Guaranty Trust Bank plc declared a profit before tax of N200.24 billion in its audited 2017 financial year result released its audited financial results on the floor of the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.
The results shows impressive performance across all financial indices. According to the result Gross earnings for the year grew marginally by 1.1 per cent to ₦419.2billion from ₦414.6billion in 2016; driven primarily by growth in interest income as well as e-payment revenues. Profit before tax stood at ₦200.2billion, representing a growth of 21.3 per cent over ₦165.1billion recorded in 2016. The Bank’s loan book dipped by 8.9 per cent from ₦1.590trillion in 2016 to ₦1.449trillion in 2017 while customer deposits increased by 3.8 per cent to ₦2.062trillion from ₦1.986trillion in 2016.
The Bank’s balance sheet grew by 3.9 per cent in total assets and contingents of ₦3.845trillion and Shareholders’ Funds of ₦625.2Billion. In terms of Assets quality, non performing loans NPL, ratio rose to 7.7 per cent in 2017 from 3.7 per cent in 2016 largely as a result of classification of a single exposure within the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry. Overall, asset quality remains stable with adequate coverage of 119.6 per cent, while Capital remains strong with CAR of 25.7 per cent. Return on Equity (ROAE) and Return on Assets (ROAA) closed at 35.4 per cent and 6.2 per cent respectively. The Bank is proposing a final dividend of 240k per unit of ordinary share held by shareholders in addition to interim dividend of 30k per unit of ordinary share bringing total dividend for 2017 financial year to ₦2.70 per unit of ordinary share.
Commenting on the financial results, the Managing Director/CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said; “2017 was a pivotal year for the bank. We delivered a strong result in a challenging environment; achieving record growth in earnings, carefully managing cost margins and leveraging our digital-first customer-centric strategy to deliver world-class services that are simple, cheap and easily accessible.” He further stated that “The result demonstrates the fundamental strength of our franchise as well as the progress we are making in transforming our organisation into a platform on which our customers could build their businesses, connect with their consumers and access all the resources that they need to make their lives better.”
GTBank has continued to report the best financial ratios for a Financial Institution in the industry as revealed by its return on equity (ROE) of 35.4% and cost to income ratio of 38.1% evidencing the efficient management of assets and operational efficiency. Overall, the Bank has enshrined its position as a clear leader in the industry. In recognition of its innovation and hard work, the Bank received over 20 international awards in 2017.
