GTCO Crosses N500bn Capital Base With Fresh Fund Injection

Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO) has injected fresh equity of N365.85 billion into its flagship subsidiary, Guaranty Trust Bank Limited (GTBank), raising the lender’s total capital base to N504.04 billion.

The move places GTBank in compliance with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) new capital requirement for international commercial banks, which mandates a minimum capital base of N500 billion to be achieved by March 2026. The policy, announced in March 2024, was designed to strengthen the resilience of Nigerian banks and ensure they are better positioned to support economic growth.

In a regulatory disclosure filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) and signed by GTCO’s group general counsel/company secretary, Erhi Obebeduo, the group explained that the injection was executed through the allotment of 6,994,050,290 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each by GTBank to its parent company.

The Company further clarified that it continues to hold 100 per cent of GTBank’s issued and paid-up share capital. It noted that none of its directors has any direct or indirect interest in the transaction.

GTCO disclosed that the capital was sourced from its two-phased equity raising programme, which was approved at the 2024 Annual General Meeting and implemented with regulatory clearance.

According to the Group, the fresh capital will be deployed to expand GTBank’s branch network, grow its loan and investment portfolio, strengthen information technology systems, and position the Bank to seize new business opportunities both in Nigeria and across its international markets.

GTCO said, “Following the Capital Injection, the Company continues to hold 100 per cent of the entire issued and paid-up share capital of the Bank.

None of the Company’s Directors has any interest in the Bank, direct or indirect.

“The two-phased equity capital raising programme funded the Capital Injection

approved by the company’s shareholders at its 2024 Annual General Meeting and subsequently executed in line with the relevant regulatory authorities’ approval.

“Through this Capital Injection, the share capital of GTBank has been increased from

N138,186,703,485.78 to N504,037,107,058.45 ensures the Bank complies with the new minimum capital requirement for commercial banks with international authorisation stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“The additional equity capital will be deployed by GTBank primarily for the branch network expansion and asset growth (loans/advances and investment securities portfolio), fortification of its information technology infrastructure, and to leverage emerging opportunities in Nigeria and the operating environments where it maintains banking presence.”