GTCO Positioned to Overcome ‘Uncertainties Ahead’- Agbaje Assures Stakeholders

Segun Agbaje, the Group Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc has warned of the challenges ahead in the global economy.

The company’s chief executive however assured its customers and other stakeholders that the bank is positioned to weather the storms of the economic headwinds ahead.

In spite of the economic headwinds, Agbaje said, the Group has performed in key metric lines due to its diversified investments and quality decisions by the management.

Agbaje’s assurance came on the back of the release of the Group’s Unaudited Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements for the period ended March 31, 2023, to the Nigerian Exchange Group, NGX, and London Stock Exchange, LSE.

According to him, “Our first quarter results reflect the strength of the GTCO franchise, the quality of our decision making, and the unfolding success of our efforts towards becoming a leading financial services company in Africa. Despite severe headwinds, we delivered a decent performance, recording growth across key revenue lines.

“We are also not relenting in our resolve to better outcomes for people and businesses within our financial ecosystem.

“2023 is shaping up to be another interesting year. Some of the challenges from the past few years are still lingering, and uncertainties ahead would test the resilience of most economies and businesses.

“We are confident in our positioning as a thriving financial services company underpinned by strong business fundamentals and will continue to benefit from a well-diversified earnings base,” he stated.

The Group’s report indicates profit before tax, PBT,  of ₦74.1billion, representing an increase of 36.5 percent over ₦54.3billion recorded in the corresponding period ended March 2022.

The Group’s loan book (net) dipped by 1.5 percent from ₦1.88trillion recorded as at December 2022 to ₦1.86trillion in March 2023, while deposit liabilities increased by 9.9 percent from ₦4.61trillion in December 2022 to ₦5.07trillion in March 2023.

The Group’s balance sheet remained well structured and resilient with total assets and shareholders’ funds closing at ₦6.7trillion and ₦975.6billion, respectively. Full Impact Capital Adequacy Ratio, CAR, remained very strong, closing at 23.2 percent, while asset quality was sustained as IFRS 9 Stage 3 Loans ratio and Cost of Risk, COR, closed at 5.4 percent and 0.2 percent in March 2023 from 5.2 percent and 0.6 percent in December 2022, respectively.

The statement indicates further a Pre-Tax Return on Equity, ROAE, of 31.1 percent, Pre-Tax Return on Assets, ROAA, of 4.5 percent, Full Impact Capital Adequacy Ratio, CAR, of 23.2 percent, and Cost to Income ratio of 43.1 percent.

Meanwhile, a summary of the statement, according to financial experts indicates clearly that the Group best other banks regarding its performance in key metric areas.