Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc has injected N365.9bn into its banking subsidiary, Guaranty Trust Bank Limited, to meet the new minimum capital requirement set by the Central Bank of Nigeria for commercial banks with international authorisation.
The company, in a statement filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited and the London Stock Exchange on Friday, said the capital injection was executed through the issue and allotment of 6,994,050,290 ordinary shares of 50k each by the bank to the holding company by way of a rights issue.
“Through this capital injection, the share capital of GTBank has been increased from N138,186,703,485.78 to N504,037,107,058.45 and ensures the bank’s compliance with the new minimum capital requirement for commercial banks with international authorisation stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria,” the statement partly read.
It added that the transaction was funded through the two-phased equity capital raising programme approved by shareholders of the holding company at its 2024 Annual General Meeting and subsequently executed in line with regulatory approvals.
Following the completion of the capital injection, GTCO confirmed that it continues to hold 100 per cent of the entire issued and paid-up share capital of GTBank.
It also noted that none of the directors of the holding company has any interest, direct or indirect, in the bank.
According to the statement signed by the Group General Counsel and Company Secretary, Erhi Obebeduo, the additional funds will be deployed for growth and expansion across strategic areas.
“The additional equity capital will be deployed by GTBank primarily for 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,” the company stated.
“The additional equity capital will be deployed by GBank primarily for 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 p r e s e n c e,” the statement partly reads.
PUNCH Online reports that Guaranty Trust Holding Company made history on Thursday by becoming the first West African financial institution to have its shares listed on the London Stock Exchange.
