Stanbic IBTC, part of the Standard Bank Group, has released its 2021 first-quarter unaudited results, with total assets growing to N2.56 trillion, amid yield pressure.
The bank recorded growth in other key metrics like the gross loans and advances, increasing to N762.7 billion up from N655 billion recorded in December 2020.
Stanbic’s total capital adequacy ratio closed at a higher rate than the recommended rate by regulatory authorities.
Its capital adequacy ratio closed at 22.7 percent (Bank: 17.8 percent), while the recommended rate by the authorities is 10 percent.
Speaking on the company’s earnings, the Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC, Demola Sogunle, described the state of the domestic economy as “fragile”.
He 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% as of March 2021.
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“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.”
He noted that the decline faced in the Group’s profitability in the Q1 2021 results was boosted by the impairment write-back of N155 million in the first quarter of 2021.
Sogunle said, “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 write-back was due to releases and after write-off recoveries achieved during the quarter.”
He disclosed that the company recorded growth in customer deposits by 6 percent from its position in December 2020 and was supported by cheap deposits that positively influenced the CASA ratio to 83.3 percent (FY 2020: 82.8 percent).
The bank’s CE shared that operations had kicked off in the company’s latest addition, Stanbic IBTC Insurance limited, in the first quarter.
He said, “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”
