Economy
GTBank Excites Market With N50.3bn PAT for Q1’20
By Dipo Olowookere
One of the biggest financial institutions in Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc, on Wednesday excited the investing community with an impressive first quarter performance.
In its financial statements for the period ended March 31, 2020, the tier-one lender improved its profit before tax (PBT) by 2.1 percent to N58.2 billion from N57.0 billion achieved as at March 31, 2019.
Also, the profit after tax marginally increased by 1.6 percent to N50.1 billion from N49.3 billion, while the earnings per share (EPS) grew by 1.7 percent to N1.77 from N1.74.
An analysis of the Q1 2020 earnings of GTBank by Business Post showed that the interest income increased to N77.0 billion from N74.5 billion as a result of interests collected on loans disbursed to customers during the period, which accounted for N46.4 billion as against N43.7 billion in the same time of 2019.
According to GTBank, it had a lower interest expense of N12.8 billion compared with N16.3 billion in the first quarter of last year.
In addition, it generated N14.5 billion from fee and commission income, lower than N18.6 billion it raked in the same period of last year despite increase in transfers related charges and account maintenance charges.
The reason for the decline in the fee and commission income was because of drop in credit related fees and commissions, corporate finance fees, e-business income, commission on foreign exchange deals and account services, maintenance and ancillary banking charges.
With a fee and commission expense of N909.3 million as against N547.8 million in Q1 2019, GTBank closed the first quarter of this year with a net fee and commission income of N13.6 billion, lower than N18.0 billion in the corresponding period of 2019.
However, it recorded a growth in other income, which flew to N16.0 billion from N13.0 billion as a result of increase in foreign exchange revaluation gain (N8.5 billion in Q1’20 versus N2.6 billion in Q1’19) and a significant rise in discounts and recoverables (fx), which jumped to N4.7 billion from N1.1 billion.
During the period under consideration, GTBank increased its personnel expenses to N9.2 billion from N9.1 billion, while other operating expenses rose to N23.0 billion from N21.3 billion.
An analysis of its balance sheet showed that it had a year-to-date growth of 7.9 percent in its total assets, which closed at N4.1 trillion in Q1 2020 versus N3.8 trillion in FY 2019.
In the same period under review, its total liabilities also increased year-to-date by 9.7 percent to N3.4 trillion from N3.1 trillion.
The financial institution said its loans and advances to customers increased to N1.6 trillion as at March 31, 2020 from N1.5 trillion as at December 31, 2019.
A breakdown of the loans indicated that N1.590 trillion are performing compared with N1.465 trillion in FY’19, while N100.6 billion are non-performing as at Q1 2020 as against N102.4 billion in December 2019.
This left the lender with gross loans of N1.7 trillion in the period under review in contrast to N1.6 trillion in the 2019 fiscal year.
GTBank said within the first three months of this year, deposits from customers increased to N2.8 trillion from N2.5 trillion in FY 2019. This was due to increases in deposits from current and savings account holders.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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