By Ngozi Onyeakusi—Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO) has released its Unaudited Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements for the period ended March 31, 2022, to the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The Group reported profit before tax of ₦54.3billion, representing an increase of 1.1% over ₦53.7billion recorded in the corresponding period March 2021. FX translation of the FCY loan book led to a drop in the Group’s net loans by 4.7% from ₦1.80trillion recorded as at December 2021 to ₦1.72trillion in March 2022. Deposit liabilities however grew by 0.7% from ₦4.13trillion in December 2021 to ₦4.16trillion in March 2022.

The Group’s Balance Sheet remained well structured and resilient with Total Assets and Shareholders’ funds closing at ₦5.50trillion and ₦908.8billion, respectively. Strong Capital Ratios and Asset Quality was sustained as CAR, NPL ratio and Cost of Risk (COR) closed at 22.9%, 5.9% and 0.1% in March 2022 from 23.8%, 6.0% and 0.5% in December 2021, respectively.

Commenting on the results, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said; “Our first quarter results show a decent improvement across key revenue lines as well as other financial metrics, which demonstrates our ability to effectively navigate the evolving business landscape anchored on our strong business fundamentals.”

He further added, “With this performance, we are optimistic about the rest of 2022 as we rapidly consolidate the gains of our new holding company structure to deliver superior Stakeholder value. Importantly, our non-banking businesses including Pension Management, Wealth Management and Payments will serve to diversify our earnings capacity as we look to create a model financial services ecosystem for all of Africa. As a Group, we are fully committed to providing innovative financial solutions whilst constantly delivering best-in-class customer experiences in line with our long-term strategy.”

In terms of significant performance metrics, the Group continues to post one of the best metrics in the Nigerian Financial Services Industry in terms of key financial ratios i.e., Post-Tax Return on Equity (ROAE) of 19.3%, Post-Tax Return on Assets (ROAA) of 3.2%, Full Impact Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 22.9% and Cost to Income ratio of 47.0%.

GTCO Plc is a fully-fledged financial services group with banking operations across West and East Africa and the United Kingdom as well as non-banking businesses in several key industry segments including Payment, Funds Management and Pension Fund Management. With over 25 million customers and more than 10,000 employees, the Group remains one of the most profitable and best managed financial services companies out of Nigeria. Its leadership in the banking industry and efforts at empowering people and communities has earned it many prestigious awards over the years including Africa’s Best Bank and the Best Bank in Nigeria at the 2021 Euromoney Awards for Excellence. It also retained its position as Africa’s Most Admired Financial Services Brand in the 2021 ranking of The Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands.