GTBank’s reason for staying away from the power sector privatization is a lesson for other banks

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The Group Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, GTBank, Mr. Segun Agbaje has disclosed that much of its revenue in the last financial year was driven by its 12 million retail customers spread across the country.

Agbaje revealed this while giving a breakdown of GTBank’s performance in the year 2017.

He noted the bank took the decision not to participate in the country’s power sector privatization exercise was to reduce its exposure to risks in the sector.

He expressed his satisfaction that GTBank was not enmeshed in the toxic assets trap arising from the power privatization programme of the Federal Government.

In his words:

“Right from the beginning, we took a position that what was needed for the programme was equity and not debt. And when we saw they were bent on driving the process with debt, we stayed off which is the reason we are not exposed to the sector today”

The bank which recently released its Q1 2018 financial statements results posts a profit before tax of ₦52.62 billion as against ₦50.39 billion recorded in Q1 2017. Its share price as at close of trading yesterday was ₦44.35.

Courtesy: Bloomberg.

Guaranty Trust Bank plc was incorporated as a limited liability company licensed to provide commercial and other banking services to the Nigerian public in 1990 and commenced operations in February 1991.

In September 1996, Guaranty Trust Bank plc became a publicly quoted company and won the Nigerian Stock Exchange President’s Merit award.

In February 2002, the Bank was granted a universal banking license and later appointed a settlement bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2003