The Nkoranman Rural Bank at Seikwa in the Tain district of Bono Region has posted satisfactory growth during the 2021 financial year.
At end of year, the bank’s total assets increased marginally by 7.80 percent from GH¢11,810,809 to GH¢12,732,617. The bank mobilised deposits to the tune of GH¢10,895,626 – showing a 2.88 percent slight increase over the previous year’s achievement of GH¢10,590,163.
The Chairperson of Nkoranman Bank, Victoria Konadu who disclosed this, said the bank will “continue adopting innovative strategies to improve deposit mobilisation to enhance its general performance”.
Loans and advances during the year under review soared by 21.40 percent from GH¢4,592,345 to GH¢5,575,535. Beneficiaries of the bank’s loans included actors in the agricultural space, SMEs and ‘Susu’ customers.
During the 2021 financial year, the bank made short-term investments of GH¢4,949,012 as against GH¢4,715,577 in 2020 – representing an increase of 4.95 per-cent. In spite of operational challenges, the bank made a profit before tax of GH¢102,768 compared to a loss of GH¢272,660 in the previous year.
“During the period under consideration, interest rates on Treasury bills dropped from 14.86 percent in 2020 to 12.47 percent in 2021. However, the lending rates did not change but remained at 28 percent for 2020 and 2021, hence the profit growth,” Ms. Konadu stated.
The stated capital recorded by the bank went up slightly, by 4.10 percent, changing from GH¢1,100,660 in 2020 to GH¢1,145,381 in 2021. The Board Chairperson appealed for shareholders to increase their holdings in the financial institution to broaden the capital base of Nkoranman Rural Bank.
In accordance with banking regulations, the Board of Directors could not recommend payment of dividend for the 2021 financial year due to the bank’s inability to meet required minimum reserves.
In its corporate social responsibility, the bank supported different initiatives in the area of education and livelihood empowerment programmes, among others, to benefit residents of operational communities, she indicated.
