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It will come to many as a surprise how GTBank has been making wonderful exploits over the years. This is because the bank has been ably managed by men of impeccable corporate pedigree.

What is now being said in many quarters is the input of the present MD/CEO, who has taken up the gauntlet from his predecessors.

GTBank has many things to be proud of and will always be the leader in the pack. The industry is replete with many gurus, and one of them is the quintessential Segun Agbaje, who has been managing Guarantee Trust Bank with his managerial capability.

In this report, AIRWAVES REPORT team looks into the good world of banking, focusing on what GTBank has achieved in 2017. In today’s banking, innovation and customer’s satisfaction are very key.

Every bank wants to keep and grow its customers’ base by keeping to the ideals of responsive banking and making profits in the long run. Even when a clientele base is large, and the bank is not able to match up to its growing demands, efforts have to be made to ensure the clients are satisfied.

With the increasing demands of Digital Banking, a lot of banks, both old and new generation, have struggled with meeting the needs and upgrading its backbone technology infrastructure for off-line and real time banking. Guarantee Trust Bank, through its innovative style and leadership, has ensured its Flashmob 737 to make banking easy and simple at touch the of your GSM phone.

These giant strides have helped the bank in no small measure, to allow clients be able to transfer, check their credit balances and other services by just pressing 737. This has enabled the forward- looking bank to garner many awards via the Flashmob that other banks have cued behind, to have a simple code that will make banking easy and affordable. Let’s take a run-down their achievements in 2017, in the following order.

GTBank ‘737’ Generated N1trilion In One Year!

In April 2017, it was widely-reported that Guaranty Trust Bank Plc recorded over N1 trillion transactions via the bank’s 737 payment and service delivery platform. Mr Segun Agbaje, the bank’s managing director, said this at the bank’s 27th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos. Agbaje said that the bank was leading the future of payments and service delivery with the 737 platform it introduced a year ago.

The bank’s 737 platform is a USSD-based service delivery channel that provides simple banking for every Nigerian through mobile phones. The bank’s boss said “within a year of the introduction of the service, the bank recorded an uptake of over three million customers, with over N1 trillion in transactions on the platform.”

He added that the platform had gained ubiquitous acceptance and global recognition. GT Bank indeed is one of the banks that take their corporate social responsibility CSR serious. The management led by its CEO, Mr Segun Agbaje, has made CSRs an investment into critical sectors that employ one of the highest numbers of people.

GTBank Celebrated 10th Year On London Stock Exchange Listing

Last year, champagne bottles were popped in celebration of the anniversary of the bank being listed at the London Stock Exchange. This has further boosted the international clientele and wider reach of the bank, making it a bank worthy of banking with, and improving in no small terms its brand value.

Corporate Social Responsibilities idealized through GTBank Fashion Weekend

The Nigerian fashion industry has grown in leaps and bounds. With the Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture helping to make professionals access loans into growing their fashion companies and accessing textile credits, the industry has supported the entertainment industry in bringing out the colours and final products- clothing creatively our celebrities who strode the red carpet and paparazzi take them on.

In helping to deepen the growth of the multi million naira industry, GT Bank in 2016 decided to host a two-day fashion weekend that attracts thousands of people, vendors, couture and young make-up artistes learning from the experiences of experts in a Master Class.

The 2017 GT Fashion Weekend, held in November, will continue to linger in the memories of those that stormed the The Arena, at Water Corporation area of Victoria Island, in Lagos. Over 90 fashion retailers were at the stand to showcase their products. Hundreds of young and upcoming designers, as well as make-up artistes, gleaned from the wealth and experience of fashion experts in a Master Class.

The weekend had nine fashion runways, which showcased global designers, as models strutted the runway glamorously and stylishly. The fashion weekend has assumed a global event status where tourists visit the country to see creativity at its best.

GTBank Food and Drink Fair

Apart from the GT fashion weekend, the Food and Drink fair hosted by the bank, is another event that is gathering momentum on the national space because of its encompassing capacity to bring professionals in the food and drink subsector together in one space. Held in April 2017, the Food & Drinks festival was a forum to examine the growth and relevance of the sector and how much it had contributed to the hospitality industry. Over 100 food retailers gathered in one place at he Arena. The food fair had ten international chefs who tutored young and established cooks who desired to break into the international limelight in some years to come. The fair attracted a record, 120, 000 visitors.

