…bags GH¢11.5million profit in a pandemic
Amenfiman Rural Bank Limited at Wassa Akropong in the Wassa Amenfi East district of the Western North Region has posted yet another very remarkable operational performance in the 2020 year under review.
The year under review’s operational performance has been described as the greatest achievement since the bank’s establishment some forty years ago recording very substantial growth in all indicators.
The bank recorded an outstanding performance in profitability during the year under review – posting a pretax profit of about GH¢11.5million compared to approximately GH¢4.4million in the previous year, representing an impressive growth of 165%.
The Board of Directors chairman, Dr. Toni Aubynn, announced this and more at the bank’s 37th Annual General Meeting of shareholders – which coincided with the climax of the 40th Anniversary celebrations held last Saturday on the forecourt of Wasa Amenfi Traditional Council
The Board Chairman mentioned that the reviewed year’s operational performance was highly anticipated because of a workable strategy that was formulated and being pursued at the beginning of the year under review.
Operating environment
According to him however, the banking industry – which was still recovering from the fallout of the banking reforms – was hit again by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy. The Bank of Ghana, through its Monetary Policy Committee, announced various monetary policy interventions to support the sector remain resilient in order to support recovery of the economy which had been badly hit by the pandemic.
Amenfiman Rural Bank responded positively to these interventions and initiated a COVID-19 response strategy that included relief packages to its clients. The bank, through a carefully executed COVID-19 response strategy, was able to overcome shocks from the pandemic and still produce one of the outstanding results in its 40-year history during the year under review.
Operational Performance
Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, coupled with an unprecedented pandemic that pertained during the reviewed year, the bank managed to pull yet another remarkable operational performance in all financial indicators for 2020, as indicated in the table below. .
| Financial Indicators | 2020 | 2019 | % |
| GH¢ | GH¢ | Change | |
| Net Operating Income | 62,284,233.00 | 42,199,913.00 | 47.6% |
| Profit After Taxation | 11,518,730.00 | 4,339,385.00 | 165.45% |
| Investments
Cash and Bank Balances |
299,609,362.00
47,955,842.00 |
137,022,488.00
43,143,611.00 |
118.65%
10.90% |
| Advances | 107,879,884.00 | 93,159,660.00 | 15.80% |
| Total Assets | 474,189,666.00 | 304,654,372.00 | 55.65% |
| Total Deposits | 363,614,268.00 | 254,635,378.00 | 42.80% |
| Shareholders’ Funds | 38,860,728.00 | 30,764,709.00 | 26.32% |
Dividend
Considering the impressive results of the bank’s performance for the period under review and the fact that directors have not proposed or paid dividends in the last two years, the Board was determined to declare and pay good dividends on shareholders’ investment this year.
Unfortunately, the Bank of Ghana – as part of its effort to strengthen stability of the banks during these uncertain times – has issued a renewed directive on payment of dividends, further restraining banks and SDIs from declaring and paying dividends for the financial 2020.
In view of the bank’s strong results and financial position, the Board has written to the Bank of Ghana with a copy of its financial statement: and the board is hopeful the central bank will be considerate enough to lift the directive to allow shareholders enjoy some dividend on their investment that has yielded so much positive results.
Meanwhile, the Board of Directors has proposed dividend of GH¢0.06 per share amounting to GH¢1,944,142 this year. However, the Board has emphasised that this proposal is subject to approval by the Bank of Ghana.
Corporate Social Responsibility Projects
Amenfiman Rural Bank, in spite of uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, continues to initiate and support projects under its corporate social responsibility programmes with the aim of giving back to society.
The bank invested good sums of money for communities in the areas of education, Water, Health and sanitation, PPEs to fight COVID-19, arts and culture and sports development. The bank’s flagship CSR project, which is construction of the Amenfi State University, is progressing earnestly and the Board is very focused to ensure this dream comes to reality.
Future Outlook
The Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Dr. Alex Asmah, in an interview said the bank will continue to play a significant role in government’s financial inclusion agenda, and is poised to even to do more as it has begun to leverage available technology to serve their customers better as well as improving efficiency and service delivery after 40 years of existence.
According to him, the bank will continue to see its strength in the area of managing the credit needs of small and medium enterprises as well as continuing to improve upon the support it offers this sector of the economy.
Apex Bank Commendation
In an address, the Managing Director of Apex Bank, Mr. Kojo Mattah, commended the shareholders, directors and management of Amenfiman Rural Bank for the impressive and unprecedented gains made in the 2020 financial year.
He further encouraged Amenfiman Rural Bank and all other member banks to strive to perfect small business financing, because that niche segment holds huge potential for the rural bank sub-sector.
