Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc recently published its unaudited financials for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022, to the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and London Stock Exchange (LSE), a major highlight of which was the profit before tax of ₦54.3bn, representing an increase of 1.1% over ₦53.7bn recorded in the corresponding period of last year.
FX translation of the period loan book led to a drop in the Group’s net loans by 4.7% from ₦1.8tr recorded as at December 2021 to ₦1.72tr in March 2022, while deposit liabilities however grew by 0.7% from ₦4.13tr in December 2021 to ₦4.16tr.
The Group’s Balance Sheet remained well structured and resilient with Total Assets and Shareholders’ funds closing at ₦5.50tr and ₦908.8bn, respectively, even as it sustained a strong Capital Ratios and Asset Quality, with CAR, NPL ratio and Cost of Risk (COR) closing 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, Segun Agbaje, said the “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.”
According to him, “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%.
