Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc has disclosed that Seven Degrees North Limited, a private investment firm linked to CEO Yemi Odubiyi, acquired shares worth N578.1 million.
According to a filing on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), a total of 82 million ordinary shares were purchased at N7.05 per share on the trading platform in Lagos.
The transaction, identified as NGSTERLNHCO9, was executed in two tranches on 24 December and 29 December.
The first tranche involved 62 million shares, while the second comprised 20 million shares.
Based on Sterling’s nine-month 2025 financial statements released in October, Mr. Odubiyi previously had no indirect shareholding.
He now holds 82 million indirect units through Seven Degrees North Limited.
His direct shareholding also rose from 376,417,493 units in December 2024 to 729,420,773 units by September.
In total, Odubiyi controls 811,420,773 units, representing a 1.56 percent stake in the company’s outstanding share capital of 52.1 billion units.
Sterling’s chairman, Adeyemi Adeola, remains the board member with the highest stake, holding 12,256,865,434 units or 23.52 percent.
The 82 million-unit purchase was made at N7.05 per share, a level that may attract value-focused investors.
Sterling’s shares have delivered over 25 percent return this year, rising from N5.60 at the start of 2025 to N7.05 as of the last trading day of the year.
The stock opened the year with a 3.57 percent gain in January, followed by a decline to N5.40 in April.
From May, the share price rose steadily, peaking at N7.80 in August before entering a retracement phase.
Sterling reported a 141 percent increase in profit before tax for the nine-month period, rising to N70.96 billion from N29.4 billion in the previous year.
Growth in interest income, which increased by 38.73 percent to N262.4 billion, was a major contributor.
Loans and advances to customers accounted for about N175 billion of this growth.
After interest expenses of N119.3 billion, net interest income stood at N143 billion.
This was supplemented by N35.8 billion in net fees and commission income, net trading income of N22.7 billion and other income of N20.5 billion, bringing operating income to N222.2 billion, a 57.69 percent increase.
After impairment charges, operating income settled at N214.2 billion.
On the balance sheet, total assets grew from N3.5 trillion to N4.0 trillion, while retained earnings rose 62 percent to N102.1 billion.
