- proposes N2.70 dividend per share
By Chioma Obinagwam
Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.(GTBank) has said that its Profit Before Tax(PBT) grew by 21 per cent in it’s audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2017 released to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.
Extracts from the result show that PBT stood at ₦200.2 billion, representing a growth of 21.3 per cent over ₦165.1 billion recorded in the corresponding year ended December 2016.
The results further shows positive performance across all financial indices, reaffirming the Bank’s position as one of the most profitable and well managed financial institutions in Nigeria.
Gross Earnings for the year also grew by 1.1 per cent to ₦419.2 billion from ₦414.6 billion reported in the December 2016; driven primarily by growth in interest income as well as e-payment revenues.
Nonetheless, the Bank recorded an 8.9 per cent decline in its loan book dropping from ₦1.590 trillion in December 2016 to ₦1.449trillion in the review period even as Customer Deposits increased by 3.8 per cent to ₦2.062 trillion from ₦1.986 trillion in the prior year of 2016.
The result also indicated that the bank’s balance sheet remained strong with a 3.9 per cent growth in Total Assets and Contingents as the Bank closed the year ended December 2017 with Total Assets and Contingents of ₦3.845 trillion and Shareholders’ Funds of ₦625.2 billion.
In terms of Assets quality, Non performing loan(NPL) ratio increased to 7.7 per cent in December 2017 from 3.7 per cent in December 2016 and was largely due to classification of a single exposure within the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry.
“Expectedly, non-performing loans would moderate to 4.6 per cent, which is below regulatory threshold, if we exclude this name from NPL ratio computation,” the bank disclosed.
Again, the bank noted, overall, asset quality remains stable with adequate coverage of 119.6 per cent, while Capital remains strong with CAR of 25.7 per cent.
On the backdrop of this result, Return on Equity (ROAE) and Return on Assets (ROAA) closed at 35.4 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively.
As a result, the bank is proposing a final dividend of 240 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 2017 financial year to ₦2.70 per unit of ordinary share.
Commenting on the financial results, the Managing Director(MD)/ Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of (GTBank) 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, “The result demonstrates the fundamental strength of our franchise as well as the progress we are making in transforming our organization 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 per cent and cost to income ratio of 38.1 per cent 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 has received over 20 international awards in 2017.