The Social Media Week

In February of the same year under review, the bank sponsored the annual and engaging Social Media Week which has been the hotbed of many discussions and trends that the social media interacts with for the larger part of the year. The SMW brings Social media influencers, bloggers, experts and writers together to discuss on their relevance and how to galvanize change in the polity.

Segun Agbaje Speaks At London Business School

True to type, the visionary and exemplary leadership of the CEO of GTBank, Mr. Segun Agbaje, came to the fore in April 2017, when he was a guest speaker at the prestigious London Business School. Also, Stanford Business School hosted the banking guru and benefitted from the wealth of knowledge of the CEO extra-ordinaire.

The bank also celebrated the children who are the future of tomorrow on Children’s Day. In a carnival-like atmosphere, the event attracted thousands of children and their parents, who came to have fun, just as A-list comedians and musicians entertained.

GTBank Principal’s Cup

When it comes to School Sports, the bank has contributed immensely in the development of school sports in almost a decade. In partnership with the state of excellence, Lagos State, the GT Principal’s Cup annually engages scores of secondary schools in a football tournament. This has helped in no small measure to act as a pool where Under-17 footballers are being found and honed; to compete and bring honour and glory to the country.

GTBank Masters Cup, Season 6

One of the golf tournaments that the high-flying bank also sponsors is the GT Bank Masters Cup. Now in its seventh season, the tournament has added to the growing list of golf tournaments in the country and this is about improving the sport.

Ndani TV

The highly creative and interactive TV program, is part of the ways, the bank has supported the entertainment and media industry. Ndani TV, an online TV show, which creates content and markets them, once hosted an entrepreneurship reality show.

Tagged ‘The African Dream,’ the reality TV show hosted Ethiopian award-winning fashion entrepreneur, who deals in making of shoe wears and other products. A business reality show which is in its 2nd Season, was solely sponsored by the bank in August of this same year under review.

Tagged CAMPO RealTalk GTBank 2017, the business reality show was to create and train the next big young entrepreneurs in the ideals of starting and growing a business from the scratch. Other initiatives the bank embarked on in 2017 were the Digital Skill Training for SMEs and a Staff Health Week Walk.

In July 2017, a new library was built in Yaba area of Lagos State, to boost the intellectual and academic field. The initiative was part of the GT Bank Coronation Cup. Also, the bank, through its CSR initiative, supported the 7th edition of Annual Autism Program. An online gallery named Art635, engaged over 57 artistes and showcased 553 pieces of artwork in an exhibition sponsored by GT Bank.

2017: Harvest of Awards for GTBank

For 2017, GT Bank excelled on all fronts, carting away with most of the awards available. The list includes but not limited to: Boardroom Corporate Award 2017: Best Corporate Governance Financial Services Africa 2017.

African Investor Award: best performing Ai 100 Company and Segun Agbaje was the Ai 100 CEO of the Year. Euromoney Award For Excellence 2017: Nigeria’s best bank and best bank for SMEs in Africa. Euromoney Private Banking Survey 2017: Best private banking services overall and Net-worth-specific services, commercial banking capabilities

Emeafinance African Banking Awards 2017: Best Bank In Nigeria, Best Bank for CSR in Africa and CEO of the year. World Finance banker of the year Africa 2017, Segun Agbaje, Bank Banking Group Nigeria and Best Retail Bank. African Banker awards 2017: African bank of the year. AABLA company of the year, 2017. Excellence in retail finance services convention 2017: best deposit service, best retail payment in Nigeria

The Banker Awards 2017: 2017 Bank of year in Nigeria CEO Awards: 2017 CEO of the year, Segun Agbaje; AI International Finance Awards: Digital Bank Efficiency Award 2017: Best Customer Experience Award – electronic platform experience); Instant payments transaction efficiency Cashless Driver: card usage on point of sale terminals; Cashless driver: real time payments.

Point of sale card transaction efficiency award; Electronic data rendition compliance and integrity award etc. All of these have culminated into making GTBank the bank of the moment and the Segun Agabje-led team is still not relenting in their resounding service provision to all their customers.

