Ahead of the recapitalisation exercise, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO), on Friday, announced that it has increased its investment in its wholly owned banking subsidiary, Guaranty Trust Bank Limited (GTBank) to N504 billion.

According to the company, this was achieved through a rights issue subscription for 6,994,050,290 ordinary shares of 50kobo each made by GTBank for a total consideration of N365.8 billion, thus increasing the bank’s paid-up share capital from N138.2 billion to N504 billion.

It stated that the capital injection ensures GTBank’s compliance with the new minimum capital requirement for commercial banks with international authorisation stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The capital injection was funded by the two-phased equity capital raising programme recently undertaken and concluded by GTCO Plc with an international fully marketed offering on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) that secured $105 million from high-quality, long-term institutional investors in exchange for 2.29 billion new ordinary shares, making GTCO Plc the first financial services institution in West Africa to dual list on both the NGX and LSE.

Launched in July 2024, GTCO’s equity capital programme began with a public offering to Nigerians that raised N209.41 billion from 130,617 valid applications for 4.7 billion ordinary shares, fully allotted and evenly split between retail and institutional investors.

Commenting on the recapitalisation of GTBank, the Group Chief Executive Officer of GTCO Plc, Segun Agbaje, described it as a major milestone for the group.

He said the successful exercise not only strengthens the foundation of the institution but also fulfils the CBN’s recapitalisation directive.

According to him, the fresh injection of capital positions the bank to deepen innovation, enhance service excellence, deliver stronger performance, and accelerate expansion across high-growth markets, while sustaining the industry-leading standards for which the GTCO brand is known.

“The successful recapitalisation of our flagship banking subsidiary, Guaranty Trust Bank Limited, marks a pivotal step in strengthening the foundation of our Group. With significant new capital secured and the CBN’s recapitalisation directive for Guaranty Trust Bank now fulfilled, we are focused on deepening innovation and service excellence, delivering improved performance, and expanding our footprint across high-growth markets, while upholding the industry-leading standards that define the GTCO brand,” Agbaje said.

The bank stated that it would deploy its additional equity capital primarily for branch network expansion and asset growth (loans, advances, and investment securities portfolio); fortification of its information technology infrastructure; and to leverage emerging opportunities in Nigeria and the operating environments where it maintains banking presence.