Sterling Financial Begins Share Consolidation, Suspends Trading on NGX

Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc has commenced its approved share capital reconstruction, consolidating every ten existing ordinary shares into one new ordinary share.

The exercise is designed to improve capital-structure efficiency, support strategic growth and strengthen the Group’s positioning with institutional and retail investors, following the expansion of its equity base through multiple rounds of capital raises.

To implement the exercise, trading in the Group’s shares on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) was temporarily suspended on September 23, 2026. The announced suspension period runs for up to ten working days, through October 7, 2026, allowing the Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS) and Pace Registrars Limited to reconcile holdings and update the shareholder register.

The Company said it expects the revised share structure to support more efficient price formation and strengthen its appeal to institutional and retail investors.

“Alongside consistently adjusted financial disclosures, the reconstruction is intended to make per-share performance easier to assess across reporting periods,” it added.

Shareholders approved the reconstruction at the Annual General Meeting on June 9, 2026. The requisite regulatory no-objections have been obtained and an order of the Federal High Court, dated September 22, 2026, confirmed the share reduction exercise.

Under the approved structure, issued ordinary shares will reduce from 68.502 billion to 6.850 billion, each retaining a nominal value of 50 kobo. This reclassification leaves total shareholders’ funds unchanged. It does not constitute a fresh capital raise or a cash distribution.

For individual shareholders, every 10,000 existing shares will become 1,000 reconstructed shares, with a corresponding tenfold adjustment to the reference price. This preserves the calculated holding value at the point of adjustment. Actual trading prices may rise or fall when trading resumes.

Sterling Financial enters this phase following a first half in which profit after tax grew 20.4 percent to N50.3 billion on gross earnings of N279.6 billion. Total assets reached N4.67 trillion, while shareholders’ funds increased 27.8 percent to N547.7 billion.