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UMORU ABDULKADIR
Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) is making plans to expand its operations into the East African region to shore its earnings which Nigerian harsh economic climate is eroding.
The bank which is still silent on the specific countries is angling for more growth opportunities in the Eastern part of the continent that will increase its presence to 10 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Eastern African move is spurred by the dip in its 2019 Half-Year report in which the bank reported a 2 percent decrease in its gross earnings.
Speaking on the expansion plan of GTBank, the Chief Executive Officer, Segun Agbaje, said the management was still deliberating on the type of investment that would be done as well as weighing and discussing the acquisition.
“We’ll start to look at other things, probably outside of what you are seeing us doing now, some of it might be to look at making acquisitions outside of Nigeria.
“In East Africa, we have to do one of two things: We either have to bring in capital or we have to think of acquisitions,” the CEO informed the lender’s investors.
In the Eastern region of Africa, GTBank already has operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.
The bank’s H1 2019 financial statements published on the website of the NSE shows the bank’s gross earnings for the half year standing at N221.9 billion, compared to N226.6 billion recorded in 2018.
However, the bank’s Profit After Tax stood at N99.1 billion in June 2019 as against N95.6 in June 2018, representing a 3.7% increase, while its Earnings Per Share (EPS) grew to N3.50 in June 2019, up from N3.38 in the comparable period in June 2018.
The company also declared an interim dividend of 30 kobo per ordinary share of 50 kobo for the period ended Sunday, June 30, 2019 (Half-Year).
BADEJO ADEMUYIWA has 23 years experience as a Finance Writer, specialising in Insurance and Investigative Reporting.
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