NIGERIA – Guaranty Bank Trust Plc has declared a profit after tax of N196.85bn (about US$540.05 million) for the financial year ended December 31, 2019.
GTBank said that this represented a growth of 6.6 percent when compared to the N184.71bn (US$506.75 million) reported in 2018.
Punch Nigeria reported that based on the 2019 result, the lender has declared a final dividend of N2.50 per ordinary share of 50 kobo.
This brings the total dividend for the financial year ended December 31, 2019 to N2.80 kobo, compared to N2.75 kobo per share paid in 2018.
GTBank’s Profit before tax stood at N231.7bn (US$ 635.67m), an increase of 7.5 percent from the N215.59bn (US$ 591.47m) posted in 2018.
Its interest income however, dropped by 3.5 per cent during the period under review to N296.21bn (US$ 812.65m) from N306.96bn (US$ 842.14m) in 2018.
Also, the bank’s interest expense was down by 23.3 per cent to N64.84bn (US$ 177.89m) compared to N84.530bn (US$231.91m) achieved in 2018.
GTBank’s deposits from customers rose by 11.4 per cent to N2.53tn (US$6.94bn) from N2.27tn (US$ 6.23bn), while net loans and advances grew by 19 per cent to N1.50tn (US$4.12bn) from N1.26tn (US$ 3.46bn) in 2018.
The Banks total assets rose by 14.3 percent to stand at at N3.76tn (US$10.32bn), from N3.29tn (US$ 9.03bn) declared during the same period in 2018.
According to the report, during the 2019 financial year, directors declared and paid an interim dividend of 30 kobo per ordinary share on the issued capital of 29.4 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo, for the half-year period ended June 30, 2019.
Punch Nigeria noted that a review of the results revealed positive performance across all financial indices and reaffirmed the bank’s position as one of the most profitable and well managed financial institutions in Nigeria.