Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Wednesday, posted a profit before tax of N215.6 billion, representing an increase of 9.1 percent over the ₦197.7 billion recorded in 2017.
This was contained in its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2018 released to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.
A review of the results shows positive performance across some financial metrics and improved strategic positioning of the brand. Gross earnings for the year grew by 3.7 percent to ₦434.7 billion from ₦419.2 billion reported in the December 2017.
The bank’s customer deposits increased by 10.3 percent to ₦2.274 trillion from ₦2.062 trillion in December 2017, however, loan book dipped by 12.9 percent from ₦1.449 trillion recorded as at December 2017 to ₦1.262 trillion in December 2018.
In view of the above, the Bank closed the 2018 financial year with Total Assets of ₦3.287 trillion and shareholders’ funds of ₦575.6 billion. In terms of Assets quality, Non-Performing Loan, NPL ratio and Cost of Risk improved to 7.3 percent and 0.3 percent in December 2018 from 7.7 percent and 0.8 percent in December 2017 respectively.
In addition, coverage ratio for NPL stood at 105.1 percent and Capital adequacy ratio remained very strong, closing at 23.4 percent despite the implementation of IFRS 9. On the backdrop of this result, Post Tax Return on Equity (ROAE) and Return on Assets (ROAA) closed at 30.9 percent and 5.6 percent respectively.
The bank is proposing final dividend of ₦2.45 kobo per unit of ordinary share held by shareholders in addition to interim dividend of 30k per unit of ordinary share bringing total dividend for 2018 financial year to ₦2.75 kobo per unit of ordinary share.
Commenting on the financial results, Mr Segun Agbaje, the Managing Director/CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank plc, said, “In 2018, our focus on staying nimble, strengthening customer relationships and driving our digital-first strategy paid off.
“We successfully navigated the pressures of our challenging and radically changing business environment, recorded growth across key financial indices and reaffirmed our position as one of the best performing and well managed financial institutions in Africa.
He further stated that: “This result reflects, not just the fundamental strength of our brand, but also our commitment to our values of excellence, creating value for all stakeholders and putting our customers first in everything that we do. Driven by these values, we are building the bank of the future by pairing the best of our business with the massive potential of digital technologies to create Africa’s first integrated and trusted platform.”
