Segun Agbaje-led GTCO reports slight rise in earnings as profit nears $300 million in 9M 2022

Mfonobong Nsehe -

Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), a Lagos-based financial services provider led by Nigerian business executive Segun Agbaje, reported a slight increase in earnings at the end of the first nine months of 2022, with profit approaching $300 million.

According to figures from the group’s recently published financial statement, its profit for the nine-month period of its 2022 fiscal year rose by a marginal 73 basis points or 0.73 percent, from N129.4 billion ($296.17 million) to N130.35 billion ($298.3 million).

The less than a percent increase in earnings was driven by a double-digit increase in interest income from N178.3 billion ($408.1 million) to N204 billion ($467 million), as the group benefited from an increase in its loan book, higher interest margins, and digital transformation strategies.

Earnings during the first nine months of 2022 were significantly impacted by rising operating costs and tax obligations, as it paid the Nigerian government a total of N39.37 billion ($90.1 million) of its N169.7 billion ($388.4 million) net income as corporate income tax.

GTCO is a Lagos-based financial holding company based in Lagos that provides retail and investment banking, pension and asset management, and payment services through its diverse operations.

Agbaje, a leading business executive with a 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 serves on the boards of PepsiCo and is a member of the Mastercard Advisory Board for the Middle East and Africa.

Despite a marginal increase in profit during the first nine months of its fiscal year 2022, the group’s total assets increased significantly, from N5.44 trillion ($12.45 billion) to N5.81 trillion ($13.3 billion), while retained earnings decreased from N198.36 billion ($454 million) to N191.6 billion ($438.5 million).