Nigeria's Stanbic IBTC says H1 profit up 50 pct, pays dividend

Kenyan city residents walk past Stanbic Bank in the capital Nairobi January 25, 2007. REUTERS/Antony Njuguna

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria's Stanbic IBTC said on Friday its first-half pretax profit rose 50 percent to 19.62 billion naira and proposed a dividend payment of 1.10 naira per share. Gross earnings rose 13 percent to 61.47 billion naira during the six months period to June 30, the local unit of South Africa's Standard Bank, said in a filing with the Nigerian Stock Exchange. It said it will pay the dividend on Aug. 26