…Commends Sterling Banks Financial Performance
Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, is striving to improve market infrastructure to boost investors confidence by creating clement environment to become a premiere listing destination for African corporates, governments and international issuers looking to access the capital market.
Speaking during Fact-Behind-The-Figures by Sterling bank Plc, in Lagos, the chief executive officer, CEO of the NSE, Oscar Onyeama said that part of its continued effort to deliver a world class market infrastructure, the Exchanges has also launched market surveillance SMARTS platform powered NASDAQ; X-Academy as part of continuous drive to ensure increased capacity building as well as the state-of-the art Data Centre. The Data Centre is consistent with NSE tradition of pioneering far-reaching innovations within the Nigerian Capital Market. With this launch, the NSE can now offer a secure, cost efficient and holistic cloud solutions to different stakeholders.
The Exchange, he promised will continue to provide a platform to support listed companies to meet their strategic business objectives, adding, “We will continue to position ourselves as the African Exchange of choice for African issuers and global investors by implementing far-reaching transformational policies aimed at strengthening the corporate governance of our listed companies and providing products that are aligned to investors’ requirements whilst also ensuring a fair and orderly market. These initiatives have improved investor confidence and repositioned firms listed on the Exchange as attractive investment opportunities.
According to Onyeama, To further promote and continuously drive the development of a more transparent, liquid and accessible market, we have expanded our product lines to include structured products for retail and institutional investors. We have automated Rights trading and settlement to enhance price discovery and facilitate counterparty trading without settlement complexities. In the same vain The Exchange has held a series of trainings to develop capacity in the area of Derivatives, with the imminent launch of its Exchange Traded Derivatives market.
He commended the Bank for using the NSE platform to inform the market of its financial performance, as well as its strategic and operational developments. “Given that the market is driven by timely, relevant, and accurate information, your interaction with the market through this forum is very welcome and we encourage you to continue with this trend”, he said.
Speaking further, the CEO observed that for over 50 years of operations, Sterling Bank (formerly NAL Bank) has evolved from the nation’s pre- eminent investment banking institution to a fully-fledged commercial bank; and completed a merger with 4 other banks as part of the 2006 consolidation of the Nigerian banking industry to become the financial institution of choice and “Your One- Customer Bank”.
“As you are aware, Sterling Bank recently released its audited results for the year end31 December 2017, which highlighted positive performance across key financial indices despite challenging operating conditions, recording double digit growth of 19.8 per cent in gross earnings to N133.5 billion driven by growth in both interest and non-interest income. In addition, the bank maintained a disciplined and prudent approach to loan growth in line with its risk management framework. This resulted in a significant improvement in asset quality as reflected in the reduction in non-performing loan ratio by 370 basis points to 6.2 per cent.Overall, profit after tax rose by 65.0 per cent to N8.5 billion, while liquidity and capital adequacy ratios remained sound and well above the required regulatory benchmark at 33 per cent and 12.2 per cent respectively.
Onyeama noted that last month four companies migrated to the Premium Board, and the Premium Board index continues to outperform the ASI, with a 15.54 per cent return as at May 7, 2018; compared to 7.66 per cent return for the ASI.
He observed that the performance of the Premium Board reflects the appeal of transparent, strong listed companies to global investors. Recognizing this, the NSE continues to create opportunities to showcase African champions on the world stage.
Oriental News Nigeria, reports that the Exchange recently launched its Corporate Governance Index (CG Index) to provide investors with additional data points and strengthen listed companies by tracking their corporate governance practices.
“In the fast-changing governance and macroeconomic environment in Nigeria and indeed globally, we encourage Sterling Bank Plc to adhere to high standards of corporate governance. We believe that this will position you to attain deeper social impact, higher regulatory compliance, and greater returns for shareholders”, he said.