Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, last week released its audited financials for the year ended December 31, 2022, to the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and London Stock Exchange (LSE), showing N539.234bn in gross earnings income for the period, compared to the previous year’s NN10.334bn, a significant leap from N4.76bn in the prior year respectively.
Interest expense stood at N66.096bn, up from the previous N46.281bn, boosted by N48.258bn from Nigeria, compared to the preceding full-year’s N29.402bn, followed by N12.37bn, which marginally higher than the previous N12.057bn from West Africa, and N4.6bn by East Africa, as against the N4.411bn reported in the 2021 full-year.
The Group reported profit before tax of ₦214.2bn, representing 3.3% dip from ₦221.5bn posted in the corresponding year ended December 2021 on the back of what the group said in a statement was a ₦35.6bn impairment recognised on Ghanaian sovereign securities. A breakdown of the PBT by jurisdiction showed that Nigeria contributed N182.248bn, better than the previous N169.437bn; followed from afar by the N26.269bn by the rest of Africa, a sharp decline from the previous N46.566bn; and N7.22bn by East Africa, a slight improvement over the N6.618bn in 2021; while the group reported a N1.584bn loss by its European operations, worse than the N1.124bn of preceding year.
The Group’s loan book (net) increased by 4.6% from ₦1.80tr as at December 2021 to ₦1.89tr in December 2022, while deposit liabilities grew by 11.6% from ₦4.13trillion to ₦4.61trillion during the same period.
The statement by the group said its balance sheet remains well-structured and resilient with total assets and shareholders’ funds closing at ₦6.45tr and ₦931.1bn, respectively. Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained very strong, closing at 24.1%. Similarly, asset quality was sustained as IFRS 9 Stage 3 Loans ratio (NPLs) improved to 5.2% in December 2022 from 6.0% in December 2021, however, Cost of Risk (COR) inched up marginally to 0.6% in FY-2022 from 0.5% in December 2021 due to impact of worsened macros on PDs.
Commenting on the results, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO Plc), Segun Agbaje, said GTCO’s “ability to successfully navigate the peculiar challenges in the different markets where we operate underscores our 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.
“As an organisation, 2022 was quite significant for us being the first year after our corporate restructuring into a financial holding company in August 2021. 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. We will continue to prioritise innovation, service excellence, and execute seamlessly towards achieving our vision of leading financial services in Africa.”
Overall, the statement said the Group continues to post one of the best metrics in the Nigerian Financial Services industry in terms of key financial ratios i.e., Pre-Tax Return on Equity (ROAE) of 23.6%, Pre-Tax Return on Assets (ROAA) of 3.6%, Full Impact Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 24.1% and Cost to Income ratio of 48.0%.