…posts 56% growth in profit
The Asante Akyem Rural Bank PLC at Juansa in the Asante-Akyim North District of the Ashanti Region has recorded a good performance in all financial indicators in the 2021 year under review.
The bank recorded profit before tax of approximately GH₵454,000 for the year under review as against a little over GH₵ 290,000 in 2020, representing 56.30%.
Due to the confidence the public has in the bank, deposits increased from GH₵62.38 million in 2020 to GH₵ 63.20 million for the year under review, representing 1.3% with savings accounts recording 60% of the total deposits.
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Professor. Rexford Assasie Oppong said these and more when he addressed shareholders at the bank’s 35th AGM at Juansa.
He noted that investments in government securities and call accounts increased by 8.15% from GH₵36.83 million in 2020 to GH₵39.83 for the 2021 year under review.
He added that the bank remained solvent throughout the year because it was able to meet all the reserve requirements.
Touching on loans given out, Prof. Assasie – Oppong said that total loans and advances increased from GH₵15.43 million in 2020 to GH₵ 18.47 million for the year under review, representing 19.70%.
“We wish to strongly and sincerely appeal to shareholders who are also customers of the Bank to pay off their loans and advances as they fall due.
As indicated last year, the Legal and Recovery Team have started prosecuting recalcitrant customers to enable us to retrieve the unpaid loans.
We are not pleased sending customers to court and wish all loan beneficiaries would honour their repayments on time to avoid any unhealthy development,” Prof. Oppong urged customers.
He further said that total assets of the bank increased by 2.62% from GH₵ 73.29 million in 2020 to GH₵ 75.21 million in 2021.
Operating Environment
According to the Board Chairman, several factors both direct and indirect affected the country’s economy under the reviewed year such as the effect of COVID 19, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growing at 5.4%, which was slightly above the previous year (2020) by 0.4%. Another major challenge was the inflation rate, which increased from 10.4% in 2020 to 12.6%.
Also, the Bank of Ghana prime rate remained 14.5% while the rate for 91 days treasury bills averaged 12.10%; he however noted that with prudent measures by the board and management, the bank sailed through successfully.
Dividend
The Board Chairman noted that due to strict directive from the Bank of Ghana, the Board could not recommend the payment of dividend for the year. He explained that anything contrary to this may result in serious consequences.
Corporate Social Responsibilities
Prof. Assasie Oppong indicated that a total of GH₵76,114 was spent on Corporate Social Responsibilities in the areas of agriculture, education, for security agencies and Asante-Akyem Traditional Council.
Board Charter
He added that in line with Corporate Governance Directives by the Bank of Ghana, the Board has successfully developed and approved a Board Charter to regulate and guide the Board for the efficient direction of the Bank.
Future Outlook
The bank’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Atta Gyamfi 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, since the bank has begun to leverage available technology to serve their customers better as well as improving efficiency and service delivery.
According to him, the bank will continue to see its strength grow in the area of managing credit needs of small and medium enterprises as well as continuing to improve upon the support it offers to this sector of the economy.
