GTB records stable deposits In 2015 despite TSA

Despite economic headwinds in the last year and the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) has said that its customers’ deposit remained stable at N1.610trn as at December 2015 from N1.618trn in December 2014, which represents only a slight decline of 0.5 per cent.

The bank recorded gross earnings of N301.9b up from N278.5b from the previous year, representing an 8.4 per cent increase, adding that excluding the implementation of the TSA, its total deposits would have increased by 5.3 percent.

In a statement by its Managing Director (MD) Segun Agbaje, the bank said the growth was in spite of “the tepid system liquidity that characterised the first nine months of the year, the foreign exchange scarcity, as well as the lull in economic activities in the last quarter of 2015.”

Agbaje said its revenue growth is mainly attributable to N28.6b increase in interest income, compared to growth of N15.5b in the previous year due to inefficient balance sheet management and growth in other fee lines.

He added that there was a 6.8 per cent decline in non-interest revenue due to one-off gains from disposal of long-term investments in 2014 and decline in foreign exchange earnings, as a result of relative stability of the naira in 2015, noting that there was seven per cent devaluation in 2015 compared to 16 per cent in 2014.

On its cost efficiency methods, the bank said: “Cost to income ratio (CIR) improved to 44.4 per cent relative to 44.8 per cent in December, 2014. This was as a result of our cost curtailment drive coupled with revenue growth. There was increase in Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) charges (N9.5b in 2014 to N10b in 2015) and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Company (NDIC) premium (N5.6b in 2014 to N6.1b in 2015), without which CIR would have been better by 113bps.

“Interest expense grew by 19 per cent to N69.29b from N58.21b in 2014 as a result of a 33 per cent increase in long term borrowings and impact of increase in exchange rate on dollar borrowings.”

He said loan to customers grew by 7.5 per cent to N1.372tn from N1.276tn, and that its Non Performing Loan (NPL) ratio stood at 3.21 per cent from the 2004 figure of 3.15 per cent.

Itemising the diversity of its loan book, he said the upstream oil and gas industry has a share of 19 per cent; manufacturing, 18 per cent; telecommunications and transportation, 10 per cent; construction, 9 per cent and midstream oil and gas sector, 8 per cent, among others.

Chairman of the bank, Mrs. Osaretin Demuren, said, “As a Bank, we will continue to actively partner with our customers and grow our business in a sustainable manner that is not only driven by profit objective, but with an increased focus on empowering our customers with a view to growing Nigerian economy.

“Also, we remain committed to maximising shareholders’ value and delivering superior and sustainable returns, whilst actively expanding our franchise in select, high growth African markets, where we believe we have a competitive advantage.”