Guaranty Trust Bank plc has released its audited financial results for the
year ended December 31, 2018 to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.
A review of the results shows positive performance across all financial
metrics and improved strategic positioning of the brand. Gross earnings
for the year grew by 3.7% to ₦434.7billion from ₦419.2billion reported in
the December 2017. Profit before tax stood at ₦215.6billion, representing
a growth of 9.1% over ₦197.7billion* recorded in the corresponding year
ended December 2017.
The Bank’s customer deposits increased by 10.3% to ₦2.274trillion from
₦2.062trillion in December 2017, however, loan book dipped by 12.9% from
₦1.449trillion recorded as at December 2017 to ₦1.262trillion in December
2018.
In view of the above, the Bank closed the 2018 financial year with Total
Assets of ₦3.287trillion and Shareholders’ Funds of ₦575.6Billion. In
terms of Assets quality, NPL ratio and Cost of Risk improved to 7.3% and
0.3% in December 2018 from 7.7% and 0.8% in December 2017 respectively.
In addition, coverage ratio for NPL stood at 105.1% and Capital adequacy
ratio remained very strong, closing at 23.4% 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% and 5.6% respectively.
The Bank is proposing final dividend of ₦2.45k 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 ₦2.75k
per unit of ordinary share.
Commenting on the financial results, the Managing Director/CEO of Guaranty
Trust Bank plc, Mr Segun Agbaje, 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; Habari.
GTBank has continued to report the best financial ratios in terms of
profitability, efficiency and capital for a Financial Institution in
Nigeria as revealed by its return on equity (ROAE) of 30.9%, cost to
income ratio of 37.1% and capital adequacy of 23.4%. These ratios are a
testament to the efficient management of the Bank.
In recognition of the Bank’s bias for world class corporate governance
standards, excellent service delivery and innovation, GTBank has been a
recipient of numerous awards over the years.
Some of the Bank’s awards in 2018 include Bank of the Year – Nigeria from
the Banker Magazine, Best Banking Group and Best Retail Bank Nigeria from
World Finance Magazine, Most Innovative Bank from the African Investor,
and Best Digital Banking Brand in Nigeria from the Global Brands Magazine.