The largest bank in Nigeria by assets wants to deploy in East Africa. Guaranty Trust Bank, present in 10 countries including Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, has entrusted investors in the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) with plans to expand its presence in this part of the continent. “In East Africa, we need to do one of two things: we need to either provide capital or consider acquisitions,” said Segun Agbaje, CEO of GTB.
Guaranty Trust Bank Plc has proposed an interim dividend of 30 kobo per share, or 8.8 billion N ($ 23.7 million) for the first half. In its half-yearly financial statements, made available to the Nigerian and London stock exchanges on Friday, the bank recorded a 3.72% growth in after-tax profit, rising from N95.58 billion in 2018 to N99.13 billion. ($ 267 million) in 2019. “We have achieved good results despite a difficult market, characterized by variable uncertainty and a rapid evolution of competition,” said Segun Agbaje, saying that East Africa is a good growth driver for the first Nigerian bank by assets.
he total assets of the Guaranty Trust Bank amount to 3600 billion naira, ($ 9.72 billion) for equity valued at 603 billion naira ($ 1.6 billion).