GTCO Profit Falls by 12% to N614.6bn as Net Margin Slips
Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc profit fell 12.2% year on year to N614.6 billion at the end of the first nine months of financial year 2026, down from N699.6 billion in the same period in 2025.
GTBank Limited’s non-operating holdings company reported weaknesses across key revenue lines, according to investment firm CardinalStone Securities Limited.
Income from interest-yielding assets moderated as lending appetite tightened, and income from daily banking operations outside credit creation underperformed.
GTCO’s performance has trended downward throughout 2026, underperforming analysts’ expectations despite its strong brand identity in the banking sector.
The group’s net interest income declined 1.7% year on year to N935.9 billion, according to unaudited financial statements released, from N952.1 billion in the comparable period.
Non-interest income also disappointed, down by 2.7% year on year to N336.8 billion from N346.3 billion. Income tax increased by about 32% to N265.3 billion. This weighed on the group’s bottom line.
As a result, GTCO’s earnings per share (EPS) declined to N16.58, down 19.9% year on year, below N20.71 reported in the equivalent period in 2025.
Gross earnings rose marginally by 3.5% to N1.7 trillion at the end of the period, driven by a modest 5.0% growth in interest income and a 2.7% decline in Non-Interest Revenue (NIR).
Specifically, the modest growth in interest income to N1.3 trillion largely reflects the 1.3 ppts decline in asset yields to 13.5% in 9M 2026, CardinalStone Securities Limited said in its update.
Analysts noted that about 66.0% of interest income came from placements and investment securities, with the remaining 34.0% from loans. GTCO’s net loan portfolio fell 4.08% year-to-date and 7.4% over the past 12 months as lending appetite weakened.
The Group’s interest expense rose 27.7% to N356.0 billion. Analysts said the surge was driven by a 15.6% expansion in customer deposits to N13.7 trillion, a 56.5% jump in term deposits, while the current-to-savings account ratio moderated to 81.6%.
Lower net interest income moderated margins to 9.8%, down from 11.4% in the equivalent period in 2025.
The group’s 9.5% year-on-year rise in operating expenses, amid underlying weakness in operating income, led to a higher cost-to-income ratio (CIR) of 31.4% from 28.1% in 9M’2025, CardinalStone Securities Limited said in its update. Market Index Soars as Nigerian Exchange Inches Near N165trn
