Declined trading income weakens Sterling Banks revenue growth in 2019

The 2019 unaudited financial statements of Sterling Bank released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Wednesday, indicated that its gross revenue appreciated marginally 0.51 per cent to N149.47 billion last year, on the back of slow 1.60 per cent growth in interest income and the 41.31 per cent declined in net trading income to N5.06 billion during this period.

However, fees and commission earnings, which rose 24.30 per cent to N14.61 billion in 2019 instead of N11.76 billion in the prior period, while operating revenue uptick 10.62 per cent to N87.20 billion during this period.

Meanwhile, the post-tax profit of Sterling Bank was up 17.25 per cent to N10.81 billion in 2019, compared to N9.23 billion in the corresponding period in the previous year.

In the period under review, the bank’s total cost was higher by 10.67 per cent to N70.27 billion against N63.49 billion in 2018.

Its provision for toxic assets went up 3.03 to N6.20 billion in 2019 from N5.84 billion in the same period in the prior year.

The lender’s earnings per share also improved 18.75 per cent to N0.38 at the end of last financial year.