Yemi Odubiyi, other Sterling bank Directors rush bank’s shares after big earnings

Yemi Odubiyi, the newly-appointed group managing director/chief executive officer of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, has increased his stake in the holding company.

A notice filed with the Nigerian Exchange showed that 1,556,263 units of shares were purchased by Odubiyi at N3.56 per share, amounting to N5.5 million.

This is in addition to shares he recently acquired for N65.6 million at N3.75 for 17,500,000 units a few days ago.

Bank directors scramble for shares

The development follows a surge in the scramble for the bank’s shares after it reportedly earned big profit amid macroeconomic concerns.

Its financial report showed that the bank increased income to N76.7 billion in the half year 2023 compared to N59 billion in the half year 2022. Consequently, profit rose to N10.7 billion from N8 billion in the same period last year.

Recall that Legit.ng reported that three directors decided to increase their shareholdings in a statement signed by Company's Secretary, Temitayo Adegoke, and submitted to Nigerian Exchange.

According to the statement, the directors, Abubakar Suleiman, Raheem Owodeyi, and Tunde Adeola, purchased a combined 5,156,398 (5.1 million) units of shares in the company worth N15 million.

Breakdown of the shares

Abubakar Suleiman, a non-executive director of Sterling Financial Holdings, acquired 2,663,014 units of shares at N3.56 per share.

The acquisition has increased his direct shareholdings in the company from 335,768,608 units as of 15th August 2023 to 345,248,938 units.

Similarly, Raheem Owodeyi, an executive director of Sterling Bank Ltd (a Subsidiary), purchased 1,246,692 units of shares bought at N3.56 per share, valued at N4.44 million.

Also, Tunde Adeola, Executive Director, Sterling Bank Ltd (a Subsidiary), purchased 1,246,692 units of shares bought at N3.56 per share and valued at N4.44 million, increasing his shareholdings in the company to 15,946,692 units.

Sterling shares boom tied to new Holdco status Checks by Legit.ng show that in August alone, the bank has reported 12 different directors dealing as of this report.

The development follows a recent announcement that the bank had completed an essential step in its ongoing efforts to shift from a financial institution to a holding company.

Beginning the year with a share price of N1.40, Sterling has become one of the best performing on the Nigerian exchange and has yielded about 157% when writing this report.