BY PROVIDENCE OBUH

Guaranty Trust Bank Plc has assured its shareholders that dividend would be paid to them after the sale or merger of its subsidiaries.
The Acting Managing Director, GTBank Plc, Mr. Segun Agbaje, disclosed this to shareholders at the bank’s 21st Annual General Meeting held over the weekend in Lagos.

According to him, “ following its compliance with the recent guidelines from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the bank would make some additional income from the sale and mergers of some of its subsidiaries.

“We want to assure our shareholders that whatever profits we make from either the sale or merger of any of our subsidiaries will come out as part of our profits for the year 2011, and thus will be reflected in the dividends and bonus given to our shareholders for that year.”

He said, “Since you our esteemed shareholders had at our Extra-ordinary General Meeting, given your approval to the divestment of the bank from its subsidiaries, we have been involved in various discussions as to how best to divest our subsidiaries such as GT Registrars, GT Loans, GT Assurance and GT Asset Management.”

Agbaje explained that the bank was making plans to roll out more ATM machines this year, to satisfy the request of its teeming customers, adding that plans were in place to also increase its branches to accommodate its new customers.

The bank in its result for the year-ended December 31, 2010, recorded a profit after tax of N38.34 billion, representing an increase by 62 per cent over N23.68 billion recorded in the similar period of 2009.

At the meeting, shareholders approved a dividend payout of 75 kobo per share for the full year, in addition to 25 kobo initially paid during the half-year.

“As we look towards the future, we are determined to re-create our business model anew, to re-invent our way of doing business, and focus with laser-like precision on customer service,” he stated.

In his statement, the Chairman of the bank, Mr. Oluwole Oduyemi, noted that the expectation of greater liquidity in the economy owing to the CBN forecasts and the electioneering activities portends encouraging economic prospects for the bank.

“Indeed, we are committed to breaking new grounds in the economic space whilst consolidating our investments both within and outside the shores of Nigeria, as we endeavour to sustain our strong customer focus,” he added.

However, GTBank  turnover  fell by 5.3 per cent or N8.64bn from N162.55bn in 2009, to N153.91bn in the period under review.