Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc has recorded a profit before tax of N302.9 billion for the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, a 0.9 percent increase over the N300.26 billion posted in the same period of 2025, driven by strong performance across core earnings lines with interest income and fee income growing by 17.5 percent and 7.1 percent year on year respectively.
The group’s loan book expanded by 1.3 percent from N3.13 trillion in December 2025 to N3.17 trillion in March 2026, supported by a 6.3 percent growth in deposit liabilities from N12.87 trillion to N13.69 trillion over the same period. Total assets and shareholders’ funds closed at N18.7 trillion and N3.6 trillion respectively.
Capital adequacy remained exceptionally strong at 39.5 percent, while asset quality improved with IFRS 9 Stage 3 Loans declining to 4.4 percent from 5 percent in December 2025. The Cost of Risk improved markedly to 0.2 percent from 2.2 percent in December 2025, reflecting disciplined credit risk management across the group’s portfolios.
Group Chief Executive Officer Segun Agbaje described the results as marking a defining shift in the quality and composition of the group’s earnings. “Building on the momentum from prior periods, we delivered solid growth across our core income lines, supported by disciplined execution and a well-diversified, strong, and healthy balance sheet,” he said, adding that the group was deliberately positioning itself to capture significant opportunities in payments, wealth management, and banking across Nigeria and its West and East African markets.
The group continued to post industry-leading financial ratios including a pre-tax Return on Average Equity of 34.4 percent, pre-tax Return on Average Assets of 6.6 percent, Capital Adequacy Ratio of 39.5 percent, and Cost to Income Ratio of 31.5 percent.
