By Chioma Obinagwam
Africa’s leading bank, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) has said it posted a Profit After Tax(PAT) growth of 13.11 per cent in half year (H1) 2017.
Extracts from the result showed that PAT(that is profit for the period) rose to N83.68 billion from the N71.77 billion it recorded in the corresponding year of 2016.
Similarly, Profit Before Tax(PBT) increased to N101.10 billion from the N85.69 billion recorded in the prior year.
This increase is coming despite the lower credit loss provisioning during the period; however, translating to a growth of 10.64 per cent year on year(y/y ).
More so, the growth led to an annualized Earning Per Share(EPS) of N3.00.
Furthermore, Gross Earnings grew marginally by 2.01 per cent y/y, supported by a surge in Interest Income which more than offset the significant decline in non-interest income.
The high y/y growth in Interest Income was on the back of growth in interest income on loans, which rose by 19.93 per cent and impressive gains on investment securities. The latter was driven by increases in available for sale and held to maturity securities, following an increase in fixed income securities volume from the expansion in the NGN yield curve.
Although, GTBank is known to be consistent with its dividend payment, the bank is also proposing an interim dividend of 30 kobo – translating to a payout ratio of 10.55 per cent and a dividend yield of 0.77 per cent.