FY19: GTBank to Pay N2.50 Dividend as EPS Hits N6.96

By Dipo Olowookere

The board of directors of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc has recommended the payment of N2.50 as final dividend to shareholders of the company.

This was made by the lender in the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2019 released to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, March 2, 2020.

Earlier in the 2019 fiscal year, the financial institution had paid 30 kobo as interim dividend to shareholders of the company, bringing the total dividend for the year to N2.80 per unit, higher than N2.75 per share paid in the 2018 financial year.

Business Post reports that in the period under review, GTBank slightly increased its earnings to N435.3 billion from N434.7 billion in FY2018, with a net interest income of N231.4 billion in FY19 compared with N222.4 billion in the corresponding period of 2018.

The bank also increased its fee and commission income to N62.4 billion from N52.4 billion, while the fee and commission expense rose to N3.0 billion from N1.9 billion in 2018 financial year. This left the lender with a net fee and commission income of N59.4 billion against N50.5 billion in the same time of two years ago.

Last year, GTBank increased its personnel expenses to N37.3 billion from N36.9 billion, while other income improved to N55.8 billion from N50.8 billion.

Also, deposits from customers grew to N2.5 trillion from N2.3 trillion, while loans and advances to customers increased to N1.5 trillion from N1.3 trillion.

A breakdown of this loans by Business Post indicated that loans to individuals gulped N197.6 billion, higher than N147.6 billion in 2018, while loans to non-individuals accounted for N1.3 trillion, higher than N1.1 trillion in the prior year.

In the earnings, the tier-one lender disclosed that its retained earnings jumped to N119.3 billion in the financial year under consideration from N107.3 billion in the previous year.

A look at the bottom-line showed that profit before tax increased to N231.7 billion from N215.6 billion, while the profit after tax appreciated to N196.9 billion from N184.7 billion, with the earnings per share (EPS) reaching N6.96 from N6.54.