…launches 40th anniversary
By Juliet Aguiar DUGBARTEY, Apowa
Ahantaman Rural Bank PLC, one of the fastest-growing rural banks in the country, continues to record reasonably healthy performance and has achieved significant growth over the past few years.
Year on year performance indicates significant growth in key performance areas such as Deposits, Investments, Paid-Up Capital and Total Assets among others.
Deposits, increased from GH¢178,237,582 to GH¢236,095,344 – showing an increase of 32.46%. Also, investments rose from GH¢88,786,719 in 2022 to GH¢113,426,367 in 2023, representing an increase of 27.75%.
Paid-up capital improved by 1.09% from GH¢7,095,624 in 2022 to GH¢7,173,984 in 2023.
Total income rose from GH¢45,956,887 to GH¢60,001.892 – showing a growth of 30.56%.
Total assets increased by 29.73% from GH¢207,458,353 in 2022 to GH¢269,126,368 in 2023.
Again, profit before tax was up by 33.58% from GH¢5,245,130 in 2022 to GH¢7,006,195 in 2023.
And profit after tax increased from GH¢2,291,105 in2022 to GH¢4,443,446 in 2023, representing an increase of 93.94%.
These strong performances were made known by the Board Chairman, Eric Daning Esq., during the bank’s 36th Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Apowa in the Western Region.
The AGM also coincided with the bank’s 40th anniversary celebrations launch, which features a series of activities until November 2024.
The Board Chairman explained that the bank’s partnership with STARLIFE in bringing insurance service to the doorsteps of customers and the general public continues to yield good results.
“By this arrangement the banking hall has become one-stop shop for accessing all financial services, and I urge you all shareholders to sign onto these products and secure our future against the uncertainties of life,” he said.
He said during the year under review a total of GH¢630,710 was spent to support critical areas such as health, education/scholarship, farmers day, relief items for flood victims, Appiatse community disaster among others.
“We have increased the bursary per students from GH¢2,000 to GH¢3,000 per year to compensate for inflation. Upon request, we have provided cash to support setting-up a blood-bank at the Catholic Jubilee Hospital in Apowa,” he added.
Awards
According to the Chairman, the bank placed 2nd out of the 147 Rural and Community banks in the first-quarter 2024 Efficiency Monitoring Unit (EMU) ranking of ARB Apex Bank.
“Considering the significant role the bank plays in the rural banking sector, it is incumbent on us to maintain the momentum so as to sustain its growth,” he said
He mentioned that Mr. Benjamin Afful-Eshun was awarded as Global Well-Respected CEO in the Rural Banking category.
He was also conferred with an award as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management-Ghana. The bank was ranked 50th in the 20th Edition of the prestigious Ghana Club 100 awards.
“The Board Chairman was inducted into the Corporate Ghana Hall of Fame and elevated to the position of National President-Western Chapter of Rural Banks-Ghana. The Vice Chairperson was also awarded, as the Most Outstanding Female in Rural Banking at the Feminine Ghana Achievement Awards; as well, our bank won the Outstanding Customer Service Award at the 2023 Ghana Business Standards Awards.”
For his part, Benjamin Afful-Eshun, Chief Executive Officer-Ahantaman Rural Bank PLC, said the bank has always been best in the country.
Asked how the prevailing economic conditions are affecting the bank, he noted that: “Inflation has eroded our customers capital, what they could purchase previously cannot be done now.
The bank is here support them and, from our records, loans to customers have been increased for them to trade at the same level they were doing earlier.
The only effect on the bank is that Cost of Operations has gone high, and therefore you find that your cost income ratio will go high up. But of course, once you do more of the loans and are able to recover, your income also goes high and still makes profit”.
He continued: “So, I can say that Ahantaman Rural Bank PLC is on a very solid footing. Looking at the half-year performance for this year, it is already twice the profit of what we made half-year for last year.
We can even make quadruple what we made last year, the future is very bright for us. Our 40 years has been a lot of success stories, within the next three to five years we can say Ahantaman Rural Bank will be a giant in the banking industry”.
ARB Apex Bank
Eric Okyere, Manager-Agona Nkwanta branch, ARB Apex Bank, mentioned that the bank’s increase in profit after tax is very impressive.
He commended the management team for their hard work and dedication to duty, and advised the bank to continue providing credit facilities to its customers.
Baffour Tabi, Vice President-Association of Rural Bank-Western Chapter, also praised Ahantaman for its significant performance over the years.
He therefore encouraged customers of the bank to buy more shares.
