GTCO: Sustaining Confident Balance Sheet Across Metrics

GTCO: Sustaining Confident Balance Sheet Across Metrics

The current share price of Guaranty Trust Holding (GTCO) is N24.45 as it closed its last trading day (Friday, January 27, 2023) at that price per share on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX), thus recording a 0.4 per cent gain over its previous closing price of N24.35. Guaranty Trust Holding began the year with a share price of N23.00 and has since gained 6.3 per cent on price valuation, ranking it 47th on the NGX in terms of year-to-date performance. As at today, it is the fourth most traded stock on the Nigerian Stock Exchange over the past three months (Oct 28, 2022 – Jan 27, 2023) as it has traded a total volume of 731 million shares—in 18,825 deals—valued at N15.8 billion over the period, with an average of 11.6 million traded shares per session. A volume high of 38.5 million was achieved on December 29, and a low of 2.68 million on November 22, for the same period.

Financials

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (“GTCO” or the “Group”) in October, 2022, released its Unaudited Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements for the period ended September 30, 2022, to the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and London Stock Exchange (LSE). The Group reported profit before tax of ₦169.7billion, representing an increase of 11.7 per cent over ₦151.9billion recorded in the corresponding period ended September 2021.

The Group’s loan book (net) increased by 2.2 per cent from ₦1.80trillion recorded as at December 2021 to ₦1.84trillion in September 2022, while deposit liabilities increased by 6.4 per cent from ₦4.13trillion in December 2021 to ₦4.39trillion in September 2022. The Group’s balance sheet remained well structured and resilient with total assets and shareholders’ funds closing at ₦5.81trillion and ₦872.8billion, respectively. Strong Capital Ratios and Asset Quality were sustained as CAR, NPL ratio, and Cost of Risk (COR) closed at 20.7 per cent, 5.6 per cent, and 0.2 per cent in September 2022 from 23.8 per cent, 6.0 per cent, and 0.5 per cent in December 2021, respectively.

Commenting on the results, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO Plc), Mr. Segun Agbaje, said: “The Group’s 3rd quarter result reaffirms our strategy for long-term growth and underscores our capacity to deliver sustainable strong performance despite the volatilities in our operating environment.

“We have also kept in focus our vision of supporting small and medium enterprises specifically through our free business platforms to help them stay in business and expand their offerings. “With our non-banking businesses fully operational alongside our core banking subsidiary, we are well positioned to maximise our earnings potential going into the 4th quarter of the year.” He further stated: “In creating a thriving financial services ecosystem, our goal is to offer great experiences to all who interact with our brand whilst continually enhancing access to innovative financial solutions for individuals and businesses across Africa. “We are appreciative of all our customers and other stakeholders who are with us on this journey of building a truly global African financial services institution.”

Overall, 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 25.8 per cent, Pre-Tax Return on Assets (ROAA) of 4.0 per cent, Full Impact Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 20.7 per cent and Cost to Income ratio of 45.1 per cent.

GTCO Plc is a fully-fledged financial services group with banking operations across West and East Africa and the United Kingdom as well as non-banking businesses in several key industry segments including payment, funds management, and pension fund management.

With ₦5.8trillion in assets and over 28 million customers, the Group remains one of the most profitable and best-managed financial services companies out of Nigeria providing commercial banking services and nonbanking financial services across eleven countries. Its leadership in the banking industry and efforts at empowering people and communities have earned it many prestigious awards over the years including Best Banking Group in Nigeria and Most Innovative Bank in Nigeria at the 2022 World Finance Banking Awards. It also retained its position as Africa’s Most Admired Financial Services Brand in the 2022 ranking of The Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands.

Dividend

The management of GTCO proposed the payment of an interim dividend of N0.30 kobo per ordinary share on the issued capital of 29,431,179,224 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each in the September 2022 report, amid an increase in profit in this.

Guaranty Trust Bank traded at 28.55 this Thursday June 24, decreasing zero or zero per cent since the previous trading session. As of last trade Guaranty Trust Holding Company PLC (GTCO:LAG) traded at 24.40, -13.01 per cent below its 52-week high of 28.05, set on Feb 02, 2022. Looking back, over the last four weeks, Guaranty Trust Bank lost 0.35 percent. Over the last 12 months, its price rose by 25.77 per cent. Looking ahead, we forecast Guaranty Trust Bank to be priced at 27.98 by the end of this quarter and at 26.33 in one year, according to Trading Economics global macro models projections and analysts expectations.

Overview

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc operates as a financial holding company for Guaranty Trust Bank Plc that provides commercial banking services in Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote D’Ivoire, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the United Kingdom. It has been listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) since June 24, 2021 and trades on the NGX under the ticker symbol “GTCO.” The International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) of NGX:GTCO is NGGTCO000002. Guaranty Trust Holding is currently the eighth most valuable stock on the NGX with a market capitalisation of N720 billion, which makes about 2.51 per cent of the Nigerian Stock Exchange equities market.