Stanbic IBTC Boosts Q1 Profit by 80%
Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc grew net profit by about 80% year on year in the first quarter of 2025 to N82.06 billion, details from the financial services group’s earnings release showed. The group performance was bolstered by improvement in core earnings, which proved pivotal to sustaining bottom-line expansion.
In Q1, Stanbic IBTC net interest income (NII) rose sharply by 94.9% year on year to N149.9 billion. This was driven by interest income growth, up by 55.84% year on year from N115.80 billion to N180.471 billion. At the same time, interest expenses declined by 21.4% to N30.581 billion from N38.903 billion in the comparable period in 2024.
Analysts said the robust growth in interest income reflected a 27.9% year on year expansion in interest-earning assets, coupled with a solid asset yield of about 19.0%. This highlighted the bank’s strong asset repricing capability in a high-interest rate environment, analysts at CardinalStone Securities Limited said in a note.
On the funding side, analysts said the drop in interest expense was underpinned by a decline in interest expense on interbank deposits and borrowed funds. On the flip side, Non-Interest Revenue declined by 13.4% year on year to N53.1 billion, primarily due to a N7.0 billion loss in the fixed income and currency trading line.
This was offset by the bank’s strong growth in net fee and commission income. Details from its unaudited financials showed net fee and commission income rose by 44.63% to N60.287 billion from N41.685 billion a year earlier.
Hence, Stanbic IBTC operating income rose by 46.9% to N203.0 billion. Its operating expenses surged by 31.6% to N65.4 billion. Pretax profit came in at N116.415 billion, 85.63% higher than N62.713 billion the bank reported in the equivalent period in 2023.
The results showed that tax climbed by more than 101% year on year. This left Stanbic IBTC with N82.062 billion net income, up by 79.81% from N45.639 billion in Q1-2024.
In its review, CardinalStone Securities Limited highlighted that Stanbic IBTC’s asset quality metrics showed some deterioration. The group’s nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio increased sharply to 4.4%, up from 2.9% in Q1-2024.
Interestingly, the bank reported a net impairment write back of N3.4 billion, attributed to improved loan recoveries—suggesting that while new defaults emerged, recoverability of legacy exposures improved materially, analysts said. The Group’s total capital adequacy ratio closed at 17.1% which is significantly higher than the 11% minimum regulatory requirement.#Stanbic IBTC Boosts Q1 Profit by 80%#
