Guaranty Trust Bank has set its sight on becoming one of the top three most profitable banks in Africa before 2016.
The bank which is already the most profitable financial institution in Nigeria also plans to grow its loan book by 20 per cent in 2014.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos yesterday, Managing Director of the Bank, Mr. Jimi Agbaje maintained that its growth areas were the telecoms sector, Oil& Gas sector, Manufacturing and maritime.
Agbaje disclosed the bank will use loan growth, low costs of operations and growth in its subsidiaries to enhance the firm’s profitability in 2014.
The GT Bank boss said the bank will not compromise strong risk management and corporate governance, in addition to remaining on the forefront of industry best practices.
According to him, the bank will continue to be the industry leader with cost-to-income below 45 per cent while maintaining focus in driving retail deposits, technology and innovation to keep costs low.
Speaking further, Agbaje said his management will not leave any stone unturned in pursuing investment in technology and Electronic Banking as bedrock for retail base.
G T Bank will continue to achieve solid profitability and stable returns, Agbaje said
The Bank achieved impressive performance for the period ended December 31, 2013. Its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2013 to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.
A review of the results showed a strong and positive performance across all financial indices and also affirms the Bank’s position as one of the most profitable financial services provider in Nigeria.
In terms of value creation, GTBank maintained its top position in the industry with pre-tax Return of Equity (ROE) of 34.9% and pre-tax Return on Asset (ROA) of 5.6%.
While its Gross Earnings rose by 9 per cent to N242billion in 2013, profit after tax stood at N90.02billion.
A critical observation of its figures reveal an impressive 28.6% growth in loan book from ₦783.91bn in 2012 to ₦1.01trillion in 2013 while customer’s deposits grew by a remarkable 24.3% from ₦1.15trillion in 2012 to ₦1.43trillion in 2013. Consequently, the group closed the 2013 financial year with a balance sheet size in excess of ₦2trillion while shareholders’ equity increased by 17.9% from ₦281.83billion in 2012 to ₦332.35billion in the period under review. Risk management framework in the bank remains very strong as Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ratio decreased to 3.58% in 2013 from 3.75% in the comparative period of 2012.
