Sterling Bank Takes Bold Step, To Operate As Holdco |The Source

By Fola James

Sterling Bank Plc decision to shelve its solo commercial bank status to operate as a holding company, Holdco has excited many stakeholders in the financial sectors who insist that the Abubakar Suleiman-led bank has taken a bold step to turn its fortunes around.

Mixed reactions have trailed the first Half, H1 results released by the bank recently with many stakeholders warning that the lender must restructure to boost confidence among customers and shareholders.

The bank in a statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, signed by the company’s Secretary, Temitayo Adegoke said it will now go ahead to operate the Non-Interest Banking window for which it has been licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN since 2014.

Explaining the decision to expand into non-banking areas the lender said “Going into the Holding Company structure, our desire is to entrench our business model premised on social capitalism, where we believe that private sector capital and market-based tools will offer the best types of solutions to Nigeria’s most pressing social and environmental challenges.

The Holding Company gives us the structure to explore our business model further. Partnership Technology Specialization. The Holding Company is designed to operate on 3 major premises – Specialization, Partnership, and Digitization.

The Conventional Bank will focus on building skills and using technology to provide solutions in the areas that are critical to development in the country – Health, Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy, Transportation (HEART).

The Non-Interest Bank will focus on building partnerships that connect individuals and businesses, leveraging technology to create business optimization while solving for an individual’s daily financial needs.’’

Recently, four directors of the bank including its managing director were involved in insider dealings leading to the buy-out of 18,896,605 shares among them.