GTCO Announces 11% Increase in PBT, Declares N0.30 Interim Dividend

Kayode Tokede

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO) yesterday announced a profit before tax of N103.2billion in its audited half year (H1) ended June 30, 2022 results, representing an increase of 11per cent over N93.1billion recorded in the corresponding period ended June 2021.

The increase in profit before tax, according to results posted on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and London Stock Exchange (LSE) can be attributable to 15.09 per cent increase in gross earnings to N239.3billion in H1 2022 from N207.91billion reported in H1 2021.

Amid an increase in profit, the management of GTCO proposed the payment of an interim dividend of N0.30 kobo per ordinary share on the issued capital of 29,431,179,224 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.

The Group’s loan book (net) increased by 1.8 per cent from N1.80trillion recorded as at December 2021 to N1.83trillion in June 2022 while deposit liabilities increased by 6.4 per cent from N4.13trillion in December 2021 to N4.39trillion in June 2022.

The Group’s balance sheet remained well structured and resilient with total assets and shareholders’ funds closing at N5.7trillion and N845.7billion, respectively.
Full Impact Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) stayed very strong, closing at 22per cent, while asset quality was sustained as IFRS 9 Stage 3 Loans ratio and Cost of Risk (COR) closed at 6.2 per cent and 0.2 per cent in June 2022 from six per cent and 0.5 per cent in December 2021, respectively.

Commenting on the results, the Group Chief Executive Officer of GTCO, Mr. Segun Agbaje, in a statement said, “Our results show an increase in key revenue lines and a strong performance in other financial metrics which reinforce our growth prospects as a leading financial services company.

“Our priority at the start of the 2022 financial year was to bring the Group’s new businesses on-stream, starting strong with a focus on long-term viability.
“At present, we have successfully expanded our financial services ecosystem to include HabariPay Ltd, Guaranty Trust Fund Managers Ltd, and Guaranty Trust Pension Managers Ltd, and all of them are P&L positive.”

He further stated that, “These newly created businesses will operate alongside our flagship banking franchise to offer increased value to our growing customer base as well as other stakeholders.

“We will continue to build on our core strengths of service excellence, innovation, and flawless execution to deliver our corporate objectives for the year and further our vision of being Africa’s leading financial services institution.”

Overall, the Group continues to post one of the best metrics in the Nigerian Financial Services industry in terms of key financial ratios i.e., Pre-Tax Return on Equity (ROAE) of 23.9 per cent, Pre-Tax Return on Assets (ROAA) of 3.7 per cent, Full Impact Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 22 per cent and Cost to Income ratio of 49.1 per cent.