Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc said its Nigerian banking operation accounts for 77.5 per cent of the group’s profits.

Reviewing its performance at the third yearly general meeting of the bank held in Lagos at the weekend, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Segun Agbaje, said while the Nigerian banking operation accounts for 77.5 per cent of the group’s profitability, West African operations constitute 17.5 per cent.

According to him, East Africa and the UK contributed 2.2 per cent and 1.9 per cent while non-banking entities made up 0.9 per cent.

Besides, shareholders at the meeting approved the bank’s plan to raise an additional $750 million, alongside endorsement of N94.179 billion dividend payouts for the year ended December 31, 2023, comprising of N2.70 per share final dividend and 50 kobo interim dividend paid last year, making a total dividend paid for the 2023 financial year to N3.20 per share.

The capital raising is either through public offerings, private placements, rights issues and/or other transaction modes.

Agbaje stated that despite the varying challenges in the operating environment and headwinds that weighed on growth in 2023, the Group delivered a strong performance posting a PBT of N609.3 billion representing a growth of 184.5 per cent from N214.2 billion achieved in the full year 2022.

According to him, this result was on the back of impressive growth in gross earnings, increasing by 120 per cent to N1.186 trillion in the year under review, underpinned by the growth on funded and non-funded income lines.

“We looked at the volatility in the environment and we balanced profitability with some conservatism. We are happy with how we ended 2023. For us, we have a tradition of increasing dividends, every year, so I can say categorically that in 2024, dividends will be up.

“Already, profit is up in the first quarter of 2024, we have posted N509.3 billion, I think this is an indication that we will have a bigger dividend in 2024. From outside Nigeria, we recorded 25 per cent to 30 per cent profit. We have also diversified geographically.

“We also have three new businesses that we started which are our PFA, HabariPay and our asset management company. They are already at one per cent of the group profit in one and a half years. I think our diversification away, both banking and geographically, is going on well,” he said.

Responding, the National Coordinator of Progressive Shareholders Association, Okezie Boniface, applauded the bank for increasing shareholders’ value on investment through dividend payment amid a harsh operating environment, noting that the group’s diversification is paying off.

On the capital raising, Okezie anticipated a successful exercise for the company due to its good track record of consistent dividend payments.

Also speaking, the National Coordinator of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN), Moses Ibrude noted that the company’s performance in the year under review was impressive, considering the harsh economic reality.

He said GTCO is at the forefront of good corporate governance, urging the minority shareholders to take up their rights in supporting the company’s growth.