GTBank Grows PAT to N147bn in Nine Months

• GTBank Grows PAT to N147bn in Nine Months

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, top Nigerian leading bank, on Wednesday announced a Profit After Tax (PAT) of N146.989 billion in the nine months ended September 30, 2019.

The lender grew PAT by 3.4 percent when compared with N142.224 billion recorded in the same period of 2018.

Breaking down the unaudited financial results released through the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the bank’s net interest income rose from N170.641 billion in the corresponding period of 2018 to N172.937 billion.

While net fee and commission income grew to N46.497 billion in the first nine months of 2019, up from N37.84 billion recorded in the same period of 2018. Loans impairment charges surged from N2.761 billion to N1.736 billion.

Gross earnings, however, declined by 3 percent to N324.262 billion, down from N334.711 billion in 2018. Experts at Cordros Capital said the lender’s performance is in line with expectations.

They said: “The result was in line with expectations as gross earnings declined while profitability expanded moderately. The performance was underpinned by non-funded income growth, as interest income growth continues to lag the prior year,” they said.

The bank’s interest income was weighed upon by a 6.3 percent decline in income from loans. Income from loans to customers declined to N134.47 billion, plunging interest income by 5.6 percent to N224.19 billion.

While most interest income generating lines were weaker year-on-year, income from cash and its equivalents was up by 18.6 per cent to N10.11 billion.

“Interest expense also declined by 23.4 per cent to N32.63 billion, as the bank shed high cost deposits during the year, interest on deposits from customers declined by 20.4 per cent, to N42.90 billion, while zero cost on debt securities relative to the prior year (N4.34 billion) also contributed. Consequent on the higher pace of decline in expense relative to income, the bank’s net interest income settled higher by 1.3 per cent. Similar to many banks, the GTBank’s non-interest income growth has outpaced interest income growth, as non-funded income grew by 3.0 per cent at N100.07 billion. This was supported by fees and commissions income which grew by 22.9 per cent to N46.50 billion. Notably transaction volumes have continued to grow, supporting E-business income (+63.1 per cent to N11.04 billion), while credit related business charges (+37.1 per cent to N9.08 billion) have also boosted the bank,” Cordros Capital analysts added.