After these banks met the Bank of Ghana’s recapitalization requirement of $71.7 million (GH₵400 million), they have managed to earn huge profits in the last financial year.
An unaudited result sighted by Business Finder suggests that the balance sheets of most of the banks have improved significantly, however, Stanchart made some slight decrease.
Here are the banks that have made significant profits in the last financial year.
Ecobank
Ghana’s second-biggest bank in terms of assets and market share, Ecobank Ghana realized a 34.0 percent increase in profit in 2018. Profit jumped from GH₵253.6 million in 2017 to GH₵339.9 million last year.
The huge profit was as a result of a significant increase in non-funded transactions (income) which increased from $25.8 million GH₵144 million) in 2017 to $37.8 million (GH₵211 million) in 2018.
The balance sheet remained very strong as deposits from customers grew from GH₵6.4 billion in 2017 to $1.4 billion (GH₵7.6 billion) in 2018.
However, investment in securities remained virtually unchanged at $430 million (GH₵2.4 billion) last year. The bank’s earning assets were driven by 54.5 percent year-on-year expansion in the loan book to $743 million (GH₵4.15 billion) in 2018.
The huge growth in the loan book was driven by the fact that investment securities, which are mainly government securities, have become unattractive on the back of a significant drop in treasury yields in the last year.
The loan-to-deposit ratio of 54.5% gives the bank an opportunity to further expand the loan book in 2019.
The bank’s stated capital increased from $40.5 million (GH₵226 million) in 2017 to $74.6 million (GH₵416 million) in 2018 due to the recapitalization programme by the Bank of Ghana. Income surplus however reduced from GH₵198 million in 2017 to $33.9 million (GH₵189 million) in 2018.
The move towards digital banking and other cost control measures also helped to limit the growth of operating expenses (+15.1 percent year-on-year), which pushed the cost-to-income down by 0.9 percent to 51.5 percent in 2018 from 52.4 percent in 2017. Ecobank’s migration to digital banking could support further improvement in operating efficiency in the future,
On some important financial soundness indicators, the capital adequacy ratio increased from 12.57 percent in 2017 to 14.62 percent in 2018. Non-performing loans (NPL) also went down to 11.50 percent last year from 20.04 percent the previous year.
Cal Bank
Cal Bank, an indigenous bank, also saw its profit growing by 12 percent in 2018.
Profit increased from $26 million (GH¢145 million) in 2017 to $28.9 million (GH¢162 million) in 2018. Interest income from loans was the major contributor.
On the balance sheet, loans and advances grew from GH¢1.8 billion in 2017 to GH¢2.4 billion last year. Deposits from customers also grew from $430 million (GH¢2.4 billion) in 2017 to $537.7 million (GH¢3 billion) in 2018.
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The stated capital was exactly $71.7 (GH¢400 million) in 2018, from $17.9 million (GH¢100 million) in 2017.
For financial soundness indicators, capital adequacy ratio was largely unchanged at 21.8 percent and NPL was at single digit of 8.0 percent in 2018, from 10.9 percent in 2017.
GT Bank
Guaranty Trust Bank made a whopping profit of $26.9 million (GH¢150 million), about 70 percent growth from the previous year of $15.8 million (GH¢88 million). All the income lines contributed significantly to the growth in the bottom line.
The bank which has been in Ghana since 2005 saw its deposits growing from $250.9 million (GHc1.4 billion) in 2017 to $286.7 million (GH¢1.6 billion) in 2018.
Stated capital also increased from $14.7 million (GH¢82 million) in 2017 to $72.4 million (GH¢404 million) in 2018. Total shareholders’ funds, however, stood at $104.7 million (GH¢580 million).
The bank’s capital adequacy ratio is one of the biggest in the industry at 52.76 percent. NPL was however low at 4.12 percent in 2018, from 19.90 percent in 2017.
The banking industry recorded an improved income statement with an after-tax profit of $352 million (GH¢1.95 billion) in October 2018, representing a year-on-year growth of 22.3 percent, compared with $287 million (GH¢1.59 billion) representing a modest 1.0 percent growth in October 2017.
The sharp increase in banks’ net income came from the 10.0 percent increase in net operating income to $725.6 million (GH¢4.02 billion) in October 2018 from $660.6 million (GH¢3.66 billion) a 7.6percent growth a year ago. Net operating income of banks increased following the slower growth of banks’ interest income compared with interest expenses.
Banks’ interest income declined due to the slowdown in loans and advances which constitute the bulk of interest-bearing assets of the banks, while the decline in money market rates and the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) between October 2017 and October 2018 led to a decline in the interest expense of banks, especially the interest paid on deposits.
Stanchart
Standard Chartered Bank, a tier 1 bank, however, saw its profit decline by 25 per cent, from $50.7 million (GH₵283 million) in 2017 to $37.6 million (GH₵210 million) last year. The drop in the bottom line was purely as a result of a $17.9 million (GH₵100) million loan written off.
As a result, interest income largely from loans and advances for 2018 was $110 million (GH₵612 million) as against $105 million (GH₵587 million) the previous year. Interest income growth slowed to 4.4 percent year-on-year in 2018 versus 6.8 percent in 2017 on the back of 6.0 per cent drop in loans and advances.
Non-Interest Revenue also grew lower at 9.9 percent year-on-year as against 27.1 percent year-on-year in 2017 as a result of pressure on net trading income, which dropped by 7.9 percent year-on-year in 2018 versus growth of 46.6 percent year-on-year in 2017.
For the balance sheet, deposits grew from $609.3 million (GHc3.4 billion) in 2017 to $770.6 million (GH¢4.3 billion) in 2018. Stated capital moved from $21.7 million (GH¢121 million) in 2017 to $71.7 (GH¢400 million) in 2018 whilst income surplus stood at $41.2 million (GH¢230 million) last year as against $64.7 million (GH¢361 million) in 2017.
Its NPL was 25.1
Credit: Business Finder
