Guaranty Trust Holding Company GTCO, a Nigerian financial services group valued at ?1.39 trillion, flagged off its public offer to raise ?400 billion to meet new capital requirements on Monday. While the Central Bank raised capitalisation requirements for the countrys biggest banks tenfold in March 2024, Segun Agbaje, GTCO HoldCos CEO, claimed the bank had a capital raise in the works anyway.
In a passionate presentation on Monday, Agbaje defended the public offering, arguing that given the massive devaluation of the naira and the governments stated goal of having a trillion-dollar economy, banks needed to shore up their balance sheets.
GTCO, which began in 1990 as Guaranty Trust Bank backed by 42 shareholders and 2 million, must make a bull case because of accelerating inflation and historical skepticism of the Nigerian Exchange NGX. The occasion called for bold predictions.
There is no Nigerian company that has ever made a billion dollars in profit and we are going to be the first ones to give you that, said Agbaje.
Beyond profitability, the financial services giant talked up its ruthless efficiency. Cost to income ratio is about 16. That means youre running your organisation on blood. Cost has always been a source of competitive advantage.
