Stanbic IBTC Declares N10.1 billion Interim Dividend on N43bn Profit

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc thursday recommended an interim of N10.114 billion for the half-year ended June 30, 2018, following the announcement of its results for the period. The dividend translates to 100 kobo per share.

The unaudited results showed gross earnings of N114.207 billion, showing an increase of 17.6 per cent above the N97.198 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2017.

Net interest income stood at N40.169 billion, compared with N41.035 billion in 2017. Net fee and commission revenue improved from N27.893 billion to N36.689 billion, while net impairment written back is N5.508 billion, compared with impairment loss of N13.953 billion in 2017.

Profit before tax stood at N50.730 billion, up from N29.164 billion, while profit after tax rose from N24.112 billion to N43.084 billion in 2018. Earnings per share improved from 230 kobo to 416 kobo. Hence, the company recommended an interim dividend of 100 kobo per share, which is higher than the 50 kobo paid for the 2017 financial year. The N43.084 billion H1 PAT is 12.3 per cent lower than the N48.381 billion recorded for full year of 2017.

Commenting on the results, the Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Yinka Sanni, said: “The operating environment in the first half of the year was characterized by rising oil prices, stable oil production level leading to accretion to the country’s external reserves, improved foreign exchange liquidity with attendant interventions from the Central Bank of Nigeria and moderating inflation amid declining yields on money market securities.”

According to him, Stanbic IBTC continued to deliver stellar performance with PBT grew to N50.73 billion representing a 74 per cent growth from prior year on the back of non-interest revenue growth and recoveries from delinquent assets previously impaired.

“ Our credit impairment line has a write back of N5.5 billion as at June 2018 as we continue to intensify recovery efforts on previously classified loans. Interest income increased by six per cent to N59.9 billion predominantly driven by loan growth. This was offset by increase in interest expense of 26 per cent as a result of interest paid on maturing term deposits and other borrowings. We are making good progress on our drive to reduce cost of funds which has reduced by more than 100 basis points, manifesting in a 15 per cent reduction in interest cost between Q1 2018 and Q2 2018,” he said.

Sanni said the bank has seen significant growth in transaction volumes across its digital platforms.

“The volume of transactions via our mobile banking, SME internet banking, USSD platforms and ATMs have increased by over 100 per cent each year-on-year as we continued to drive non-interest income growth. Also, we kicked off the initial stage of implementing a virtual banking proposition. Our Africa-China Banking Center was recently launched and it aims to provide bespoke solutions and address the needs of business communities in both Nigeria and China while leveraging our relationship with Standard Bank and the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China,” he said.