GTBank shareholders unanimously approve historical dividend of 

 

Shareholders of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc at its thirty-first annual general meeting (AGM) held Friday at Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island in Lagos unanimously approved historical final dividend payment of N2.70 kobo per ordinary share of 50 kobo. This brings the total dividend paid by GTBank for the 2020 financial year to N3.00 kobo (inclusive of the 30 kobo interim dividend paid at half year 2020).

At the annual general meeting, shareholders received GTBank’s audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, and the reports of the directors, auditors and audit committee thereon.

Speaking at the meeting, emeritus shareholders, Sir Sunny Nwosu applaud the performance of the bank.

Nwosu expressed satisfaction with the dividend declared by the bank, urged the board to improve on it by the end of the current financial year.

The shareholder guru condemned federal government attitudes towards investors in the country saying, government don’t have right to take unclaimed dividend from companies.

He said if government did not desist from its plan, shareholders would not hesitate to take it to court.

Another shareholder who also spoke at the meeting, Mrs Efunyemi Olatunji express satisfaction with the performance of the bank urged the bank to work towards becoming leading bank in Africa.

A review of the 2020 results shows improved performance across all key financial metrics in the face of the unprecedented challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting the quality of past decisions and reaffirming its position as one of the best managed financial institutions in Africa.

The Group reported profit before tax of N238.1 billion, representing a growth of 2.8 per cent over N231.7 billion recorded in the corresponding year ended December 2019. The Group’s Loan book (Net) grew by 10.7 per cent from N1.502 trillion recorded as at December 2019 to N1.663 trillion in December 2020, while Customers’ deposits increased by 38.6 per cent from N2.533 trillion in December 2019 to N3.509 trillion in December 2020.

Guaranty Trust Bank’s Balance sheet remained well structured, diversified and resilient with Total assets and Shareholders’ Funds closing at N4.945 trillion and N814.4billion respectively. Full Impact Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained very strong, closing at 21.9 per cent, while Asset quality was sustained as NPL ratio and Cost of Risk (COR) closed at 6.4 per cent (Bank: 5.9 per cent) and 1.2 per cent (Bank: 1.0 per cent) in December 2020 from 6.5 per cent (Bank: 6.2 per cent) and 0.3 per cent (Bank: 0.2 per cent) in December 2019 respectively.

Commenting on the banks performance, Chairman, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Osaretin Demuren said she’s proud of the tremendous effors of employees who have demonstrated resilience in the face of one of the greatest humanitarian challenges of the lifetime.

‘Their timely adjustment to the changes our organisation had to make to stay safe and the resolve they put forth daily to serve our customers, has been exemplary.”

“Given our expectation of improvements in key macroeconomic indicators, the bank will position itself to fully take advantage of the opportunities that will be presented in 2021. The bank will grow its earnings, improve profitability and asset quality and deliver competitive returns to our shareholders”, she said.

 

In his own, Managing Director/CEO of the bank, Segun Agbaje, said, no one could have predicted the nature or extent of the challenges faced in 2020, saying the bank were on solid footing operationally and financially going into the year.

According to him, the strength, scale and liquidity of the bank balance sheet, coupled with the quality of past decisions and efficacy of the banks digital-first customer-centric strategy gave the bank resilience and flexibility to navigate the economic shocks and market volatility that followed.

He explained that a review of the bank results show resilience across all financial indices, reaffirming the bank’s position as one of the best managed financial institutions in Africa.

“Where our financial performance in 2020 showed the strength and long term sustainability of our franchise, our actions throughout the year demonstrated the fundamental role we are playing in the lives of our customers and communities”