Last week, one of the big four banks in Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, released its unaudited financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2017, to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.
A review of the 3rd quarter performance shows positive growth across all key financial metrics and improved strategic positioning of the brand. Despite non-recurrence of significant FX revaluation gain during the period, the Bank reported an impressive Profit before tax of N150.03 billion, representing a growth of 9% from N137.99 billion recorded in the corresponding period of September 2016. Increase in PBT is primarily from 36% growth in interest income.
The Bank closed the third quarter ended September 30, 2017 with Total Assets of N3.213 trillion and Shareholders’ Funds of ₦581.91 billion.
The Bank’s loan book contracted by 10% from N1.590 trillion recorded in December 2016 to N1.428 trillion in September 2017 due to conscious effort to de-risk the balance sheet and unwinding (pay-down) of trade obligations.
In terms of asset quality, the Bank’s non-performing loans remained low at 3.93% with adequate Coverage ratio of 212.7%.
Cost of risk moderated to 0.53% from 3.66% of comparative period of September 2016. On the backdrop of this result, Post-Tax Return on Equity (ROE) and Post-Tax Return on Assets (ROA) stood at 30.81% and 5.29% respectively.
Commenting on the Bank’s financial results, Segun Agbaje, the Managing Director/CEO said that, “Given the progress we made in the first half of the year, we came into the second half with the objective of remaining focused on our core strategy of serving the full value chain of our customers’ needs whilst maintaining high standards of customer service.
He further stated that “As the Bank continues to drive innovation around mobile technology, we will continue to enhance our digital channels in order to make it easy for our customers to use and access our products and services, whilst positioning our Bank as a platform for enriching lives that provides customers with benefits beyond banking.”
Guaranty Trust Bank has continued to report the best financial ratios among all Financial Institutions in the Industry. Post-tax return on equity (ROE) of 30.81% and a cost to income ratio of 37.59% is a clear evidence of the efficient management of the Banks’ Assets.
Overall, the Bank has enshrined its position as a clear leader in the Banking Industry. In due recognition of the Bank’s leading role in Africa’s Banking Industry, owing to its world class corporate governance standards and excellent service delivery and innovation, GTBank has been a recipient of numerous awards over the course of the year.
These include but not limited to Best Bank in Nigeria and Best Bank for SMEs in Africa from Euromoney Magazine, African Bank of the Year from African Banker Magazine, Best Bank in Nigeria and Best Bank for CSR in Africa from EMEA Finance Magazine, Best Corporate Governance from Ethical Boardroom Magazine, Best Banking Group and Best Retail Bank from World Finance Magazine.
