Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, the parent company of Sterling Bank and The Alternative Bank, is consolidating every 10 of its existing shares into one new share. Trading in its shares on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) was suspended on 23 September 2026 while the change is processed, and could stay suspended until 7 October 2026..
If you own Sterling shares, here’s what changes, what doesn’t, and what to watch when trading resumes.
Quick answer: you’ll own one-tenth as many shares, but each share should be worth about 10 times as much. The total value of your holding shouldn’t change because of the reconstruction itself.
What Sterling is doing
According to the company’s announcement:
| Before | After | |
| Number of shares | 68,502,331,708 | 6,850,233,171 |
| Nominal (par) value per share | 50 kobo | 50 kobo |
| Issued share capital | ₦34.25bn | ₦3.43bn |
| Total shareholders’ funds | ₦547.7bn | ₦547.7bn (unchanged) |
The ₦30.83 billion difference in share capital isn’t lost. It moves into a new share reconstruction reserve on the balance sheet. This is an accounting reclassification, and the bank’s total equity stays the same.
Shareholders approved the plan at Sterling’s Annual General Meeting on 9 June 2026, and a Federal High Court order dated 22 September 2026 confirmed it. The company says it has also received the necessary regulatory no-objections.
What it means for your shares
Your share count drops by 90%
If you held 1,000 Sterling shares, you’ll now hold 100. Shares held electronically through the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) will be converted automatically. You don’t need to do anything.
The share price should adjust by roughly 10 times
Sterling last traded at around ₦7.70 before the suspension, according to market data. Mathematically, that works out to about ₦77 per new share. So:
- Before: 1,000 shares × ₦7.70 = ₦7,700
- After: 100 shares × ₦77 = ₦7,700
Sterling itself notes that actual prices “may rise or fall when trading resumes”. Once trading reopens, the market decides the price.
If your shares don’t divide evenly by 10
Say you hold 1,005 shares. You’ll be credited with 100 whole new shares. The leftover fraction will be pooled with other shareholders’ fractions and sold, and you’ll receive your share of the net proceeds in cash.
Dividends
Any dividends you’re already owed stay intact. Future dividends will be calculated on the new, smaller number of shares, so dividend per share will look bigger, but that doesn’t mean you’ll receive more in total.
Why do this now?
Sterling says the move will improve the efficiency of its capital structure, support “more efficient price formation” and make per-share performance easier to assess for institutional and retail investors.
It helps to see why. In the first half of 2026, Sterling reported ₦50.3 billion profit after tax (up 20.4%), gross earnings of ₦279.6 billion, and total assets of ₦4.67 trillion. Spread across 68.5 billion shares, that profit is only about 73 kobo per share. Across 6.85 billion shares, it becomes about ₦7.34 per share. The business is the same, but the per-share numbers look more like those of the larger listed banks.
This isn’t a fundraising exercise. Sterling had already completed its Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recapitalization. The group injected ₦153 billion into Sterling Bank and The Alternative Bank through a private placement and a rights issue, and received final approval in January 2026. No new money is being raised in this reconstruction, and existing shareholders aren’t being diluted.
Key dates
| Date | Event |
| 9 Jun 2026 | Shareholders approve reconstruction at AGM |
| 22 Sep 2026 | Federal High Court order confirms share reduction |
| 23 Sep 2026 | Trading in Sterling shares suspended on NGX |
| Up to 7 Oct 2026 | CSCS and Pace Registrars reconcile holdings; trading expected to resume after this |
What shareholders should do
- Check your CSCS statement after trading resumes to confirm your new holding (your old number ÷ 10, rounded down).
- Holding paper certificates? Contact Sterling’s registrar, Pace Registrars Limited, about updating your records.
- Don’t panic at the new price. A share showing around ₦77 instead of ₦7.70 isn’t a tenfold gain. It’s the same value in fewer shares.
- Beware of scams. No legitimate registrar will ask for your password or a “processing fee” to convert your shares.
This is news, not investment advice. TechPeza doesn’t recommend buying or selling any stock. Speak to a licensed stockbroker or financial adviser before making investment decisions.
Sources
- Sterling Financial announcement and figures: Nairametrics; TechCabal; Techpoint Brand Press
- NGX trading suspension: Leadership
- Recapitalisation: Nairametrics, Feb 2026
- Last traded price: KoboTerminal
