National Wire About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories
Admist several operational challenges, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, a member of Standard Bank Group, has posted a profit after tax of N22.543 billion in its half year ended June 30, 2021 unaudited group results.
This represents a decrease of 50.13 per cent over its H1 2020 profit after tax which was N45.204 billion. The group’s profit before tax for the period ended June 2021 was N24.707 billion, representing a 52.85 per cent decline over 2020 figures which stood at N52.406 billion.
Gross earnings dropped by 26.05 per cent from N126.570 billion in 2020 to N93.592 billion in 2021.
Stanbic IBTC posted a profit after tax of N11.255 billion in its first quarter ended March 31, 2021 unaudited group results representing a decrease of 45.36 per cent over its Q1 2020 profit after tax which was N20.601 billion.
Profit before tax for the period ended Mach 2021 was N12.142 billion, representing a 50.26 per cent decline over 2020 figures which stood at N24.413 billion while gross earnings dropped by 25.55 per cent from N61.418 billion in 2020 to N45.726 billion in 2021.
Dr. Demola Sogunle, Chief Executive Stanbic IBTC had while commenting on the results said: “The domestic economy remains quite fragile. Negative real returns prevailed in the first quarter as headline inflation continued on the rise, currently above 18 per cent as of March 2021.
“Economic activities are expected to improve as the authorities take on appropriate actions and business confidence improves. Just recently, in April 2021, the CBN resumed dollar sales to foreign portfolio investors for the first time since December 2020 to clear the backlog of foreign exchange demand.
“The Group’s profitability in the first quarter moderated year-on-year due to pressure on trading income: trading activities in our Global Markets business slowed down compared to prior year, operating expenses from regulatory induced charges increased, as well as the continued pressure on risk asset yields.
“The decline was partly cushioned by the year-on-year improvement in net fee and commission revenue as well as an impairment write back of ₦155 million in Q1 2021 compared to the charge of ₦1.97 billion in prior year. The impairment writeback was due to releases and after write-off recoveries achieved during the quarter.
Again, the diversity of our earnings proved supportive during the period. Wealth’s profitability improved from prior period and provided succour for the contraction in profitability of the Corporate and Investment Banking and the Personal and Business Banking businesses. That said, gross customer loans continued to grow, increasing by 16% from the December 2020 position.
“The continued loan growth would support margin accretion and ultimately compensate for the pressure on yields. Customer deposits also increased by 6 per cent from the December 2020 position, most of the growth arose from cheap deposits and resulted in further improvement in the CASA ratio to 83.3 per cent (FY 2020: 82.8%), which was positive for our funding costs. Our capital and liquidity positions remained robust in Q1 2021.
“Our latest addition, Stanbic IBTC Insurance Limited commenced full operations during the quarter. Our Pension business introduced the Loyalty program, UMatter, to appreciate our esteemed clients. Our Asset Management business launched the Stanbic IBTC Enhanced Short-Term Fixed Income Fund which invests in short term bonds issued by the Government and corporate entities. We are committed to achieving our Full Year 2021 Guidance.”
