One of the leading financial services firms, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc, has declared a record dividend of N12.75 for the 2025 financial year, reaffirming its unrivalled capacity to create value for shareholders.
The chief executive of the GTCO, Mr Segun Agbaje, said, “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.”
In the year, the company, according to its financial statements released to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Tuesday, reported profit before tax of N1.23 trillion, underpinned by strong growth in core earnings, with interest income and fee income increasing y-o-y by 23.2 per cent and 25.9 per cent, respectively.
The performance reaffirms its capacity to generate sustainable earnings and builds on the momentum from 2024, when GTCO delivered a record profit of ₦1.27 trillion, driven in part by N517.5 billion in fair value gains, which did not recur in 2025.
Also, the post-tax profit shrank to N865.75 billion from N1.02 trillion due to 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 organisation continues 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.
In the year under review, total assets and shareholders’ funds closed at N17.8 trillion and N3.4 trillion, respectively, as Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) remained very robust and strong, closing at 43.8 per cent, likewise 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 FY-2025 (Bank, 3.5 per cent, and Group, 5.2 per cent in December 2024).
In addition, Cost of Risk (COR) also improved to 2.2 per cent from 4.9 per cent in December 2024. In specific terms, the net loan book grew by 12.4 per cent from N2.79 trillion as of December 2024 to N3.13 trillion in December 2025.
Similarly, deposit liabilities grew by 23.8 per cent from N10.40 trillion to N12.87 trillion during the same period.
“Our 2025 result underscores the resilience and depth of our earnings capacity. Following a record 2024, which included significant fair value gains, our focus has been on strengthening the sustainability of our earnings by driving growth across our core banking and ecosystem businesses,” Mr Agbaje stated.
“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,” he added.
“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,” he noted.