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GT Bank’s profit rises 45 percent on foreign currency gains

17 Aug 2016, 05:35 pm
Financial Nigeria
GT Bank’s profit rises 45 percent on foreign currency gains

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- GT Bank's gross earnings rose 37.4 percent to N208.2 billion.

Segun Agbaje, Managing Director/CEO, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria’s largest bank by market capitalization, released its 2016 half-year results on Wednesday, showing that after-tax profit rose 45.1 percent year-on-year to N77.5 billion from N53.4 billion reported last year.

The bank said gross earnings recorded a 37.4 percent growth during the period under review, rising to N208.2 billion from N151.6 billion in 2015.

GT Bank’s profit and revenue exceeded analysts’ expectations of N74.2 billion and N197.6 billion, respectively, according to CardinalStone Partners, an investment advisory firm.

The rise in GT Bank’s profit resulted from foreign currency gains associated with the over 40 percent devaluation of the naira in June this year. The bank said FX revaluation gains rose 834 percent to N61.3 billion in H1 2016 compared with N6.6 billion in H1 2015.

Notwithstanding the FX gains, GT Bank said impairment charges on non-performing loans rose to N34.16 billion in H1 2016, up 922 percent from the N3.34 billion recorded last year. The bank’s total assets rose by 16 percent to N2.9 trillion in H1 2016 compared with N2.52 trillion a year earlier.

Basic per share earnings rose to N2.74 per share during the period under review compared with N1.88 per share last year. GT Bank’s stock has risen 38 percent this year, according to Bloomberg, and closed at N25 per share on Wednesday, up 1.67 percent from the previous day’s close.


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