Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc has reported a 181.87 per cent rise in its profit after tax, to N367.42 billion for the period ended September 2023, compared to N130.35 billion as of September, last year.
This was revealed in the Unaudited Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements submitted to the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Tuesday.
The rise was driven by net interest income which rose by 56.85 per cent in the period under review to N297.54 billion , Net fees and commission income rose by 17.71 per cent to N82.48 billion . The lender’s foreign exchange revaluation gains also appreciated significantly as it moved from a loss position of N7.39 billion as of September 2022 to a gain of N334.35billion .
In September, the Central Bank of Nigeria directed Deposit Money Banks to stop using gains from their foreign exchange revaluation for dividends and operational expenditures in a bid to shore up the Naira.
In a circular, the central bank said changes to the currency regime have impacted banks to varying degrees and that “banks are required to … set aside the FCY revaluation gains as a counter-cyclical buffer to cushion any future adverse movements in the FX rate.”
Meanwhile, the nine-month report stated that GTBank Nigeria had restricted balances of N1.297tn with the CBN as of 30 September 2023 (December 2022: N1.014tn), which is the CBN cash reserve requirement. The cash reserve ratio represents mandatory total Naira deposits which should be held with the Central Bank of Nigeria as a regulatory requirement.
In its half-year report, GTCO reported profit before tax of N327.4bn, representing an increase of 217.1 per cent over N103.2bn recorded in the corresponding period ended June 2022. The Group’s loan book (net) increased by 22.8 per cent from N1.89tn recorded as of December 2022 to N2.32tn in June 2023, while deposit liabilities grew by 37.0 per cent from N4.61tn in December 2022 to N6.32tn in June 2023.
GTCO operates in Nigeria, West Africa, East Africa, and the United Kingdom in activities involving Payment, Funds Management, and Pension Fund Administration.
