Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Nigeria’s biggest lender by market value, said full-year profit climbed 9 percent after lending increased.
Net income rose to 92.6 billion naira ($562 million) from 84.8 billion naira in 2012, the Lagos-based lender said in a statement posted today on the website of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Loans jumped 29 percent to 1 trillion naira, it said.
Guaranty Trust boosted earnings as Central Bank of Nigeria last year raised cash reserve requirements for lenders to hold government deposits to 75 percent from 50 percent to tighten liquidity, while keeping its benchmark lending rate at a record high of 12 percent. The regulator also directed banks in sub-Saharan Africa’s second-biggest economy to lower fees and commissions to ease the burden on customers.
“Once the headwinds that the sector faced in 2013 are factored in, the results are impressive,” Bunmi Asaolu, a Lagos-based analyst at FBN Capital Ltd., said by phone today. “The market will be looking for evidence or guidance of strong loan growth to compensate for additional headwinds which are expected in 2014.”
The stock fell 2.5 percent to 23.70 naira at the close in Lagos trading, bringing this year’s decline to 12 percent. That compares with the 16 percent drop in the Nigerian SE Banking Index, which tracks the 10 largest lenders in Africa’s biggest oil producer.
