Banking
Growth in Interest Income Buoys GTBank’s 2017 Earnings
**Pays N2.40k Per Share Dividend
By Dipo Olowookere
Foremost pan-African lender, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc has released its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2017 to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.
A review of the results 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.
In the financial statements, the lender’s gross earnings for the year grew by 1.1 percent to N419.2 billion from N414.6 billion reported in the December 2016; driven primarily by growth in interest income as well as e-payment revenues.
During the year under review, the profit before tax stood at N200.2 billion, representing a growth of 21.3 percent over N165.1billion recorded in the corresponding year ended December 2016, while the profit after tax was N170.5 billion last year in contrast to N132.3 billion achieved two years ago.
Also, the financial institution’s loan book dipped by 8.9 percent from N1.590 trillion recorded as at December 2016 to N1.449 trillion in December 2017 while customer deposits increased by 3.8 percent to N2.062 trillion from N1.986 trillion in December 2016.
Furthermore, the bank’s balance sheet remained strong with a 3.9 percent growth in Total Assets and Contingents as the lender closed the year ended December 2017 with Total Assets and Contingents of N3.845 trillion and Shareholders’ Funds of N625.2 billion.
In terms of assets quality, NPL ratio increased to 7.7 percent in December 2017 from 3.7 percent in December 2016 largely as a result of classification of a single exposure within the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry.
However, the non-performing loans would moderate to 4.6 percent, which is below regulatory threshold of 5 percent, if the single loan exposure is excluded from the NPL ratio computation.
Overall, asset quality remains stable with adequate coverage of 119.6 percent, while capital remains strong with CAR of 25.7 percent.
On the backdrop of this result, Return on Equity (ROAE) and Return on Assets (ROAA) closed at 35.4 percent and 6.2 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, GTBank has proposed a final dividend of 240k (N2.40k) 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 N2.70 per unit of ordinary share.
Commenting on the financial results, Managing Director/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 that, “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 percent and cost to income ratio of 38.1 percent 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, GTBank received over 20 international awards in 2017.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Global financial payments giant, Visa, has made a strategic investment of $10 million in Nigerian fintech unicorn, Moniepoint, to expand its services and deepen financial inclusion on the African continent.
This development comes three months after Moniepoint raised $110 million in a Series C funding round that made the company a unicorn.
With the new play, Visa joins other investors, including Development Partners International, Google’s Africa Investment Fund, Verod Capital, Lightrock, QED Investors, Novastar Ventures, British International Investment (BII), FMO (the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank), Global Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst as equity partners.
This partnership will combine Moniepoint’s local expertise and innovative business model with Visa’s global resources and capabilities to offer payment solutions to businesses and entities.
Moniepoint provides banking and payment services to small and medium businesses and retail banking. It is one of the market leaders in Nigeria’s agent banking space, with over 300,000 POS agents and has processed billions of transactions since it was founded in 2015.
The new Visa’s investment will further help Moniepoint expand its services and deepen financial inclusion on a continent that still has a comparatively low rate of financial services adoption.
Moniepoint will leverage Visa’s Cybersource system to gain better visibility into transactions. Additionally, it plans to integrate with Visa Direct for remittances and money transfers as it looks to expand into markets within and outside Africa.
Speaking on the move, Mr Tosin Eniolorunda, Founder and Group CEO of Moniepoint said, “Visa’s backing is a strong endorsement of our vision to digitize and support African businesses at scale.
“We aim to deepen financial inclusion, enabling SMEs to access the tools and resources they need to thrive in an increasingly digital economy.”
On his part, Mr Andrew Torre, Regional President, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Visa, noted that, “Moniepoint has built an impressive platform that directly addresses the needs of Africa’s SMEs, a critical segment in enabling economic development.
”By making financial services and digital payments more accessible and efficient, Moniepoint is helping transform how businesses operate in Nigeria and beyond.
“We are excited to support their next phase of growth and innovation,” he added.
By Dipo Olowookere
Efforts are being made by the management of a rapidly growing financial technology (fintech) company,
Bankit Microfinance Bank (MFB), to grow its loan and gaming services.
The firm said this is one of its targets for 2025 to solidify its position as a leading platform for comprehensive, simplified banking activities after it recorded remarkable growth in 2024 with different milestones as a result of its competitive edge and cutting-edge technology.
The digital financial services provider said it was already talking to its various partners on how to ensure customers get more access to credit facilities for different needs.
It said nothing would be spared to revolutionise digital banking in Nigeria, especially with a focus on innovation, customer protection, and financial inclusion.
Last year, Bankit MFB, within its first few weeks of operations, successfully registered over 50,000 users on its platform, a testament to its innovative simple banking approach to digital banking.
This year, the small lender has an ambitious plan to increase this by 900 per cent to a record 500,000 businesses in 2025.
Business Post gathered that in 2024, the financial institution recorded impressive transaction values, exceeding N100 million, with an impressive 90 per cent transaction success rate.
Since joining the business, it has introduced web banking and other innovative banking products, with more in development.
With the financial services sector not immune to fraud, Bankit MFB said it prioritises the protection of customers’ funds, expressing its commitment to diversifying its digital services to enhance customer experience.
Bankit MFB is a financial institution licenced to operate in the country by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which is dedicated to providing innovative, customer-centric financial solutions to individuals and others.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, launch a foreign exchange (FX) code designed to boost the integrity of the market.
A statement from the banking sector regulator on Wednesday said the FX code would be unveiled at its headquarters in Abuja next week.
It explained the forex code will serve as a guideline for the ethical conduct of FX dealers in the Nigerian forex landscape.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria has approved the release of the Nigerian Foreign Exchange (FX) Code as a guideline to the banking industry to promote the ethical conduct of Authorised Dealers in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
“The bank will formally launch the code at the CBN Head Office Auditorium, Abuja, on Tuesday, January 28, 2025,” the statement read.
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