GTBank pre-tax profit dips 5.2% to ₦109.7bn in H1 2020

The performance of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) was adversely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic in the first six months of the year as its Profit before Tax declined 5.2 percent to close at ₦109.7billion during this period, compared over ₦115.8billion it made recorded in the corresponding period in 2019.

The bank’s audited financial results for the half-year ended June 30, 2020, which was released on Wednesday showed that interest income was higher by 2.76 percent to ₦150.49 billion and other revenue improved by 28.07 percent to ₦35.91 billion, this was counteracted by 30.04 percent dip in Fee and commission income to ₦24.73 billion during this period.

The Bank’s loan book grew by 8.1 percent from ₦1.502trillion recorded as at December 2019 to ₦1.624trillion in June 2020 and customer deposits increased by 18.5 percent to ₦3.001trillion from ₦2.533trillion in December 2019.

The Bank closed the half-year ended June 2020 with Total Assets of ₦4.511trillion and Shareholders’ Funds of ₦720.9Billion. In terms of Asset quality, NPL ratio and Cost of Risk closed at 6.8 percent and 0.4 percent in June 2020 from 6.5 percent and 0.3 percent in December 2019 respectively.

Overall, asset quality remains stable with adequate coverage of 118.1 percent, while Capital remains strong with CAR of 22.9 percent. On the backdrop of this result, Return on Equity (ROAE) and Return on Assets (ROAA) stood at 26.8 percent and 4.6 percent respectively.

The Bank is proposing an interim dividend of 30kobo per ordinary share of 50 kobo each for period ended June 30, 2020.

Commenting on the financial results, the Chief Executive Officer of GTBank plc, Segun Agbaje, said; “These are undoubtedly tough and trying times for people, businesses and economies the world over. Our financial performance in the first half of the year reflects the quality of our past decisions which have broadened our earnings and strategically positioned us to thrive, thus far, through the current global health and economic crises.

“Underpinning this financial performance is our commitment to being there for our customers and the communities we serve, and over the past six months we have lent the full weight of our franchise to safeguarding lives and livelihoods of our staff and customers by leading from the front in the fight to curtail the Covid-19 outbreak and offering grace periods on loans to our small business customers.”

He further stated that “Going forward, our focus is not just to survive this pandemic, but to thrive beyond it. That is why we are going ahead with our plans to reimagine how we create value for all our stakeholders. We know that making financial services work for customers goes beyond banking, and in line with our long-term strategy, we will seek to create and drive innovative financial solutions that go beyond banking.”

GTBank recorded a Return on Equity (ROE) of 26.8 percent and cost to income ratio of 43.2 percent.