By Stanley Onyeka, Lagos
Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc has refuted allegations of a series of “unscrupulous, unethical and criminal activities.”
The rebuttal followed the release on September 4, of a Private Investigative Report by Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN), and signed by its President, Edwin Omaga, alleging a series of corporate misconduct against Guaranty Trust Bank Limited, the flagship subsidiary of the GTCO group.
Describing the report as false, GTCO in a statement said GICN set out to deliberately create a false narrative about the GTCO brand and its management.
The statement reads in part: “Being a responsible corporate citizen and a first-class institution, GTCO Plc has taken swift and decisive legal actions against the various sources of these false reports. We will continue to use the full extent of the rule of law available to safeguard our reputation.”
“Based on the incessant release of false news reports on GTCO’s business activities, Results and its Management Team, it has become necessary to set the records straight and dispel attempts by certain groups to create a false narrative about the GTCO Brand and its Management.
“The false news articles which are being sponsored using the media, center around baseless allegations against the Group’s business activities and its Executive Management.
“We urge all our Customers, Shareholders and Stakeholders to kindly disregard all the allegations being peddled through various media platforms and handles.
“All of our Executive Management team continue to operate in their full capacities as appointed and are not under any financial or regulatory scrutiny as alleged.”
Being a responsible corporate citizen and a first-class institution, GTCO Plc has taken swift and decisive legal actions against the various sources of these false reports. We will continue to use the full extent of the rule of law available to safeguard our reputation.
Finance experts and company shareholders have equally dismissed the allegations given the layers of regulation of the money market, while expressing confidence in GTCO’s management team.
GTCO had posted an impressive result for the first half (H1) 2024 performance, raking in pre-tax profit of N1.004 trillion, and became the first Nigerian financial institution to cross the N1trillion mark in profit.
This milestone figure was an increase of 206.6% over the N327.4billion recorded the same period ended June 2023.
The Group’s loan book (net) rose by 25.5% from N8trillion recorded as of December 2023 to N3.11trillion in June 2024, while deposit liabilities grew by 39.8% from N7.55trillion in December 2023 to N10.55trillion in June 2024.
