- posts 192% growth in profit
- Pays GH¢0.0043p as dividend
Odotobri Rural Bank PLC at Jacobu in the Amansie Central District of Ashanti Region has recorded impressive growth in all indicators for the 2023 year under review.
The bank recorded a profit before tax of a little over GH₵ 13.6 million as against approximately GH₵ 4.7 million in 2022 representing an impressive growth of 192.17% which translates to GH¢8.9million in absolute terms.
The bank’s Management Performance Review as at July 2024 has revealed a profit before tax of about GH¢15.4 million with deposit of about GH₵ 391million. This is a significant performance and therefore the Board and Management are doing everything possible to ensure sustained operational efficiency to end the year well to give value to shareholders.
By this, existing shareholders and prospective ones have been urged to buy more shares to set the Bank’s growth pattern on the long-term objective of making positive impact in the communities they operate.
Additionally, the Board of Directors has proposed a total Dividend payment of GH¢1,355,369. This represents 15% of the profit available for distribution, after the Statutory Reserve requirements which translates into a dividend-per-share of GH¢0.0043p. Meanwhile, Bank of Ghana has given exceptional written approval for the proposed dividend to be paid.
It is therefore the hope of the Board of Directors that the Bank’s performance would continue to improve in the years ahead and the shareholders would yield the needed returns on their investments.
The Total Assets of the Bank amounted to approximately GH¢¢358 million in December 2023, representing an increase of 30.75 % from about GH¢ 274 million in 2022.
The Bank’s growth in Total Assets was driven by a healthy increase in Deposits and the performance for year-to-date strongly suggests the Bank is very likely to witness a similar trend in 2024.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Rev. Prince Osei Owusu Esq, announced these and more at the bank’s 37th Annual General Meeting of shareholders held last Saturday at the Nana Adu Darko Community Centre at Jacobu in Ashanti.
Operating Environment
According to him, even though the bank achieved so much in the year 2023, it did so with hard work and commitment as the economic environment was unfriendly.
He mentioned that Ghana’s real GDP growth decelerated from 3.2% in 2022 to 2.9% in 2023, reflecting spillover effects from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, tight global financial conditions, and macroeconomic challenges. Growth was led by industry on the supply side and by private consumption on the demand side.
Inflation moved from 54.1% in 2022 to 23.2% in 2023, driven mainly by food prices and currency depreciation. The pace of exchange rate depreciation slowed from 60% in 2022 to 17% in 2023, responding to adjustments in macroeconomic policies.
The current account deficit narrowed from 2.1% of GDP in 2022 to 1.7% in 2023 on improved export performance. Gross international reserves shrank from $6.3 billion at the end of 2022 (2.7 months of import cover) to $5.0 billion (2.3 months) in November 2023.
Multidimensional poverty worsened slightly, from 46% in 2017 to 46.7% in 2022, due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Youth unemployment remains high at 7.16%, particularly among youths ages 15–24, especially women (36.7% compared with 29.3% among men).
The year 2023 was characterized by decreasing trend of interest rate in the financial landscape particularly in the primary and secondary market. The decreasing trend of interest rate and inflation was part of economic recovery measures to stabilize the economy. As a result, loan repayments were also affected paving way for more non-performing loans to be recorded.
Operational Performance
In spite of the challenging macroeconomic environment coupled with the unprecedented high inflationary rate that pertained during the reviewed year, the bank managed to pull yet another remarkable operational performance in all key financial indicators as indicated in the table.
|
Indicators |
2023
Amount (GHS) |
2022
Amount (GHS) |
% Change |
| Deposits | 314,372,747.00 | 242,773,461.00 | 29.49 |
| Investments | 240,450,366.00 | 177,483,169.00 | 35.48 |
| Advances | 56,840,612.00 | 45,072,041 | 26.11 |
| Total Assets | 357,993,798.00 | 273,808,115 | 30.75 |
| Share Capital | 3,823,864. | 3,342,973. | 14.39 |
| Profit before Tax | 13,624,874 | 4,663,415.001 | 192.17 |
Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP)
The Bank successfully exchanged its Government of Ghana Bonds as a result of the Government Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP). The Bank exchanged GH¢28.4 million Government of Ghana cedi bonds for a series of new bonds with maturity date commencing from 2027-2038, through the Ghana Debt Exchange Programme. A modification gains of GH¢114,064 was recognised as a result of the exchange of the bonds.
Corporate Social Responsibilities
The Bank continues to offer assistance to communities and institutions within its catchment areas in terms of community development projects. In the year under review the bank spent an amount of GH¢ GH¢191,430 on corporate social responsibility activities towards the stakeholders with special focus on Education, Health, Security among others.
ARB Apex Bank Commendation
In an address delivered on behalf of the Managing Director of ARB Apex Bank PLC, Alex Kwasi Awuah commended the sterling operational performance of the bank.
He specifically mentioned the impressive percentage growth in profit recorded in the reviewed year and described it as commendable.
He however mentioned that, given the assets at the disposal of the Bank, it is expected that the Bank would put up an even better performance in the future. He encouraged Directors and Management of the Bank to device more aggressive outreach programmes, especially around these times when the competition in the rural banking sector is becoming keener.
Future Outlook
The Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Abraham Coffie in an interview with Business & Financial Times said the Bank would continue to put in pragmatic measures to ensure positive growth and achievement of the Strategic Plan of the Bank.
He stressed that the Bank would intensify loan recovery, embark on intensive deposit mobilization, strengthen internal controls and maintain quality assets to increase profitability.
He has also emphasised that the Bank’s business focus in 2024 is on driving growth, innovations, efficiency and service as the main pillars in achieving profitability.
Mr Coffie stressed the Bank would develop the human capital to meet demands of functioning profitability as well as achieving the objective of overcoming the shocks of the unfriendly macro economy and rising cost of living as well as its devastating effects.
He further stressed that the Bank’s electronic channels shall be given critical attention as part of the Bank’s expansion and customer service satisfaction.
