By Mike Abbah
Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc recorded a massive N1.29 trillion gross earnings in the first half of the year (HY 2024) against N672.60 billion in the equivalent period of 2023, which constitutes a growth of 107 percent.
This was on the back of a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N1 trillion in six months (H1 2024) as shown in the second quarter report of the Group filed with the Nigerian Exchange on Wednesday.
The remarkable half-year performance followed the record N494.5 billion PBT posted in the second quarter (Q2) which is the highest in the Group’s history.
The figure also represents the best second-quarter results so far reported by any Nigerian financial holding company or bank following the blazing N509.3 billion PBT posted by the Group in Q1 2024.
Profit After Tax (PAT) for HY 2024 rose to N905.56 billion from N280.48 billion – a 222.86 percent growth.
During the six months period, gross earnings rose to N1.39 trillion from N672.6 billion in the corresponding period of 2023, constituting a 107 percent increase. Earnings per share shot from N9.94 to N32.12 representing a remarkable 263.3 percent growth
The Group posted N444.1 billion as net interest income after loan impairment charges compared to N94.49 billion in HY 2023, which is a 370.4 percent jump.
In the same growth trajectory, total assets soared to N14.51 trillion from N9.69 trillion in HY 2023, representing a growth of 49.74 percent on the expansion of loans and advances to customers from N2.48 trillion in HY 2023 to N3.1 trillion during the first six months of the year, showing a 25.4 percent rise.
As evidence of increasing customer confidence in the financial services Group, GTCO recorded N10.25 trillion in deposits from customers against N7.41 trillion in HY 2023, which was a 38.32 percent expansion.
GTCO closed its last trading day (Wednesday, September 11, 2024) at N45.45 per share on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), recording a 0.1% drop from its previous closing price of N45.50.
It began the year with a share price of N40.50 and has since gained 12.2% on that price valuation, ranking it 69th on the NGX in terms of year-to-date performance, according to data from the NGX.
GTCO is the fifth most traded stock on the Nigerian Exchange over the past three months (Jun 13 – Sep 11, 2024) and has traded a total volume of 1.75 billion shares—in 23,873 deals—valued at N79.4 billion over the period, with an average of 27.8 million traded shares per session.
A volume high of 124 million was achieved on August 12th, and a low of 2.67 million on August 22nd, for the same period.
GTCO is one of Nigeria’s five Tier-1 financial services groups. Others include Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Access Corporation and FBN Holdings.
