Sterling Share Reconstruction: Why the Price Is Now ₦77

Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc (NGX: STERLINGNG) now trades at a reference price of ₦77.00 instead of ₦7.70 because it has combined every 10 old shares into 1 new share. The company is not suddenly worth ten times more. Its market value stayed at about ₦527.5 billion, and every shareholder owns the same slice of the company as before. If you saw the price on your app and wondered what happened, here is a plain explanation.

What happened on 8 October

According to an NGX Regulation market bulletin dated 8 October 2026:

• All 68,502,331,708 existing Sterling shares were removed from the NGX Daily Official List.
• On the same day, 6,850,233,171 new ordinary shares of 50 kobo each were listed at ₦77.00 per share.
• The exercise followed shareholder approval at the company's June 2026 Annual General Meeting and a no-objection from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cowry Asset Management also noted a High Court order.
• The trading suspension that had been placed on the stock for the exercise was lifted.

Share capital on the balance sheet fell by about 90%, from ₦34.25 billion to ₦3.43 billion. When the stock traded on Friday, 9 October, it closed flat, according to Nairametrics.

What it means for your holding

Think of it like changing ten ₦100 notes for one ₦1,000 note. You have fewer notes, but the same money.

The numbers above are before any normal market price changes after relisting. If your old holding did not divide neatly by 10, the leftover fraction was to be rounded down or sold in the market, with the cash shared among affected shareholders, according to Nairametrics' report of the AGM proposal.

Why Sterling did it

A share count that kept growing

Sterling, like many Nigerian banks, issued a lot of new shares to meet the CBN's higher capital requirements. Nairametrics' analysis shows the share count went from about 28.79 billion going into 2024 to 45.46 billion in 2024, 54.69 billion in 2025 and 68.50 billion by mid-2026.

The money came from three main raises: a ₦75 billion private placement, a ₦28.79 billion rights issue and an ₦88 billion public offer. Sterling said about ₦153 billion was finally injected into Sterling Bank and The Alternative Bank.

Profit up, but spread thinner

More shares meant each share got a smaller piece of profit:

• In 2025, profit after tax rose 74.8% to ₦76.33 billion, but earnings per share (EPS) barely moved, from ₦1.51 to ₦1.52.
• In H1 2026, profit after tax rose 20.4% to ₦50.30 billion, yet EPS fell from 89 kobo to 77 kobo because of the larger share base.

The company says a smaller share count should improve price formation and make per-share figures easier to compare with peers. Cowry Asset Management called the move "fundamentally neutral" to shareholder value but "strategically positive" for how the stock is positioned in the market.

How it compares with past NGX cases

Sterling is not the first:

• Wema Bank did a 1-for-3 reconstruction in 2022, cutting its shares from about 38.57 billion to 12.86 billion.
• Transcorp did a 1-for-4 reconstruction in 2024, from about 40.6 billion shares to 10.2 billion.
• Aradel Holdings went the other way in 2024 with a stock split, which increased its share count and lowered its price.

Some of these stocks rose after their exercises, but Nairametrics notes such gains can also reverse. The structure change alone does not create profit.

Three things to watch

1. Fix your charts. Any price history before 8 October needs to be multiplied by 10 to compare with today. Cowry warned that comparing unadjusted history with new numbers will overstate growth tenfold.
2. Expect bigger swings early on. With far fewer shares available to trade, Cowry said early sessions may show exaggerated price moves while the market finds a level.
3. Dividends per share will look bigger. Because each share now represents ten old ones, any future dividend per share will be quoted on the new base. Compare totals, not headlines.

What this means for investors

If you hold Sterling, you have not gained or lost anything from the reconstruction itself. Check your CSCS statement or broker app to confirm your new unit count is one tenth of the old one. If it is not, contact your stockbroker or the registrar. From here, the stock's direction depends on the usual things: earnings growth, return on equity, dividends and how its valuation compares with other banks. Treat ₦77 as a starting reference, not a target.

This is for information only and is not investment advice.

FAQ

Why did Sterling's share price jump from ₦7.70 to ₦77?

Because of a 1-for-10 share reconstruction. Every 10 old shares became 1 new share, so the price was multiplied by 10. The company's total value did not change.

Did I lose shares in the Sterling reconstruction?

You have fewer shares, but each is worth ten times as much, so your holding's value is the same. Only fractions that did not divide by 10 were rounded down or sold for cash.

Is a share reconstruction good or bad for shareholders?

On its own it is neutral: it changes the number of shares, not the value of the business. Its effect over time depends on the company's results and on how investors price the stock.

Sources

• NGX Regulation, Market Bulletin: "Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc: Implementing the Share Capital Reconstruction" (8 Oct 2026): https://doclib.ngxgroup.com/Listings-site/corporate-disclosure-site/Documents/Market%20Bulletin%20-%20Sterling%20Financial%20Holdings%20Company%20Plc's%20Share%20Reconstruction.pdf
• Nairametrics, "Sterling cuts bloated share count by 90%, resets price to N77" (11 Oct 2026): https://nairametrics.com/2026/10/11/sterling-cuts-bloated-share-count-by-90-resets-price-to-n77/
• Nairametrics, "Sterling Financial Holdings relists on NGX at N77.00 after 1-for-10 reconstruction" (9 Oct 2026): https://nairametrics.com/2026/10/09/sterling-financial-holdings-relists-on-ngx-at-n77-00-after-1-for-10-reconstruction/
• BusinessDay, "Sterling HoldCo resumes trading at N77 per share after reconstruction" (8 Oct 2026): https://businessday.ng/companies/article/sterling-holdco-resumes-trading-at-n77-per-share-after-reconstruction/
• Leadership, "Sterling Financial Holdings Re-lists At N77 After Share Reconstruction": https://leadership.ng/sterling-financial-holdings-re-lists-at-n77-after-share-reconstruction/