Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) said it plans to grow its loan book between 15 and 20 per cent this year.

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank) one of the most successful bank in Nigeria said it plans to grow its loan book between 15 and 20 per cent this year.

In order to achieve the, the bank listed its target sectors to include telecoms, oil and gas, manufacturing and maritime.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, GTBank, Mr. Segun Agbaje, who said this during the presentation of its 2013 full year results to journalists in Lagos, also assured stakeholders that profitability would be driven by loan growth.

The GTBank boss also said the bank would maintain low cost and ensure the growth of its subsidiaries this year.

According to Agbaje, the bank would remain on the forefront of industry’s best practices, strong risk management and corporate governance
With cost-to-income ratio below 45 per cent, the GTBank boss argued that the financial institution remains the industry leader.

“We shall continue to drive retail deposits, technology, innovation to keep cost low,” he added.

Furthermore, Agbaje said the bank is targeting a 20 per cent growth in retail deposits to maintain low cost of funding, adding that it would invest in technology and electronic banking to drive its retail base.

“Our business strategy and objective is to be one of the top three banks in Africa by 2016. Our market leadership scale up our franchise in Africa.
“We shall also aggressively grow our market share in our chosen/priority sectors, with knowledgeable and highly driven staff with deep industry skills,” the GTBank boss said.

GTBank audited full year results as at December 2013 showed that it recorded profit after tax of N90.02 billion, representing a marginal improvement by 3.1 per cent, over the N87.30 billion it stood at in the corresponding period of 2007. The bank also realised profit before tax of N107.09 billion, reflecting a 3.9 per cent growth, as against the N103.03 billion it was in 2012.

Its loan book was N1.008 trillion in 2013, from N783.91 billion in 2012, while interest income stood at N185.38 billion in the year under review, as against the N170.30 billion attained the previous year.
“Management’s current drive is for sustainable efficiency in operations with an aim to achieve 40 per cent cost-to-income ratio by 2016,” he said.
GTBank successfully completed its acquisition of Fina Bank and its subsidiaries. The banks have been rebranded to GTBank.

According to him, “Fina Bank was already a profitable venture prior to acquisition and we are confident that it will be a lot more profitable, efficient and innovative under the GTBank umbrella.”