 

 

 

—- Bolatito Adebola

BIG STORY

BUSINESS: Marketers May Dump NNPCL As Price War With Dangote Rages

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Some oil marketers are beginning to change the logo of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on their filling stations, as the dealers dump the franchise deals with NNPCL due to the stiff competition in the prices of refined products in the downstream arm of the oil sector.

It was gathered that many others are considering the move, particularly those in Lagos, following the recent crash in the prices of refined products by the $20bn Lekki-based Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

Already some dealers that used to have the NNPCL logo on their filling stations located around Wawa on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, as well as at Ibafo, still along the busy road, have dropped the name of the national oil firm.

Independent marketers are seeking to achieve adequate product off-take at a cheaper rate, as the deregulation of the downstream oil sector has led to intense competition.

Many filling stations formerly affiliated with the national oil company are now being renamed and rebranded under the ownership of private oil marketers, particularly in Lagos and surrounding states.

It was also learned that more marketers may relinquish their licences with NNPCL due to the reduced loading costs of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) refined by the Dangote refinery, which is currently lower than the landing cost of imported petrol.

A petrol price war was reignited in the sector recently after the Dangote Petroleum Refinery slashed its loading costs to N890 from N950 per litre.

Dealers explained that the rebranding of filling stations is a tactic by the marketers to pick up cheaper products from the Dangote refinery, and other import sources at a cheaper rate.

This assertion was confirmed by the National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, during an exclusive interview on Tuesday.

A franchise licence in the oil sector refers to an official authorisation granted to an individual or company to operate a business or distribute products under an established brand or system within the oil industry.

This typically involves a contractual agreement that allows the franchisee to utilise the franchisor’s brand, resources, and operational model in exchange for fees or a percentage of revenue.

Ukadike explained that marketers have adopted this new approach because the NNPCL is no longer the exclusive importer and distributor of refined petroleum products.

He said, “Yes, that observation is correct. Some marketers are changing and rebranding. Remember that there was a time NNPCL was the sole distributor and importer of petrol. So, marketers then gave their filling stations as franchises so that they could get products.

“So marketers normally give their companies to NNPCL to be able to have petroleum products. But now that the game has changed, you can even see some marketers now changing to MRS filling stations. Because MRS is now selling cheaper than any other station.

“People want where they want to get turnover and return on investment. If you are carrying Total on as a brand name and Total is not giving you petrol products, what is the sense of carrying the name? You have to remove it and get a better alternative. Most of those filling stations (that are changing name), NNPC don’t own them. NNPC only collected them on the franchise.”

Attempts to contact the NNPCL spokesperson, Femi Soneye, for an explanation of why marketers are switching from the company’s brand, proved unsuccessful, as he did not reply to messages sent to his phone.

An oil and gas expert, Olatide Jeremiah, who confirmed the arrangement said marketers used the franchise licence as a method to secure cheaper products from NNPCL which was still importing at the time.

He confirmed that the avenue that provided more revenue was disrupted by the emergence of the Dangote refinery and the inability of the national oil firm to secure an agreement to fix petrol prices with the Lekki-based plant.

Jeremiah, who is the Chief Executive Officer of petroleumprice.ng noted, “Yes, it’s true. It all happened after the subsidy was removed but before the emergence of the Dangote refinery.”

He further narrated, “After the removal and petrol price went up, NNPCL was asked to manage the price and should not be allowed to keep skyrocketing. So NNPCL and the majors were pegging the price at N500 but the landing cost was above the amount. This affected importers and independent marketers who imported fuel. For instance, Petrocam imported and claimed that its landing cost was N700 but the majors and NNPCL were selling at N500 per litre. That is a difference of N200 and was a huge loss.

“So actually NNPCL was subsidising internally and when independent marketers noticed this and were losing sales, they began applying for NNPCL franchise lincence. The marketers paid millions to get the franchise licence because they were loading from NNPCL depot at a cheaper rate.

“NNPCL was the one dictating price for all the majors at that time because of public outcry and they used to buy, till Dangote came in. They also wanted to do the same thing with Dangote to fix the price but the arrangement didn’t work because Dangote wanted to sell to everyone. Its price was better and independent marketers could buy directly.

“The franchise licence was also an avenue to make more profit because some marketers got licence for one of their stations but would transport products to other stations and sell at a higher price to Nigerians. The slot of getting fuel tankers at that time was twice in a month.”

The Chairman of PETROAN in Lagos State, Akinola Ogunyolemi, said most of the outlets are not originally owned by the NNPC.

