Shareholders of Guaranty Trust Bank, (GTBank) Plc yesterday, approved the payment of N51.5 billion dividend declared by the Board of Directors for the financial year ended December31, 2015.
The shareholders ratified the bank’s 2015 financial statement at the twenty sixth Annual General Meeting, AGM, just as they commended the management and board for the impressive results recorded during the year under review.
The Chairman of Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, PSAN, Mr. Boniface Okezie, who spoke the minds of shareholders at the meeting said “ We commend the board for listening to the advice of shareholders on bonus issue and that is why it is paying high dividend and has recorded impressive results when compared to its peers in the industry. Bonus issue will over bloat the shares and servicing it might not be easy especially during this period of economic headwind.”
A review of the 2015 results shows positive performance across all financial indices. The Group recforded Profit Before Tax, PBT of N120.7billion, an increase of N4.3billion or 3.7 per cent over the N116.4 billion reported in December 2014 and Gross Earnings of N301.9billion an increase of 8.4 per cent from the N278.5billion recorded in the same period of 2014. In terms of value creation for its shareholders, the bank recorded pre-tax Return on Asset and Equity, ROAE of 31.0 per cent and Return on Average Asset, ROAA of 5.0 per cent respectively.
The bank’s balance sheet remained strong with 7.2 per cent growth in total assets, from N2.36trillion in 2014 to N2.52trillion in the year under review. Loans to customers grew by 7.5 per cent to close at N1.37trillion from N1.28trillion in 2014. Despite the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by the FGN, customer deposits remained relatively stable with a marginal year-on-year decline of 0.49 per cent from N1.62 trillion in 2014 to N1.61trillion in 2015. The Bank continued to maintain a disciplined and prudent approach to loan growth in line with its Risk Management framework. The Bank’s Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio remained low at 3.21 per cent ; up slightly from 3.15 per cent in the comparative period of 2014.
Against this back drop of strong financial showing, the bank declared Total-Year Dividend of N1.77k per share (inclusive of the 25kobo interim dividend paid at half year 2015).
In his comment, Mr. Segun Agbaje, Managing Director/CEO of GTBank said that the bank’s financial performance in 2015 is an indication that we have earned the loyalty of our customers and an attestation of the hard work and dedication of our staff, management and Board. The Group has delivered a respectable Profit Before Tax of N120.7billion despite an extremely challenging business environment in 2015.
He further stated that “As a Bank, we will continue to actively partner with our customers and grow our business in a sustainable manner that is not only driven by profit objective, but with an increased focus on empowering our customers with a view to growing Nigerian economy. Also, we remain committed to maximising shareholders’ value and delivering superior and sustainable returns whilst actively expanding our franchise in select, high growth African markets where we believe we have a competitive advantage.”
