Sterling Bank (Nigeria)

Sterling Bank Plc

Type	Public Limited Company
Industry	Banking
Founded	1960
Headquarters	Sterling Towers, 20 Marina, P.M.B. 12735, Lagos, Nigeria
Key people	Mr. Asue Ighodalo Chairman Razack Adeyemi Adeola Group Managing Director/CEO
Services	Banking
Total assets	₦ 799 billion (FY 2015)
Total equity	₦ 95.56 billion (FY 2015)
Number of employees	>2285 (FY 2015)
Divisions	>187 Business Offices 840 ATMs (FY 2015)
Website	http://www.sterlingbankng.com

Sterling Bank Plc is a full service national commercial bank licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Its shares trade under the Banking sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange with the symbol STERLNBANK.^[1] On Reuters and Bloomberg terminals, it is identified as STBP.LG and STERLNBA respectively.^[2][3]

The bank provides services to individuals, small businesses (SMEs) and large corporations. As of December 2015, the bank's branch network numbered 187, distributed throughout Nigeria with total assets valued in excess of NGN:799 billion and shareholders' equity estimated at about NGN:95.6 billion).^[4]

History

Sterling Bank Plc originally incorporated in 1960 as Nigeria Acceptances Limited (NAL). The bank was licensed as Nigeria’s first merchant bank in 1969. Consequent to the indigenization decree of 1972, the Bank became fully government owned and was managed in partnership with Grindlays Bank Limited, Continental International Finance Company Illinois and American Express Bank Limited between 1974 and 1992. In 1992, the Bank was partly privatized and listed as a public company on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE). Eight years later, in 2000, the federal government sold its residual interest in the bank, effectively making it a fully privatized institution.^[5]

In January 2006, as part of the consolidation of the Nigerian banking industry, NAL Bank completed a merger with four other Nigerian Banks namely Magnum Trust Bank, NBM Bank, Trust Bank of Africa and Indo-Nigeria Merchant Bank (INMB) and adopted the name 'Sterling Bank' name.^[6] The merged entities were successfully integrated and have operated as a consolidated group ever since.

In line with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s repeal of universal banking, Sterling Bank now operates as a national commercial bank, disposing of holdings in subsidiaries and affiliate companies. In mid-2011, Sterling Bank Plc acquired the franchise of the erstwhile Equitorial Trust Bank.^[7]

Operations

The Bank's operations and products are grouped in three clusters:

Consumer-Retail (with several initiatives such as Agent Banking to attract the underbanked/unbanked,^[8] Micro-credit for youths through Social Lender^[9]), Commercial (dealing in several sectors including Agriculture^[10] for which the bank has won awards), and thirdly Corporate (covering several sectors including Telecommunications, Power and Steel, Food and Beverages among others.^[11]

The bank operates from:

• The Head Office in 20 Marina
• 187 branches across the country
• 3,567 POS terminals with several merchants
• 840 ATMs across the country

Specialized Services

• Private Banking and Wealth Management

The Bank also caters to High Net Worth individuals through their Private Banking and Wealth Management arm offering products such as Trust and Fiduciary Services, Philanthropy Management, Investment Advisory, among others.^[12]

• Sterling Alternative Finance (Non-Interest Banking)

In 2013, the Bank was licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to provide non-interest banking services after meeting the set criteria.^[13] The alternative banking products are split into three facets: Transactional, Investment, and Financing.^[14] The Bank has set up this arm of business in line with global best practice in this regard by having an Advisory Committee of Experts (ACE) who approve all products and processes while ensuring they are fully compliant with the rules of Islamic commercial jurisprudence. The Bank's Advisory Committee of Experts (ACE) includes Sheikh Abdulkader Thomas (US/Kuwait); Sheikh Abubakar Musa (Minna); and Imam Abdur-Raheem Ahmad Sayi (Lagos).^[15]

2015 Performance Highlights

Sterling Bank delivered a set of results in 2015 as follows:^[16]

