By Omodele Adigun

THE shareholders of Sterling Bank Plc have approved a nine kobo per share dividend recommended by its board as dividend for the 2015 financial year, just as the bank pledged to implement initiatives that would make it more efficient and systemically important operator.

Commenting on the dividend payout during the 54th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank Tuesday in Lagos, its Managing Director, Mr.Yemi Adeola, said the bank has the capacity to give higher than the cor­porate benefit, but it has to conserve its funds for the rainy days. He reminded the investors that last year was a turbulent one for the economy, as ‘constrained business opportunities, stifled profit margins of banks and heightened investors’ anxiety, delayed investments in the domestic economy, and in some cases, prompted a pull-out by some overseas investors.

He explained that the bank would like to learn from the nation’s inability to save for the rainy days.

His words: “The truth is that today, when we talk of oil windfall, we blame ourselves for not saving for the rainy days.We have enough capital to pay times two of the dividend we pay this year. But, we are saving for the rainy days.We need capital to continue to be in business.It will be unconscionable to distribute the capital as dividend and still come back to you to raise capital.

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“Our 2015 performance was a testament to the un­derlying resilience of our business model. The chal­lenging operating environment notwithstanding, we strove to achieve a delicate balance between deliver­ing current year financial performance and laying the foundation for the future.”

Giving details of Sterling Bank’s performance for 2015, its Chairman, Asue Ighodalo, said, despite the harsh operating environment, the bank delivered a commendable set of results: ‘Profit after tax was up by 14.3 per cent year-on-year to N10.29billion, boosted by improved operating efficiency. Shareholders’ funds grew by 13 per cent to N96 billion from N85billion in 2014, driven by accretion from the current year’s profit, notwithstanding the headwinds, a reflection of the bank’s resilience and acceptance in the market’.

Ighodalo assured the shareholders that the bank is committed to “rolling up our sleeves and implement­ing several initiatives aimed at positioning the bank as an efficient and systemically important operator, deliv­ering superior to shareholders”.

He added: “We are cautiously positive about the outlook for the 2016 financial year. There is a need for the full implementation of the FGN budget, a lower in­terest rate environment to support economic activities, and reforms to governance, labour market functioning and the business environment”.