Giant business concern, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc, the holding company for Guaranty Trust Bank and its former subsidiaries, grew its pre-tax profit by 155.2 per cent to N433.2 billion in the third quarter.
Key extracts of the interim report and accounts of GTCO for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2023, released at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), showed that pre-tax profit rose from N169.7 billion in third quarter 2022 to N433.2 billion in third quarter 2023.
Profit after tax jumped from N130.35 billion in third quarter 2022 to N367.42 billion in third quarter 2023. Earnings per share thus increased to N12.98 n third quarter 2023 as against N4.55 in third quarter 2022.
The balance sheet of the group also saw significant improvements with total assets closing September 2023 at N8.62 trillion as against N6.45 trillion recorded by the year ended December 31, 2022. Total equity crossed N1 trillion mark from N931.15 billion in December 2022 to N1.27 trillion in September 2023.
The group’s net loan book grew by 17.7 per cent from N1.89 trillion in December 2022 to N2.22 trillion in September 2023. Deposit liabilities increased by 37.9 per cent from N4.61 trillion in December 2022 to N6.36 trillion in September 2023.
Full Impact Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained very strong, closing at 25.1 per cent, while asset quality was sustained as IFRS 9 Stage 3 Loans improved to 3.8 per cent in September 2023 from 5.2 per cent December 2022. Cost of Risk (COR) closed at 4.1 per cent from 0.6 per cent in December 2022, owing to management’s conservative stance on provisioning as macros worsened, weighing negatively on the ECL variables.
The group’s financial ratios remained strong with pre-tax return on equity (ROAE) of 52.4 per cent, pre-tax return on assets (ROAA) of 7.7 per cent, full impact capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 25.1 per cent and cost to income ratio of 29.7 per cent.
Group Chief Executive Officer, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said the third quarter performance underpinned the group’s strategic positioning as a leading financial holding company and reaffirmed its strong capabilities to successfully navigate the challenges in the operating environment.
“Going into the final quarter of the year, we will continue to leverage the strengths within our growing financial services ecosystem to improve our products and service offerings, enhance customer experience, and maximise shareholder value,” Agbaje said.
He said the group was proud of its work towards promoting enterprise across the African continent over the years and remain committed to helping indigenous small businesses thrive through consumer-focused fairs.
He said the 6th edition of the GTCO fashion weekend scheduled to hold in Lagos between November 11 and 12 will give entrepreneurs in the Nigerian fashion retail space a free-business platform to showcase their diverse talents and creativity to a global audience.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
