Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, on Monday gave investors reasons to cheer, when it presented its audited account for the year ended December 31, 2023, reporting a 120.03% growth in gross earnings, a landmark that was outpaced significantly by the218.99% growth in profit after tax for the period, which translated to Earnings Per Share of N14.84, from which the directors are recommending a final dividend per share of N2.70, in addition to the 50 kobo paid at half-year.
Specifically, gross earnings stood at N1.186tr, up from N539.234bn, the lion’s share of which was the interest income of N550.755bn, an improvement over the previous year’s N325.399bn, representing an improvement of 69.25%; while interest expense rose 72.56% from N66.096bn to N114.058bn, lifted by the N102.758bn paid on customer deposit, from N59.749bn; resulting in net interest income of N436.696bn, a 68.41% increase over the N259.303bn reported in the same period of 2022.
Loan impairment charges increased to N102.953bn from N11.986bn; resulting in net interest income after loan impairment charges of N333.743bn, compared to N247.316bn in the same period of prior year.
Fee and commission income improved from N105.147bn to N124.162bn, driven by the N40.829bn earnings by way of e-business income, up from N37.735bn; and N22.805bn from account maintenance charges, from N19.346bn. The group, however, successfully constrained growth in fee and commission expense, which stayed flat at N14.733bn from N13.155bn, with net and commission expense grew to N109.428bn from N91.991bn.
Net trading gains on financial instruments held at fair value rose to N62.201bn from N40.282bn, helped by the N58.589bn net foreign exchange trading gain, up from N34.928bn. Other income ballooned from N68.405bn to N449.346bn with the help of the N441.79bn foreign exchange revaluation gain, from N57.936bn. Net impairment charge on other financial asset jumped from N35.944bn to N94.992bn. Personnel expenses increased from N36.076bn to N45.097bn; depreciation and amortisation grew to N39.095bn from N35.467bn; and other operating expenses from N126.353bn to N166.226bn.
Profit before tax, therefore, climbed up to N609.308bn from N214.154bn; income tax expense stood at N69.653bn from N44.98bn; resulting in net profit of N539.654bn, compared to N169.173bn in the corresponding period of 2022.
On the balance sheet, total assets rose to N9.691tr from N6.446tr, buoyed by customer loans and advances at N2.49tr, up from N1.232tr; while total liabilities increased from N5.515tr to N8.214tr, as customer deposits increased to N7.41tr from N4.485tr at the end of 2022.
