GTCO Becomes First Nigerian Bank To List on the London Stock Exchange (LSE)
- After becoming the first Nigerian bank to cross the N1 trillion mark in profit, GTCO has achieved another first
- The financial institution now has a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange, making it the first Nigerian bank to achieve that
- This is another of several major changes that have happened in the banking group since the start of 2025
Ruth Okwumbu-Imafidon, a journalist with Legit.ng, has over a decade of experience in business reporting across digital and mainstream media.
One of Nigeria’s top banking institutions, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), has officially listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
This makes it the first Nigerian banking institution to list on the London bourse and become available for trading in the United Kingdom (UK) financial markets.
The group had since applied to list on the LSE and eventually scaled through all the regulatory hurdles.
Source: Facebook
GTCO has its primary listing on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) and is currently worth over N2.9 trillion.
It is also now listed on the LSE, where it will trade under the ticker “GTHC”.
A statement published on the institution’s website reveals that approximately 36.4 billion ordinary shares are listed and available for immediate trading on the LSE, according to Premium Times.
The statement from GTCO reads:
“The Company announces that its entire issued share capital, consisting of 36,425,229,514 Shares, has today been admitted to the equity shares (international commercial companies secondary listing) category of the Official List of the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority.”
This secondary listing makes GTCO the first Nigerian financial institution with a double listing.
Other companies in Nigeria also listed on the London Stock Exchange include Seplat and Airtel Africa.
Why did GTCO list on the London Stock Exchange?
GTCO earlier confirmed plans to raise about $100 million through a fully marketed stock offering, that will move it away from its current Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) structure.
The announcement was contained in a report submitted to the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) on Thursday, July 3, 2025.
It confirmed that GTCO's common stock will be admitted to the London Stock Exchange.
According to the company, the listing will help recapitalise its banking affiliate, GTBank Nigeria, to meet the new N500 billion minimum capital requirement for foreign commercial banks set by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
In the first phase of its equity capital issuance, GTCO had already raised N209.41 billion to meet the CBN requirements.
Major leadership change from GTCO
The financial institution also carried out a major leadership shakeup recently, changing some board members.
Hezekiah Oyinlola, who has been the Board chairman since the founding of the holding company, retired and was replaced by a former CBN deputy governor, Suleiman Barau.
Source: Twitter
Mrs. Helen Bouygues, an American businesswoman, has also retired and is to be replaced by Mr. Soyoye, the co-founder and managing partner of Helios Investment Partners LLP, a London-based private investment firm that specialises in growth capital, restructurings, and structured investments in Sub-Saharan Africa.
GTCO becomes first to cross N1 trillion profit threshold
In related news, GTCO has crossed the N1 trillion profit threshold after presenting its 2024 financial year.
Legit.ng reported that the company submitted its audited consolidated and separate financial statements for the 2024 financial year to the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
The group became the first financial institution in Nigeria to surpass the N1 trillion profit threshold with a pre-tax profit of N1.004 trillion.
Source: Legit.ng
