Sterling Bank’s nine-month report for the third quarter ended September 30, released at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) at the weekend, showed steady growth in the core banking business, underlining the success of the lender’s core retail banking business.
The interim report showed that net interest margin, which measures the profitability of the core lending business, improved to 8.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2016 as against 7.9 per cent in comparable period of 2015.
The non-performing loans (NPL) to gross loans and advances, which indicate assets’ quality and the efficiency of the credit risk management, also improved significantly from 4.8 per cent in December 2015 to 2.5 per cent in third quarter 2016.
The managing director of the bank, Mr. Yemi Adeola, said the improvements in the underlying fundamentals in the third quarter in spite of the depressing effect of the tough macroeconomic conditions on the overall performance of the sector, underlined the resoluteness of the bank in building a sustainable business anchored on effective risk management and a robust retail business.