Guaranty Trust records N214.2b pre-tax profit

Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc, the holding company for Guaranty Trust Bank and other subsidiaries, recorded marginal decline in profitability in 2022 as pre-tax profit dropped to N214.2 billion.

Key extracts of the audited report and accounts of GTCO for the year ended December 31, 2022 released at the weekend showed that group profit before tax dipped by 3.3 per cent from N221.5 billion in 2021 to N214.2 billion in 2022.

The company attributed the decline to a N35.6 billion impairment that was recognised on Ghanaian sovereign securities.

The group’s net loan book however increased by 4.6 per cent from N1.80 trillion in 2021 to N1.89 trillion in 2022.

Deposit liabilities grew by 11.6 per cent from N4.13 trillion to N4.61 trillion. Group’s balance total assets and shareholders’ funds stood at N6.45 trillion and N931.1 billion. Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained strong at 24.1 per cent. Asset quality was sustained as IFRS 9 Stage 3 Loans ratio (NPLs) improved to 5.2 per cent in 2022 as against six per cent in 2021. However, Cost of Risk (COR) inched up marginally to 0.6 per cent in 2022 as against 0.5 per cent in 2021.

Group Chief Executive Officer, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje said the results reflected the ability of the group to successfully navigate the peculiar challenges in the different markets where it operates.

According to him, the resilience of the group underscores its strong business fundamentals and unwavering commitment to sound business strategies.

“Despite the varying challenges and headwinds that weighed on growth in 2022, we were determined to deliver a decent performance and scale effectively to strengthen our competitive edge and drive long-term growth.

“As an organisation, 2022 was quite significant for us being the first year after our corporate restructuring into a financial holding company in August 2021. Today, across our banking, payment, funds management, and pension businesses, we have successfully built a robust ecosystem with immense potential to deepen our addressable market and create more value for all our stakeholders.

“We will continue to prioritise innovation, service excellence, and execute seamlessly towards achieving our vision of leading financial services in Africa,” Agbaje said.

He pointed out that the group has continued to post one of the best metrics in the Nigerian financial services industry in terms of key financial ratios, with pre-tax return on equity (ROAE) of 23.6 per cent, pre-tax return on assets (ROAA) of 3.6 per cent, full impact capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 24.1 per cent and Cost to Income ratio of 48.0 per cent.