Guaranty Trust Bank Plc has released its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2017 to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges.

A review of the results shows positive performance across all financial indices, reaffirming the Bank’s position as one of the most profitable and well managed financial institutions in Nigeria.

Gross earnings for the year grew by 1.1% to ₦419.2billion from ₦414.6billion reported in the December 2016; driven primarily by growth in interest income as well as e-payment revenues.

Profit before tax stood at ₦200.2billion, representing a growth of 21.3% over ₦165.1billion recorded in the corresponding year ended December 2016.

The Bank’s loan book dipped by 8.9% from ₦1.590trillion recorded as at December 2016 to ₦1.449trillion in December 2017 while customer deposits increased by 3.8% to ₦2.062trillion from ₦1.986trillion in December 2016.

The Bank’s balance sheet remained strong with a 3.9% growth in Total Assets and Contingents as the Bank closed the year ended December 2017 with Total Assets and Contingents of ₦3.845trillion and Shareholders’ Funds of ₦625.2Billion. In terms of Assets quality, NPL ratio increased to 7.7% in December 2017 from 3.7% in December 2016 largely as a result of classification of a single exposure within the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry.

However, non-performing loans would moderate to 4.6%, which is below regulatory threshold, if we exclude this name from NPL ratio computation. Overall, asset quality remains stable with adequate coverage of 119.6%, while Capital remains strong with CAR of 25.7%.

On the backdrop of this result, Return on Equity (ROAE) and Return on Assets (ROAA) closed at 35.4% and 6.2% respectively. The Bank is proposing a final dividend of 240k per unit of ordinary shares held by shareholders in addition to interim dividend of 30k per unit of ordinary share bringing total dividend for 2017 financial year to ₦2.70 per unit of ordinary share.

Commenting on the financial results, the Managing Director/CEO of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, said: “2017 was a pivotal year for the bank. We delivered a strong result in a challenging environment; achieving record growth in earnings, carefully managing cost margins and leveraging our digital-first customer-centric strategy to deliver world-class services that are simple, cheap and easily accessible.”

He further stated that “The result demonstrates the fundamental strength of our franchise as well as the progress we are making in transforming our organization into a platform on which our customers could build their businesses, connect with their consumers and access all the resources that they need to make their lives better.”

GTBank has continued to report the best financial ratios for a Financial Institution in the industry as revealed by its return on equity (ROE) of 35.4% and cost to income ratio of 38.1% evidencing the efficient management of assets and operational efficiency.

Overall, the Bank has enshrined its position as a clear leader in the industry. In recognition of its innovation and hard work, the Bank received over 20 international awards in 2017.

Across the globe; societies, establishments, groups, and people were making an unwavering #PressforProgress as they championed international women’s day and took phenomenal actions geared towards being gender inclusive and this also included celebrating the diverse achievements of women over the years and across all ages.

FirstBank has undoubtedly been an unparalleled advocate of gender inclusion through its gender equity policies and its recently launched account; FirstGem, which aims to empower women to achieve all their business goals.

To commemorate the International Women’s Day celebration, FirstBank took the time to celebrate & appreciate the input of its female workforce by hosting 125 members of staff across the country to a spectacular event held in Lagos.

The choice for the number of people in attendance was strategic as the bank prepares to celebrate its quasquicentennial (125th) anniversary in 2019.

After guests were treated to a sumptuous breakfast, the event kicked off with an official opening remark and launch of the FirstBank Women’s Network conducted by the Managing Director, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan.

One could not but be mesmerised by Ms. Cecelia Akintomide, Board member FBN Holdings, as she delivered the keynote address with grace and this was followed by a Q &A session held by the Chairman, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika.

There were other activities that were crucial in making sure the universal theme of the day #PressforProgress was not lost in sight.

These included master classes and speed coaching sessions. The former was aimed at driving conversations around financial independence and professional etiquette while the latter was centred around Welfare, Empowerment, Ethics and Financial management.

In all, the event was a huge success that ended with the declaration of pledges by the guests. We do hope that we would all push for equality until every woman has found her voice. Just as the women pledged, what’s your pledge?

Mr. Peter Amangbo, Group MD/CEO, Zenith Bank Plc

Zenith Bank Plc released its FY: 2017 earnings result on the floor of the exchange on Monday and in line with expectation, Zenith’s performance was largely impressive.

Gross earnings surged 46.7% Y-o-Y to N745.2bn. The Bank’s Interest income rose 23.4% Y-o-Y from N384.6bn in FY: 2016 to N474.6bn in FY: 2017 following increased yield on loans and advances (from 10.9% in FY: 2016 to 11.8% in FY:2017) while Non-interest income surged 119.2% Y-o-Y to N270.6bn in FY:2017 from N123.4bn in the prior year, majorly due to the significant gains recorded from trading activities (especially Treasury Bills  and Derivatives trading). As noticed in 2017, more Banks seem to be focusing on trading activities to boost income given the attractive yield environment. This has been particularly true for Zenith which consistently recorded average quarterly trading income of N39.9bn between Q1:2017 to Q4:2017 from 2016 corresponding quarterly average of N7.1bn.

We believe this is an income line that has come to stay as the Bank takes advantage of opportunities in the market. Zenith was also able to maintain its drive to optimize cost as Cost to Income Ratio (CIR) moderated to 42.9% from 48.0% in FY: 2016 despite a 30.0% increase in OPEX (from N174.5bn to N226.9bn).

Accordingly, PAT advanced 37.2% Y-o-Y to N177.9bn from N129.7bn in the prior year while RoAE improved to 23.4% from 20.0% in the prior year. A final dividend of N2.45 (N0.25 paid for H1:2017) was proposed for the period, translating to an implied dividend yield of 7.9%. Our Compelling Investment Thesis for Zenith The resilience of Zenith is clearly demonstrated in its FY: 2017 performance and we have a positive outlook on future earnings in 2018 and beyond. In our view, the dividend yield (7.9%) on the stock is quite attractive given the current realities in the market and this presents a good opportunity for investors interested in dividend paying stocks. Furthermore, on a valuation basis, considering the pre-earnings announcement P/BV of 1.5x and current P/BV multiple of 1.2x, we believe the stock is currently undervalued and presents an attractive entry opportunity.

In a scenario in which the stock trades at the pre-earnings release P/BV, we envisage an implied price of N39.25 on ZENITH which presents an upside opportunity of 26.8% against a price of N31.00 (13/03/2018).

Against the backdrop of our expectation of positive performance in 2018 as well as the current attractive pricing on the stock, we believe it is Open Season on ZENITH! and investors should be on the hunt for the Stock.