The Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank Plc, Abubakar Suleiman, has disclosed a new timeframe for the payment of dividends to the lender’s shareholders after the company was unable to pay for the year 2018.
Suleiman said the company will ensure payment is made next year 2020, assuring that measures have been taken to fulfil Sterling Bank‘s responsibility to its shareholders. The company held its 57 Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, during which the CEO made the disclosure.
In his assertion, Suleiman expressed optimism regarding the payment of the dividends.
“Your bank has provided strategy and by next year, we assure that the dividend will start to come.” -Suleiman
Unclaimed Dividend Warrants and Share Certificates: The company also announced that dividend warrants and a number of share certificates have been returned to the Registrars as “unclaimed”. According to Sterling Bank Plc, any member affected by this notice should contact the Registrar, Pace Registrars Limited.
Sterling Bank Plc is not the only bank that didn’t pay dividends for the year ended December 2018. Another lender, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, also failed to make payments to shareholders during the period under review.
Sterling Bank’s gross earnings hits N152 billion in FY 2018: Nairametrics had earlier reported the financial statement of Sterling Bank, which disclosed that its gross earnings increased from N133 billion in 2017 to N152 billion in 2018. Also, the company’s Profit before tax rose from N8.1 billion in 2017 to N9.4 billion in 2018, while the Profit after tax rose from N8 billion in 2017 to N9.2 billion in 2018. Meanwhile, the Earnings per share rose from N0.28 in 2017 to N0.32 in 2018.
Sterling Bank signs deal with American energy company: Recall thatSterling Bank Plc had inin March 2019, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an American renewable energy company, Zola Electric, to provide credit facilities for Nigerian businesses and households in need of constant and clean power supply. The renewable energy company will avail Nigerians access to renewable energy solutions, while Sterling Bank Plc will finance the process by providing loans to customers for the transactions.
What is the reason for non payment of dividend? These compani e are really taking in store for granted.
I feel sad that I invested in Sterling Bank Plc, no dividends paid out for how many years now. If the board and the management are not up to the scale, I beg they should sell the bank to GTB/Zenith banks so we can have meaningful value for our money! I sank over a million Naira into the bank and nothing to show forth! So sad indeed.
Sell the bank to another Bank, so that shareholders can get dividend.