GTCO posts N1.23trn pre-tax profit in FY 2025, Boosts dividend payout by 59%

…Group commits N1.71bn to community development

…Dual Listing on NGX and London Stock Exchange Marks West Africa First

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO) has closed the 2025 financial year on a note of measured strength, reporting a profit before tax (PBT) of N1.23 trillion and declaring a total dividend of N12.76 per ordinary share , a 59 percent jump over the prior year’s payout , even as post-tax earnings retreated under the weight of new fiscal pressures.

The Group’s full-year results for the period ended December 31, 2025, show that while profit after tax (PAT) moderated to N865.75 billion from N1.02 trillion in 2024 , a 14.94 percent decline, the drop largely reflects the impact of tightened taxation on investment securities rather than any deterioration in core business performance. Analysts tracking the Group note that its underlying earnings momentum remains intact.

GTCO’s 2024 pre-tax outing had benefited from sizeable fair value gains that were non-recurring in nature.

Stripped of those windfalls, the 2025 numbers tell a story of a business generating genuine, broad-based income growth: interest income climbed 23.2 percent year-on-year, while fee income expanded by 25.9 percent ,both fuelled by deepening lending activity, transaction banking volumes, and digital financial services adoption across the Group’s subsidiaries.

Gross earnings for the year came to N2.215 trillion, drawing from a diversified revenue pool that has insulated the Group from the volatility that has rattled segments of the Nigerian financial sector.

GTCO’s operating efficiency remained a standout, with its cost-to-income ratio settling at 27.9 percent, among the tightest in the industry.

The 2025 outing caps a five-year expansion story that has fundamentally redrawn the scale of the institution.

A review of GTCO’s performance from 2021 through 2025 reveals a group that has grown its total assets from N5.44 trillion to N17.76 trillion , a more-than-three-fold increase achieved across successive cycles of market expansion, regulatory change, and macroeconomic turbulence.

Asset growth in the early part of the period was measured but solid. The balance sheet rose 18.6 percent to N6.45 trillion in 2022 before accelerating sharply in 2023, when total assets surged 50.3 percent to N9.69 trillion.

That pace intensified in 2024, with a 52.7 percent leap to N14.80 trillion marking the most aggressive single-year expansion in the review period.

By 2025, growth had moderated to a still-healthy 20.0 percent , a sign of a group settling into the discipline of managing a significantly larger balance sheet rather than simply chasing size.

Earnings over the same stretch traced a more textured arc.

PBT stood at N221.50 billion in 2021 before dipping marginally by 3.3 percent to N214.15 billion in 2022, as the Group absorbed transitional pressures.

The recalibration proved temporary: 2023 delivered a 184.5 percent surge to N609.31 billion as core income lines strengthened and efficiency gains took hold.

A further 107.8 percent advance in 2024 pushed PBT to N1.27 trillion, with wider margins and rising non-interest income doing much of the heavy lifting.

The slight 2.8 percent retreat to N1.23 trillion in 2025, driven by fiscal headwinds rather than any structural weakness , rounds out a profit trajectory that, over the five years, is unmistakably upward.

For 2025 specifically, the balance sheet remained strong and well-capitalised.

Total assets closed at approximately N17.8 trillion, while shareholders’ funds rose to N3.4 trillion.

The Group’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) of 43.8 percent , well in excess of regulatory thresholds , signals that GTCO has more than adequate headroom to absorb shocks and pursue further growth without compromising financial stability.

Credit quality continued to improve.

Non-performing loan indicators at the IFRS 9 Stage 3 level edged lower, dropping to 3.4 percent at the bank level and 5.0 percent at the Group level, against 3.5 percent and 5.2 percent respectively recorded in 2024.

The cost of risk fell sharply from 4.9 percent to 2.2 percent, pointing to more disciplined underwriting and effective remediation of legacy credit exposures.

Loan growth was steady without being aggressive.

The net loan book expanded 12.4 percent, rising from N2.79 trillion to N3.13 trillion over the twelve-month period.

Deposit mobilisation, however, was noticeably stronger, liabilities from customers grew 23.8 percent, from N10.40 trillion to N12.87 trillion, a vote of confidence from depositors and an indicator of improving market share.

On the capital markets front, the year delivered a landmark moment: GTCO completed a dual listing on both the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE), making it the first financial institution in West Africa to achieve such a feat.

The development is expected to sharpen the Group’s international profile and widen its access to global capital.

Returns to shareholders were robust.

Post-tax return on equity (ROAE) came in at 28.3 percent, while return on assets (ROAA) stood at 5.3 percent , metrics that place GTCO at or near the top of peer comparisons in African banking.

The proposed final dividend of N11.76 per ordinary share of 50 kobo, combined with the N1.00 interim dividend already disbursed, brings the total 2025 payout to N12.76 per share. Shareholders wishing to qualify for the payment must be on the register by April 13, 2026, with settlement pencilled for April 28, subject to applicable withholding tax.

GTCO’s social spending also rose substantially. The Group directed N1.710 billion towards donations and community development programmes during the year, nearly double the N962.6 million committed in 2024 , reinforcing its positioning as a corporate citizen with tangible community stakes.

Group Chief Executive Officer Segun Agbaje offered the following assessment of the Group’s performance:

“Our 2025 result underscores the resilience and depth of our earnings capacity.

The strength of our core operating income, despite a more challenging macroeconomic and regulatory environment, reflects the quality of our franchise and the discipline with which we execute our strategy.”

Agbaje also signalled that the Group would continue to scale its financial services ecosystem through technology investment and product innovation, with a focus on delivering consistent, high-quality returns to shareholders over the long term.

The GTCO Group operates across banking, payments, asset management, and pension administration. Its flagship entity, Guaranty Trust Bank Limited, maintains branches and representative offices across multiple African markets and in the United Kingdom.

Non-banking subsidiaries, including Guaranty Trust Asset Managers Limited, Guaranty Trust Pension Managers Limited, and HabariPay Limited , add breadth to what is one of Nigeria’s most diversified financial services conglomerates.

As the Nigerian banking sector contends with evolving regulatory demands and macroeconomic headwinds, GTCO’s full-year outing cements its standing as a sector benchmark   one whose results are closely watched not just in Nigeria, but across the continent.

With capital strength, improving asset quality, and a clear growth roadmap in place, the Group enters 2026 from a position of evident stability.