• Profit after Tax for FY2015 was up 14.3% year-on-year to N10.3 billion, boosted by improved operating efficiency.
  • Shareholders' Funds grew by 12.8% to N96 billion in FY 2015 from N85 billion in 2014, driven by accretion from the current year's profit, a reflection of the Bank's resilience and increasing market reach.
  • Gross Earnings stood at N110.19 billion, an increase of 6.3% over 2014;
  • Operating efficiency improved as total Operating Expenses declined by 1.9% year-on-year. This resulted in an overall growth in the Bank's bottom line as Profit before Tax grew by 2.5% over the prior year to N11.02 billion;
  • Total Assets decreased by 3.0% as a result of an 8.8% decrease in Loans & Advances, following the transfer of State Governments' loans to the Federal Government's balance sheet;
  • Customer deposits also dipped by 9.9% following the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA);
  • Capital buffer was enhanced by a 12.8% increase in Shareholders' Funds, driven by profit accretion and further supported by the slowdown in loan growth.
  • Thus, the capital adequacy ratio improved from 14% in 2014 to 17.5% as at year-end 2015.

Corporate Social Responsibility

The essence of the Bank's CSR activities in its CSR statement: “To promote a sustainable society by enriching lives”. Therefore, the Bank carries out CSR in three areas:^[17]

• Education
• Environment
• Empowerment and Entertainment

In 2015, the Bank launched and continued several initiatives in all the three areas as shown below:

Education:

• The bank financed an e-library project at the College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti;^[18]
• The Bank's employees volunteered as teachers and mentors at various schools, teaching Financial Literacy as well as core subjects^[19]
• The Bank authored and donated financial literacy books and other stationery to numerous schools; and we supported a number of schools in their inter-house sports programmes;^[20]
• The Bank also executed several programmes aimed at empowering youths and MSMEs. Some of these initiatives include Season 3 of the Get-Ready-for-Work programme^[21] in Lagos - the event attracted over 3,000 youths from across Nigeria and received very positive testimonials; and the first MSME Academy^[22] training programme, a platform for equipping small business owners with skills to improve their chances of business success, attracted over 140 participants;^[23]

Environment

• Employees of the Bank participated actively in its annual cleaning exercise, the Sterling Environmental Makeover (STEM) which held in different locations across the nation including Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Abeokuta, Port Harcourt, Anambra, Delta, Abuja, and Ibadan.^[24]
• The Bank in the last five years has on a yearly basis donated thousands of reflective kits to the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) for street sweepers^[25] and highway managers in Lagos. Other states that have since come on board in the Waste Management partnerships include Delta, Kaduna, Ekiti, Enugu and more recently, Abia.^[26]

Entertainment/Empowerment

• The partnership with Arsenal^[27] has enabled the Bank give value additions to its customers who are lovers of the prestigious football club which include free match tickets, Tour of The Emirates stadium, free original team merchandise, branded debit cards, among others^[28]
• Sterling Bank is a proud supporter of the Social Media Awards Africa SMAA^[29] which rewards creativity excellence and impact in Social Media In Africa.

Corporate Affairs

Board Of Directors

MR. ASUE IGHODALO – Chairman

RAZAK ADEYEMI ADEOLA – Managing Director/CEO

OLANREWAJU OLUGBENGA ADESANYA – Executive Director

ABUBAKAR SULEIMAN - Executive Director

KAYODE LAWAL - Executive Director

GRAMA NARASIMHAN - Executive Director

YEMI ODUBIYI - Executive Director

ADEYINKA ABDULWAHEED ADEOLA – Non-Executive Director

MICHAEL JITUBOH – Non-Executive Director

OLAITAN KAJERO - Non-Executive Director

TAIRAT TIJANI - Non-Executive Director

EGBICHI AKINSANYA - Non-Executive Director

RASHEED ADEREMI KOLARINWA – Independent Director

TAMARAKARE YEKWE, MON – Independent Director

OMOLARA AKANJI, MON – Independent Director

See also

• List of banks in Nigeria
• Central Bank of Nigeria
• Economy of Nigeria

References

External links

• http://www.sterlingbankng.com/index.aspx Sterling Bank (Nigeria) Homepage
• Sterling Bank Plc. Shares Recover From Recession
• Company Profile At Bloomberg.com