The Alternative Bank. Together, these contributions enabled the group to post N 21.6 billion in profit and an impressive 75 kobo in earnings per ordinary share for 2023—numbers that indicate continued growth of 11.8% and 11.9% for the corresponding performance metrics from the publicly traded company’s 2022 postings.
Yemi Odubiyi, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Sterling HoldCo, addressed the company’s immediate plans in a statement to its shareholders. He said, “We will be seeking shareholders’ approval to raise up to N200 billion from the market in line with evolving regulatory standards and the recent introduction of minimum capital requirements by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).” This financial injection will fortify and put us in a position for long-term success.
The holding company’s current subsidiaries, Sterling Bank, a conventional bank, and The Alternative Bank, an ethical banking company, were also emphasized by Odubiyi, who also informed shareholders of the group’s plans to develop non-banking revenue lines in order to accelerate the company’s rapid growth and increase shareholder value by providing a wider range of services.
According to the CEO of the group, the company will stick to its current course and continue to prioritize the needs of its customers while strategically investing in environmentally friendly businesses that share its core values.
The results that have been made public continue the upward trajectory that Sterling has attained in spite of macroeconomic challenges that have negatively impacted the profitability of both small and large enterprises in Nigeria.
As industry watchers will remember, Sterling HoldCo recently achieved a major milestone in its evolution from a bank to a fully-fledged financial holdings company. This was accomplished by delisting, transferring, and relisting all of the company’s shares on the NGX floor to become Sterling Financial Holdings Company.
Through the holding company, Sterling can take advantage of its successful HEART strategy, which has allowed the group to make coordinated investments in the transportation, health, education, agriculture, and renewable energy sectors, increasing the company’s yearly profits to all-time highs in recent years.
Now that the Holdco structure has been fully implemented, Sterling has the flexibility to expand into other financial services sectors, including real estate, pensions, asset management, payment services, and other verticals. Additionally, the commercial and ethical banking subsidiaries, Sterling Bank and The Alternative Bank, which will function as limited liability companies within the publicly traded holding company, hold the necessary banking licenses.
Sterling has demonstrated remarkable growth in the past few years. It was named Africa’s Most Valuable Commercial Bank Brand for 2023 in a survey by GeoPoll and Kantar for African Brand Magazine, and it was included in the esteemed Financial Times’ list of the 100 fastest-growing companies in Africa for 2023.
Prominent for its cheeky brand voice and impressive talent management strategies, Sterling was most recently recognized with three citations from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) at the Gender Leader Awards 2023 for Company Leadership Gender Diversity, Gender Diversity in Supply Chain, and Family-Friendly Workplace.
