BY KENNETH O. EZE
Strong balance sheet, quality policies, and digital-first customer-centric strategy have been identified as factors that help sustain the Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.
Addressing shareholders on the financial performance of their bank for the year ended December 31, 2020, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, GTBank, Segun Agbaje, highlighted how the bank navigated the tough period under review.
He said, “The strength, scale and liquidity of our balance sheet, coupled with the quality of our past decisions and the efficacy of our digital-first customer-centric strategy gave us the resilience and flexibility to navigate the economic shocks and market volatility that dominated the year.”
He assured them that “amidst the many challenges that persist, we remain ardent believers in Africa’s growth potential. Our world is increasingly digital, and we see it opening new and exciting opportunities for empowering people and uplifting our communities. With our commitment to deepening customer relationships and intense focus on delivering innovative financial solutions, we enter 2021 well-positioned.”
Agbaje noted that the year 2020 was arguably the most challenging year that the world had faced in decades, pointing out that in such unprecedented times, the bank was at the forefront of safeguarding lives and livelihood across host communities.
“We continue to receive positive and goodwill messages for the role we played at the height of the pandemic; especially for putting together, very timely, a 110-bed Isolation Centre, with an intensive care unit, in partnership with the Lagos State Government,” he said.
Recall that the management of GTBank at the 31st Annual General Meeting in Lagos, recently, reported a growth in Profit Before Tax of 2.8 per cent for the year ended December 2020 to the shareholders.
In raw figures, the bank posted PBT of N238.1billion, translating to a growth of 2.8 per cent over N231.7billion recorded in the corresponding period ended December 2019.
Consequently, the shareholders unanimously endorsed the payment of a total dividend of N3.00 per share for the financial year ended December 31, 2020. The bank had proposed a final dividend of N2.70 per unit of ordinary share held by shareholders in addition to the interim dividend of 30k earlier paid in June 2020.
