Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc grew its group profit before tax by 35.05 per cent year-on-year to ₦531.88 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, up from ₦393.84 billion in the same period of 2025.
For the third quarter alone, pre-tax profit rose by 26.80 per cent to ₦190.31 billion, compared with ₦150.09 billion in Q3 2025.
Profit after tax climbed by 33.00 per cent to ₦370.36 billion from ₦278.48 billion in the first nine months of 2025, while earnings per share increased to ₦23.03 from ₦17.31.
Separately, Stanbic IBTC announced on October 23, 2026, that it had set the reference price for its 2026 interim scrip dividend programme at ₦159.86 per ordinary share.
The announcement follows the interim dividend of ₦4.50 per share declared earlier, with eligible shareholders given the choice of receiving their entitlement in cash or in new ordinary shares.
Shareholders who opt for new shares are required to submit their election forms by November 6, 2026, while cash dividend payments are scheduled for November 13, 2026.
The group’s nine-month earnings were driven mainly by stronger trading income, higher fee and commission revenue, and a sharp drop in impairment charges.
A key contributor was trading revenue, which jumped to ₦210.13 billion from ₦23.86 billion in 9M 2025, a growth of about 780.58 per cent.
Trading revenue made up 25.70 per cent of the group’s total income in 9M 2026, against 3.64 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025.
The growth in trading earnings was especially significant because the group’s traditional interest-generating activities performed more weakly over the period.
Interest income fell by 5.35 per cent to ₦545.35 billion from ₦576.18 billion, while interest expense rose by 27.63 per cent to ₦165.57 billion from ₦129.72 billion.
As a result, net interest income dropped by 14.93 per cent to ₦379.79 billion from ₦446.47 billion.
By contrast, non-interest revenue more than doubled to ₦437.99 billion, lifting its share of total income to 53.56 per cent from 31.85 per cent.
Transaction-related earnings also strengthened beyond trading income.
Net fee and commission revenue grew by 26.48 per cent to ₦218.30 billion from ₦172.59 billion, adding another significant boost to profitability.
Income from life insurance activities also increased to ₦6.67 billion from ₦4.81 billion.
Other revenue, however, fell to ₦2.89 billion from ₦7.43 billion.
The group’s segment disclosures showed that Corporate and Investment Banking remained the biggest contributor to both total income and pre-tax profit.
Corporate and Investment Banking income rose by 26.48 per cent to ₦516.71 billion from ₦408.54 billion, accounting for 63.18 per cent of consolidated income.
The segment’s pre-tax profit increased to ₦392.07 billion from ₦296.74 billion.
Total income at Insurance and Asset Management grew by 36.31 per cent to ₦153.72 billion from ₦112.77 billion, representing 18.80 per cent of consolidated income.
Its pre-tax profit rose to ₦98.91 billion from ₦68.83 billion.
At Business and Commercial Banking, total income went up by 18.12 per cent to ₦109.91 billion from ₦93.05 billion, contributing 13.44 per cent of consolidated income.
The segment’s pre-tax profit increased to ₦30.53 billion from ₦17.07 billion.
Income at Personal and Private Banking grew by 18.85 per cent to ₦56.00 billion from ₦47.12 billion.
Its pre-tax profit, however, slipped to ₦10.37 billion from ₦11.20 billion.
Another major support to earnings was the fall in credit impairment charges.
Net impairment charges dropped by 95.64 per cent to ₦507 million from ₦11.64 billion in the corresponding period of 2025.
In the third quarter, the group recorded a net impairment write-back of ₦6.85 billion, compared with a charge of ₦533 million in Q3 2025.
The lighter impairment burden reduced the amount deducted from operating income for credit-related losses, giving further support to profitability.
Operating expenses, however, rose by 14.30 per cent to ₦285.39 billion from ₦249.69 billion.
Even so, total income grew faster than operating expenses, which supported stronger profitability.
On the balance sheet, total assets increased by ₦978.60 billion to ₦9.60 trillion from ₦8.62 trillion in December 2025.
The expansion was supported by growth in trading assets, financial investments, cash and bank balances, and other assets.
Trading assets rose by 51.85 per cent to ₦1.31 trillion from ₦862.16 billion.
Financial investments grew by 11.60 per cent to ₦1.66 trillion from ₦1.49 trillion.
Cash and bank balances increased by 14.84 per cent to ₦1.95 trillion from ₦1.70 trillion.
Other assets rose to ₦1.21 trillion from ₦403.87 billion.
On the other hand, total loans and advances declined by 20.90 per cent to ₦3.04 trillion from ₦3.84 trillion.
The decline was concentrated in interbank lending rather than customer loans.
Loans and advances to banks fell by 70.79 per cent to ₦428.08 billion from ₦1.47 trillion.
Loans and advances to customers grew by 9.87 per cent to ₦2.61 trillion from ₦2.38 trillion.
On the funding side, total deposits and current accounts rose by 12.30 per cent to ₦5.37 trillion from ₦4.78 trillion.
Customer deposits grew by 4.46 per cent to ₦4.57 trillion, while deposits from banks increased to ₦802.70 billion from ₦409.67 billion.
The group’s shareholders’ equity also strengthened, rising by 27.26 per cent to ₦1.43 trillion from ₦1.12 trillion.
The improvement was supported by higher retained earnings, which grew to ₦854.79 billion from ₦586.32 billion.
Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc shares have gained 60 per cent year-to-date, rising from ₦100.00 at the start of 2026 to ₦160.00 as of Friday, October 23, 2026.
