Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO) has reported a profit before tax of N300.4 billion for the first quarter of 2025, reinforcing its reputation as one of Nigeria’s most resilient and profitable financial institutions. The results were filed with both the Nigerian Exchange Group and the London Stock Exchange.
The unaudited financial statement shows that despite the absence of a one-off fair value gain of N331.6 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2024, the bank was still able to deliver strong earnings. GTCO’s interest income rose by 41.1 per cent year-on-year, while its fee and commission income also increased by 41.2 per cent. These figures indicate a strong core performance across the group’s financial services verticals.
In the three-month period ending March 31, 2025, the bank’s total assets rose to N15.9 trillion. Shareholders’ funds stood at N3.0 trillion, showing that the group maintains a solid financial base. The Group’s loan book (net) increased by 15.6 per cent, from N2.79 trillion in December 2024 to N3.22 trillion by the end of March 2025, indicating higher lending activity and customer confidence.
Customer deposit liabilities also increased by 7.7 per cent, rising from N10.40 trillion to N11.20 trillion, which suggests sustained trust from depositors. GTCO’s capital adequacy ratio remained strong, with a full impact CAR of 34.6 per cent—well above the regulatory minimum and a sign of the group’s financial health.
In terms of asset quality, GTCO recorded improvements, as IFRS 9 Stage 3 loans (non-performing loans) dropped to 4.5 per cent at the Group level, down from 5.2 per cent in December 2024. At the Bank level, this figure declined to 3.3 per cent from 3.5 per cent, reflecting better credit risk management. Also, the cost of risk—a measure of bad loans—fell sharply to 0.4 per cent from 4.9 per cent last year, further showing the bank’s effective risk strategy.
GTCO’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Segun Agbaje, said the strong performance across all verticals shows the bank’s capacity to deliver consistent earnings despite macroeconomic challenges. He highlighted the group’s solid and diversified revenue base and its healthy balance sheet structure.
Agbaje said, “Our Q1 2025 performance reflects the strength of all our business verticals and our capacity to generate strong and sustainable earnings. While the fair value gains of N331.6 billion reported in Q1 2024 did not recur, the Group recorded solid growth across most income lines.”
He added, “We remain optimistic about the year ahead. The fundamentals of our business are strong, our customer base continues to grow, and we are executing with discipline across our strategic priorities. At this pace, the Group is well-positioned to deliver the full year PBT of 2024 at the very minimum by the end of the 2025 financial year.”
GTCO continues to outperform many of its peers in the banking sector. The group reported a pre-tax return on average equity of 42.2 per cent, a return on average assets of 7.8 per cent, and a cost-to-income ratio of 29.0 per cent. These metrics highlight GTCO’s operational efficiency and profitability.
In 2024, GTCO had posted a record profit before tax of N1.27 trillion, representing a 107.8 per cent increase from N609.31 billion in 2023. The current Q1 result puts the group on track to match or even exceed that performance by the end of 2025.
