At the end of the first half of its fiscal year in 2022, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), a financial services company headquartered in Nigeria and run by renowned banking executive Segun Agbaje, reported a drop in profitability due to rising operating costs and tax obligations.
Although the company saw a double-digit increase in its interest and non-interest income in the first half of 2022 due to a slight increase in its loan book, higher interest margins, and successful digital transformation strategies, its profit fell by 2.3 percent from N79.41 billion ($186.5 million) in the first half of 2022 to N77.56 billion ($182.1 million).
Despite an increase in gross earnings from N207.9 billion ($488.2 million) to N239.3 billion ($562 million), the group’s profit fell due to surging operational expenses and N25.7 billion ($60.4 million) in income tax expenses recorded during the period under review.
Despite the drop in earnings, the group’s total assets climbed from N5.44 trillion ($12.8 billion) at the start of the year to N5.69 trillion ($13.4 billion) as of June 30, 2022, while retained earnings decreased by N198.36 billion ($465.85 million) to N164.07 billion ($385.3 million).
The board of directors proposed paying an interim dividend of N0.30 ($0.000704) per share to shareholders listed on the share register on Sept. 30.
GTCO operates as a financial holding company based in Lagos, providing retail and investment banking, pension and asset management, and payment services through its well-diversified operations.
Agbaje, a leading business executive with a minority 0.14-percent stake in GTCO, was instrumental in the group’s strategic expansion and, more recently, in its transformation into a holding company last July following a structural reform.
Aside from his governance roles at GTCO, Agbaje also sits on the board of PepsiCo and is a member of the Mastercard Advisory Board for Middle East and Africa.