Guaranty Trust declares N466.4b dividend

The group reported profit before tax of N1.23trillion underpinned by strong growth in core earnings, with interest income and fee income increasing by 23.2 per cent and 25.9 per cent respectively.

The performance reaffirmed the group’s capacity to generate sustainable earnings and built on the momentum from 2024, when GTCO delivered a record profit of N1.27trillion, driven in part by N517.5 billion in fair value gains, which did not recur in 2025.

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The group’s 2025 profit after tax came in at N865.75 billion against N1.02 trillion recorded in 2024. The profit after tax reflected the impact of recent fiscal policy adjustments to the taxation of investment securities, notably withholding tax on short-term instruments. However, when normalised for this effect, underlying earnings remain robust, driven by growth in core operating income.

The report showed that the group continued to maintain a well-structured, healthy, and diversified balance sheet in all the jurisdictions wherein it operates a banking franchise, as well as across its payments, pension and funds management business verticals.

Total assets and shareholders’ funds closed at N17.8 trillion and N3.4 trillion respectively. Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained strong, closing at 43.8 per cent while asset quality improved as evidenced by IFRS 9 Stage 3 Loans which closed at 3.4 per cent and 5.0 per cent at Bank and Group level in 2025 as against 3.5 per cent and 5.2 per cent recorded respectively in 2024.

Also, Cost of Risk (COR) improved to 2.2 per cent from 4.9 per cent in 2024. In specific terms, the group’s net loan book grew by 12.4 per cent from N2.79 trillion in 2024 to N3.13 trillion in 2025. Similarly, deposit liabilities grew by 23.8 per cent from N10.40 trillion to N12.87 trillion during the same period.

Group Chief Executive Officer, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said the 2025 result underscored the resilience and depth of the group’s earnings capacity.

According to him, following a record 2024, which included significant fair value gains, the focus has been on strengthening the sustainability of the group’s earnings by driving growth across core banking and ecosystem businesses.

“The strength of our underlying earnings, despite a stronger naira and tighter regulatory parameters, reflects the quality of our franchise and the discipline with which we execute our strategy. Importantly, this strong core earnings performance underpins our capacity to sustain and grow shareholder returns. Our record dividend payout this year is not only a reflection of our current profitability but also of our confidence in the group’s long-term earnings potential. Looking ahead, we remain focused on scaling our ecosystem, driving innovation across our financial services platform, and delivering consistent, high-quality earnings that support superior value creation for our shareholders,” Agbaje said.

He pointed out that the group continued to post one of the best metrics in the Nigerian financial services industry in terms of key financial ratios, including post-tax return on equity (ROAE) of 28.3 per cent, post-tax return on assets (ROAA) of 5.3 per cent, Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 43.8 per cent and Cost to Income Ratio of 27.9 per cent.