GCB Bank has met with its key corporate clients as part of its normal customer-interaction activities dubbed ‘CEO’s Breakfast Meeting’, and has taken the opportunity to engage them on how to navigate through the current challenging times in a session themed ‘Thriving in Uncertainty through Partnership and Collaboration’.
Moderated by the renowned Professor Noel Tagoe, the meeting brought together clients of the bank from across various industries to deliberate on the way forward in navigating recent developments within the financial sector which have impacted the bank. Publication of the bank’s Full Year 2022 Results revealed that it had posted a Loss After Tax of GH¢593m, among other below-expectation developments apparently brought about by their participation in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
The interaction session therefore offered an opportunity for management of the bank to engage their corporate clients and allay their fears, as the bank is poised to retain its position as banking industry leader following improvements in its financial results for Q1 2023.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Kofi Adomakoh – Managing Director-GCB Bank, admitted that the DDEP, fuelled by rising interest rates, rapid currency depreciation, high debt to GDP, high inflation, among others, has crippled the entire banking industry – with GCB as no exception, and this has led to losses incurred by the bank. He added that repercussions from the DDEP have had a direct impact on the bank’s capital, liquidity, revenue and profitability, as well as resulting in significant loss of returns to clients and shareholders.
The CEO also used the opportunity to reassure clients that the bank is well-placed to navigate through the challenges, as evidenced by the First Quarter 2023 Performance it recently posted. He shared some key highlights of the current performance including the bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio, which despite the DDEP’s impact stands at 17.6 percent – well above the regulatory threshold of 10 percent. Moreover, the bank recorded a significant growth of 27.4 percent in Non-Funded Income to Revenue as well as an increase in total deposit base of GH¢20.12b within the period. This and more showed the bank’s resilience against current turbulence in the financial sector, and how it is on the road to recovery.
Mr. Adomakoh noted that: “Customers play a cardinal role in the sustainability of every business, and important engagements such as the CEO’s Breakfast Meeting help to gain a better understanding of what customer needs are”. He intimated that the bank needs to work together with its clients so that that they can navigate through the challenges together.
“Partnerships are key to thriving in these uncertain days,” he added. According to Mr. Adomakoh: “As a bank, it is of upmost importance that we keep and maintain a strong collaboration with our foremost stakeholder – which is you, the customer, in order to weather the storm. We have shown in our rich 70-year history that we are resilient and able to bounce back from any setback which comes our way. We therefore extend our hand of partnership to you because we believe that with your support we can get the bank back to winning ways in the not-so-distant future.”
Professor Noel Tagoe, on his part, urged banks and businesses to find new ways of doing business. According to him: “When there is crisis the best option is to remain calm, keep it simple and identify those factors you can control and deal with”.
The Deputy Managing Director-Finance, Mr. Socrates Afram; Executive Director-Wholesale and Investment Banking, Mr. Sam Aidoo; Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, Mr. Eric Coffie; and Head-Corporate Banking, Mr. Linus Kumi, were on hand to provide answers for questions posed by customers.
GCB Bank is a leader in Ghana’s banking industry, with 186 branches dotted across the country’s length and breadth. The bank since its establishment in 1953 has been described as a systemic bank providing significant contributions to Ghana growth in multiple sectors, including oil and gas, agriculture, commerce and others. Over the past quarter-century, GCB has transformed itself into one of Ghana’s most modern banks with regard to its financial intermediation capabilities, its digital technology-driven payments platforms, and consequently its corporate reputation both at home and abroad.