He said the removal of the NNPCL symbol might mean the end of an agreement or a breach of it by either party.

“These are individual outlets. What they do is that, if an NNPCL contract expires and they are not ready to move forward with them or if they get a juicy offer, they will remove the NNPCL logo. They will rebrand again and put other people’s names. That could be the reason.

“Most of the outlets are not NNPCL-owned. You can have your filling station built and put NNPCL there, with your contract to them. Maybe they could not meet up with your agreement with them, (because they too also have some breach of contract sometimes), you might decide to go and give the station to Mobil or Total. It is yours,” Ogunyolemi said.

Experts also noted that more licenses may still be revoked because the price of imported petrol now costs more than products obtained from the Dangote refinery.

According to the latest data released by the Major Energies Marketers Association, the on-spot cost of landing PMS has reached N910.14 per litre at the ASPM and N910.52 at the NPSC depot.

The document also stated the 30-day average cost of petrol surged to N939.03 per litre.M

Meanwhile, fresh details emerged regarding the behind-the-scenes developments that contributed to the reduction in the ex-gantry loading cost of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol, sourced from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and a possible reduced retail cost for Nigerians.

The refinery in a statement signed by Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, said the strategic adjustment is a direct response to the positive outlook within the global energy and gas markets, as well as the recent reduction in international crude oil prices.

“Dangote Petroleum Refinery has reduced the ex-depot (gantry) price of Premium Motor Spirit, commonly known as petrol, from N950 to N890, effective from Saturday, 1st February 2025.

“This strategic adjustment is a direct response to the positive outlook within the global energy and gas markets, as well as the recent reduction in international crude oil prices,” the statement read.

It noted that the price revision reflects the ongoing fluctuations in global crude oil markets, as highlighted in the refinery’s statement on 19th January, when a modest increase was implemented due to the previously rising international crude oil prices.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, was traded at $76.76 per barrel on Tuesday, marking a reduction of $4 from $81 per barrel recorded in early January.

While this assertion is totally accurate, marketers in the downstream sector informed our correspondent that a pricing competition between Dangote, the NNPCL and some marketers contributed to the decision to reduce its petrol costs.

This fresh pricing war started about a week ago after the NNPCL and some major marketers secured an alternative source to import refined products at a cheaper landing cost compared to Dangote’s price.

Earlier report had it that the national oil firm and other marketers in the downstream oil sector imported more than 633 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) and Automotive Gas Oil (diesel) in January 2025 despite the production of these commodities domestically.

A marketer said, “We had noticed for some weeks that Dangote and private depot prices were at the same level unlike before when there was a N20 difference. So we found out that some people are sourcing cheaper products outside the country and that’s why they are going head-on with Dangote. Those depots didn’t want to get out of business and that was why they had to do it to be more competitive.”

Another source who confirmed the development said the concerns expressed by bulk buyers operating at a loss of N31.02 per litre or a total loss of N310,159,109.59 made Dangote senior executives hold a meeting.

The source noted, however, that despite the reduction in output, the refinery continues to maintain a steady profit, demonstrating its ability to adapt and remain financially successful.

He said, “The price reduction from Dangote was somehow inevitable because there were serious complaints and concerns from their buyers. This made Dangote senior executives to meet on Friday between 4 and 5 pm to discuss. What has happened is basically the effect of deregulation in the downstream sector and Nigerians should expect more pricing war between competitors in the sector.”

 

Credit: The Punch

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BIG STORY

Guinness Nigeria Reports N20 Billion Profit, 6 Months After Tolaram Takeover

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Guinness Nigeria Plc released its second-quarter earnings, reporting a pre-tax profit of N20.1 billion for the period ending December 31, 2024. This marks a significant turnaround from the pre-tax loss of N8.2 billion recorded in the same quarter of the previous year. It is also the first quarterly profit posted by Guinness Nigeria Plc since September 2023, when it reported a profit of N3.8 billion in its first quarter.

The profit boost follows the Tolaram Group’s completion of its takeover of operations from Diageo, the former parent owner of the Guinness brand. Tolaram acquired the Guinness Nigeria franchise in June 2024, and within six months, the company achieved its first quarterly operating profit.

