GT Bank grows profits by 5.3 percent despite huge loan losses

14 Mar 2016
Chibuike Oguh

Summary

GT Bank has declared a final dividend of N1.52 per share for 2015 full year (adding an interim dividend of N0.25 per share, brings total dividend to N1.77 per share).

Group MD/CEO, Guaranty Trust Bank, Segun Agbaje

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, one of the largest banks in Nigeria, has reported its after-tax profits rose by 5.3 percent year-on-year in the 2015 full year-end results.

GT Bank said its profits rose to N99.4 billion in 2015, compared with N94.4 billion in 2014, according to its financial statement released on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Monday.


GT Bank said “total impaired loans and advances” or non-performing loans rose 8.3 percent to N45.06 billion in 2015, compared with N41.31 billion.


However, in its 2015 results, GT Bank made loan impairment charges of N12.4 billion, a 42.74 percent increase from the 2014 figure of N7.1 billion.


Last month, Fitch, a ratings agency, revised the stable outlook on three large Nigerian banks – including GT Bank (others being First Bank and UBA) because of their significant exposures to the oil and gas sector.

Fitch said it revised the outlook on GT Bank because of the bank allocated 17 percent of its loan book to Nigeria’s oil and gas sector as well as the manufacturing sector, which have been hit hard by the slump in global oil prices and the country’s foreign exchange restrictions.  

Despite these headwinds, GT Bank said its revenues rose 8.4 percent year-on-year to N301.9 billion in 2015, compared with N278.5 billion in 2014.

The bank’s net interest income rose 14.3 percent year-on-year to N229.2 billion in 2015, compared with N200.6 billion in 2014. However, the bank’s non-interest income fell 8.3 percent year-on-year to N69.3 billion, compared with N75.8 billion in 2014.

GT Bank has declared a final dividend of N1.52 per share for 2015 full year (adding an interim dividend of N0.25 per share, brings total dividend to N1.77 per share).


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