Yemisi Izuora
Foremost African Banking Group, Guaranty Trust Bank plc, released its audited financial results for the year ended December 2014 to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.
A review of the 2014 results shows positive performance across all financial indices, reaffirming the Bank’s position as one of the most profitable and well managed financial institutions in Nigeria. The Group delivered an impressive Profit Before Tax of N116.39billion, an increase of 9.30billion or 8.7% over the N107.09billion reported in December 2013 and Gross Earnings of N278.52billion an increase of 14.8% from the N242.67billion recorded in the same period of 2013. In terms of value creation for its shareholders, the Bank recorded pre-tax ROAE of 32.94% and ROAA of 5.22% respectively.
The Bank’s balance sheet remains strong with 12.4% growth in Total Assets, from N2.10trillion in 2013 to N2.36trillion in the year under review. Loan book growth up by 27.12% to close at N1.28trillion from N1.01trillion in 2013; driven primarily by growth of the foreign currency loan book, on the back of the 2013 $400mm Eurobond issue. On the back of continued growth of the Bank’s Retail franchise, Customer Deposits grew by 13.3% from N1.43trillion in 2013 to N1.62trillion in 2014. The Bank continues to maintain a disciplined and prudent approach to loan growth in line with its Risk Management framework.
The Bank’s Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio remained low at 3.15%; down from 3.58% in the comparative period of 2013. On the back drop of this result, the Bank is proposing Total-Year Dividend of N1.75k per share (inclusive of the 25kobo interim dividend paid at half year 2014).
Commenting on the financial results, Segun Agbaje, the Managing Director/CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank plc, said that the Bank’s financial performance in 2014 attests to the inherent soundness of our strategy and resilience of our earnings. The Group has delivered a respectable Profit Before Tax of N116.39billion in spite of all the headwinds the industry experienced in 2014. He expressed his sincere appreciation to customers for their loyalty and staff for their commitment and hard work.
Said Agbaje, “We remain committed to maximising shareholder value and delivering superior and sustainable returns. Our objective is to remain a leading player in the financial services sector whilst expanding our franchise in select, high growth African markets where we believe we have competitive advantage.
Guaranty Trust Bank plc has always been at the forefront of industry service innovations in markets where it operates, having successfully replicated its culture for excellence in its subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda Ghana, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire and the UK. Locally, the Bank’s most recent service introductions includes; SME Market Hub; an e-commerce platform which allows GTBank customers create online stores in order to expand their business operations and boost sales.