The second-quarter profit helped increase half-year pre-tax profits to approximately N4.1 billion, enabling the company to report its first half-year profit since December 2022. The pre-tax profit for FY 2024 stood at N4.1 billion, reflecting a significant recovery from the N4.4 billion loss recorded in the previous half-year.

For the quarter, Guinness Nigeria reported revenue of N133.7 billion, bringing the year-to-date figure to N259.6 billion, an 82.06% increase compared to the full year of 2023.

Key financial highlights for FY 2024 include:

Revenue: N259.6 billion, +82.06% YoY

Cost of sales: N200.5 billion, +107.54% YoY

Gross profit: N59 billion, +28.45% YoY

Other income: N159 million, -93.67% YoY

Marketing and distribution expenses: N31.6 billion, +33.00% YoY

Operating profit: N11.2 billion

Finance expenses: N71.1 billion, +197.75% YoY

Finance income: N63.9 billion, +1993.90% YoY

Pre-tax profit: N4.1 billion

Post-tax loss: N302.7 million

  • Surge in revenue boosts margins

Guinness Nigeria Plc reported revenue of N259.6 billion for FY 2024, reflecting an impressive increase of 82.06% compared to FY 2023. Domestic sales contributed 98.5% of the total revenue, while export sales made up the remaining 1.5%. Despite strong revenue growth, the cost of sales surged by 107.54% year-on-year, rising from N96.6 billion in the previous year to N200.5 billion in 2024. However, the company recorded a gross profit increase of 28.45% year-on-year, reaching N59 billion, compared to N45.9 billion in FY 2023.

Marketing and distribution expenses also rose significantly, climbing by 33.00% to N31.6 billion from N23.7 billion in the prior year. Despite rising operational expenses, operating profit declined to N11.2 billion, down from N16.3 billion reported in the previous year. Analysts at Nairametrics observed that the primary driver of Guinness Nigeria’s profitability was a surge in topline revenue, which hit a record N133.7 billion this quarter—the highest ever recorded by the company. The revenue increase helped offset cost pressures, resulting in an operating profit of N18.1 billion.

Guinness reported an operating loss of N6.8 billion at the end of September 2024, the first quarter of the current financial year. Operating profit margins rebounded to 13.2%, the highest since March 2022, when margins were around 18.5%.

Meanwhile, net finance charges, which had been a major contributor to losses in recent years, turned into a net gain this quarter. Although finance expenses more than doubled to N59.5 billion in the quarter under review, this was offset by a surge in finance income totaling N63.9 billion. This turnaround was primarily driven by gains from the remeasurement of foreign currency balances, which accounted for 99.51% of the finance income.

This improvement in profitability is seen as a significant boost for the new owners of Guinness Nigeria Plc as they work to revitalize one of Nigeria’s largest brewers. Tolaram Group, which acquired Guinness in June 2024, reported its first operating profit for the company in less than six months under its management. According to Nairametrics, Guinness Nigeria is likely to be delisted from the Nigerian Exchange as the new owners proceed with a mandatory takeover of the company’s shares from minority shareholders.

 

Credit: Nairametrics

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BIG STORY

‘N100k Daily, N500k Weekly’: Banks Begin Implementation Of PoS Withdrawal Limit

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Union Bank has started enforcing a daily withdrawal limit on point-of-sale (PoS) terminals.

This action follows a directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued on December 17, 2024, which set a daily withdrawal cap of N100,000 per customer on PoS transactions.

The CBN stated that this intervention aims to tackle identified issues, reduce fraud, and standardize operational practices across the sector.

Six weeks after the directive, Union Bank, in an email to its customers seen by TheCable, confirmed that the daily withdrawal limit has been implemented, with customers now restricted to a weekly withdrawal limit of N500,000 on PoS.

“In line with CBN directives, please note that effective immediately, the daily withdrawal limit on POS is now N100,000, while the weekly limits are now fixed at N500,000,” the email reads.

“Our ATMs are also available for your cash withdrawals. We encourage you to use our alternative channels (UnionMobile, *826#, UnionOnline) for all your transactions.”

The bank’s announcement follows the CBN’s sanctioning of nine banks for failing to provide adequate cash availability at ATMs during the festive season.

Union Bank was one of the banks fined.

The nine banks were penalized with a N150 million fine after spot checks revealed noncompliance with the CBN’s cash distribution guidelines.

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