By Onome Amuge
Shareholders of financial holding company, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO), will be taking home N3.10 per share as full year dividend after it announced N214.2 billion as profit before tax (PBT) for the 2022 financial year.
The PBT for the year was down just 3.3 percent from the N221.5 billion reported for the year ended December 31, 2021, but this was due to the institution taking an impairment of N35. 6 billion on Ghanaian sovereign securities. Ghana had run into financial troubles in recent times and holders of its bonds like GTCO, which has a full fledged subsidiary in Ghana, have had to take some haircuts on those securities.
The leading financial services group made the disclosure in its audited consolidated and separate financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2022, presented to the Nigerian Exchange Group(NGX) and London Stock Exchange (LSE).
A breakdown of GTCO’s financials showed that the group’s loan book (net) increased by 4.6 percent from N1.80 trillion as at December 2021 to N1.89 trillion in December 2022, while deposit liabilities grew by 11.6 percent from N4.13 trillion to N4.61 trillion during the same period.
The group stated that its balance sheet remains well-structured and resilient with total assets and shareholders’ funds closing at N6.45 trillion and N931.1 billion, respectively. Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) also remained very strong, closing at 24.1 percent.
Similarly, asset quality was sustained as IFRS 9 Stage 3 Loans ratio (NPLs) improved to 5.2 per cent in December 2022 from 6.0 per cent in December 2021, while cost of risk (COR) inched up marginally to 0.6 per cent in FY-2022 from 0.5 per cent in December 2021 due to impact of worsened macros on probability of defaults (PDs).
Commenting on the results, Segun Agbaje, the group chief executive officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, said the group’s ability to successfully navigate the peculiar challenges in the different markets where it operates underscores its strong business fundamentals and unwavering commitment to sound business strategies.
“Despite the varying challenges and headwinds that weighed on growth in 2022, we were determined to deliver a decent performance and scale effectively to strengthen our competitive edge and drive long-term growth,” he said.
Agbaje noted that 2022 was quite significant for the company being the first year after its corporate restructuring into a financial holding company in August 2021.
He further stated; “Today, across our banking, payment, funds management, and pension businesses, we have successfully built a robust ecosystem with immense potential to deepen our addressable market and create more value for all our stakeholders.
The GTCO CEO assured that the group will continue to prioritise innovation, service excellence, and execute seamlessly towards achieving its vision of leading financial services in Africa.
