GCB Bank PLC (GCB) posted strong financial results in 2022 in spite of the negative impact of the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), the Board Chairman, Mr Jude Kofi Arthur, has said.
Government of Ghana on December 5, 2022, launched the DDEP, which is intended to pave the way and lay a sound foundation for economic recovery.
“Despite this challenge, I am pleased to inform you that GCB Bank PLC remained a viable business with distinct competitive advantages in the marketplace. Your bank has strong fundamentals and significant potential for further growth and value creation for its shareholders,” Mr Arthur said at the 29th Annual General Meeting of the bank.
Addressing shareholders on the full-year 2022 financial results, he said the bank would have posted profit of more than GH₵1.1 billion instead of a loss of GH₵743.5 million.
He said total operating revenue grew by 24 per cent to GH₵3.0 billion, indicating that performance was underpinned by broad-based growth across all the key revenue lines.
“Net interest income was up 11 per cent, fees and commissions grew 7 per cent. Trading Income was phenomenal with a growth of 208 per cent to end at GH₵ 487 million,” he stated.
Mr Arthur explained that operating cost went up by 29 per cent, recording GH₵1.6 billion on account of inflationary and currency depreciation effects.
He said pre-provision profit was up 22 per cent and closed at GH₵1.4 billion, reflecting the good progress the bank made during the year in executing its strategies.
Total assets of the bank, he said, grew from GH₵18.4 billion in 2021 to GH₵ 21.5 billion in 2022.
“This strong performance was on the back of 28 per cent growth in customer deposits, which moved from GH₵ 13.9 billion in 2021 to GH₵17.8 billion in 2022. Total loans and advances grew by 27 per cent from GH₵4.3 billion to GH₵5.5 billion in 2022,” Mr Arthur stated.
In view of the bank’s recovery from the DDEP, he said GCB Bank PLC made profit-before-tax of GH₵302 million in the first quarter of 2023.
“We started the year 2022 very well with a continued focus on our strategy to drive revenue and profitable growth, enhance the resilience of our balance sheet and reinforce the core strengths of the bank,” he noted.
“This is evidenced by the bank’s strong first quarter 2023 performance where the bank posted profit-before-tax of GH₵302 million,” Mr Arthur said.
The Managing Director of GCB Bank PLC, Kofi Adomakoh, said, “The growth in our revenue reflects our core strengths and continuing focus on executing our four-year strategy, which began in 2021, to achieve revenue growth and profitability, operational excellence and drive our people and talent agenda.”
He said the recovery of the Ghanaian economy had significant upside for GCB Bank, indicating that as a leading bank, GCB was well positioned to benefit from Ghana’s future economic prospects by leveraging its core strengths and emerging a stronger bank.
“This will require a clear plan, like that which we have in place, to restore our capital strength and intensify efforts and focus on accelerating profitable growth, gaining market share and increasing returns for shareholders,” Mr Adomakoh said.
He stressed that the bank’s immediate priority was to rebuild capital through raising equity of GH₵1.0 billion.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
