We’re Prepared for Emerging Economic Realities—GTBank

By Dipo Olowookere

Managing Director/CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Mr Segun Agbaje, has expressed the readiness of the pan-African financial institution for the emerging economic realities.

Since the beginning of this year, the world has been battling with the Coronavirus pandemic, which has brought the global economy to a halt.

Many businesses have had to be shut down, while others still operating have been doing so remotely. At the moment, no one knows when the virus would be defeated and the possibility of having a vaccine for its is still far away, about 9 months or more, according to health experts.

But in the midst of the crisis, GTBank, under the leadership of Mr Agbaje, recorded a strong performance in the first quarter of this year.

On Wednesday, the company released its unaudited financial results for the period ended March 31, 2020, to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.

GTBank reaffirmed its position as one of the most profitable and well managed financial institutions in Nigeria with the good performance across all financial indices.

In the period, the profit before tax stood at N58.2 billion, representing a growth of 2.1 percent over N57.0 billion recorded in the corresponding period of March 2019.

The lender’s loan book grew by 8.0 percent from N1.502 trillion as at December 2019 to N1.622 trillion in March 2020, while customers’ deposit increased by 9.3 percent to N2.768 trillion from N2.533 trillion in the same period.

The bank maintained a well-structured and diversified balance sheet with total assets and shareholders’ funds closing at N4.057 trillion and N661.1 billion respectively.

Full impact Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained very strong, closing at 23.5 percent. In terms of asset quality, NPL ratio and Cost of Risk (COR) improved to 6.0 percent and 0.1 percent in March 2020 from 6.5 percent and 0.3 percent in December 2019 respectively.

Loan loss coverage also improved to 130.5 percent for Lifetime Credit Impaired Loans (NPLs) compared with 126.6 percent in December 2019.

Mr Agbaje, in his reaction to the earnings, admitted that, “These are very difficult and uncertain times, not just for the financial services sector and the economy as a whole, but also for hundreds of millions of people around the world whose lives and livelihoods have been put at risk by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

He said, “At GTBank, we know that the impact of this pandemic may sustain for months to come, but we remain positive that, by staying nimble and continuing to build on the strength of our businesses, we are appropriately positioned to cope with emerging economic realities, as reflected in our first quarter result.”

The banking executive further stated that, “As a platform for enriching lives, our focus is on safeguarding lives and livelihoods.

“That is why we are working round the clock to keep all our members of staff and customers safe, supporting the government in combatting the pandemic and being there for our customers in every way that they may need our support at this time.”

Overall, Guaranty Trust Bank plc continues to be best-in-class in the Nigerian banking industry in terms of financial ratios i.e. Post-Tax Return on Equity (ROAE) of 29.7 percent, Post-Tax Return on Assets (ROAA) of 5.1 percent, and Cost to Income ratio of 40.6 percent.

These ratios reflect the management stability and well-structured Balance sheet coupled with operational efficiency.

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 awards include Best Bank in Africa and Best Bank in Nigeria, by the Euromoney Magazine (2019), Best Banking Group and Best Retail Bank Nigeria from World Finance Magazine (2019), Bank of the Year – Nigeria from the Banker Magazine (2018), Most Innovative Bank from the African Investor (2018), and Best Digital Banking Brand in Nigeria from the Global Brands Magazine (2018).