Chris Ugwu 
Sterling Bank Plc has said it is targeting to achieve N46.730 billion gross earnings for the fourth quarter of 2020. In Q4 earning forecast obtained from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the bank also projected to rake in N37.601 billion in interest income. Its projection for profit before tax stood at N1.232 billion and N1.171 billion for profit after tax during the stipulated period. Sterling Bank reported a net interest income of N33.5 billion during the half-year ended June 30, 2020, as against N30.4 billion during the corresponding period of 2019, representing a growth of 10.1 per cent.
The bank’s total assets also rose by 9.4 per cent to N1,294.2 billion during the review period from N1,182.7 billion in 2019 while customer deposits inched up by 2.5 per cent to N915.2 billion in 2020 from N892.7 billion in 2019. The lender closed the half-year with a trading income of N3.9 billion as against N1.2 billion for the corresponding period of 2019, representing a remarkable increase of 242.8 per cent.
Commenting on the financial performance, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Sterling Bank Plc, Mr. Abubakar Suleman, said: “Our impressive half-year performance in the face of the COVID-19 and the ensuing economic disruption belies the rough seas ahead. In the second quarter of the reporting period, we focused on empowering our stakeholders to respond to the unprecedented disruption occasioned by prolonged restriction to movement while supporting them to adapt to new ways of banking. “Our commitment to digitisation was validated as we continued to serve existing and new customers through our mobile and digital platforms. We also responded to the uncertainty by doubling down on cost optimisation while leveraging our existing remote work policy to keep our workforce productive without risking COVID-19 infection. Notwithstanding rising inflation, we were able to moderate operating expenses during H1 2020 to deliver a net profit comparable to the first half of 2019.
