Okomfo Anokye Rural Bank holds 37th AGM

• records impressive growth in all indicators
• pays dividend of GH¢0.0072 per share

By Seth KRAMPAH, Woamoase

Okomfo Anokye Rural Bank PLC at Wiamoase in the Sekyere South District of Ashanti Region has recorded a yet another impressive growth in all financial indicators in the 2023 year under review.

The Bank recorded an unprecedented profit before tax of approximately GH¢ 8.5 million in the 2023 year under review from about GH¢1.9 million in the previous year representing an impressive growth of 348.31%.

The Bank’s deposit grew by 29.92% from GH¢124.2 million in 2022 to GH¢161.4 million in 2023. The achievement was as a result of hard work and dedication of management and staff of the Bank as various deposit mobilization strategies were embarked upon during the year.

The size of the bank’s Balance Sheet increased by 33.89% fromGH¢137 million in 2022 to GH¢184 million in 2023.The growth was driven by increase in deposit due to the confidence reposed in the bank by the bank’s cherished clients. Fixed Assets increased slightly by 25.97% during the year from GH¢9.2 million in 2022 to GH¢11.5 million

The Board Chairman Dr. Emmanuel Obeng and the CEO, Paul Oduro perusing and discussing a point in the annual financial report at the AGM

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BoGs exceptional approval to pay dividend

The Bank has received exceptional approval of the Bank of Ghana to pay dividend to shareholders after the financial sector clean up exercise, COVID-19 pandemic and the most recent Domestic Debt Exchange Programme embarked on by the Government of Ghana.

This is because the Bank met all the conditions necessary for the payment of dividend to shareholders in accordance with the law. In view of this, the Directors recommended a dividend of GH¢0.0072 per share on 110,164,756 ordinary shares which qualified as at 31 December 2023 with a total value of GH¢793,186.24 as against GHS¢0.0038 per share which amounted to GH¢336,717.07 in 2022. This represents 89.47% increase in dividend per share over the previous year.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Emmanuel Obeng announced these and more at the bank’s 37th Annual General Meeting of shareholders held last Friday at the Salvation Army Church Auditorium at Wiamoase in Ashanti.

Operational Environment

According to him, the recent debt restructuring programme by the government of Ghana required the commitment and co-operation of banks and other institutions in the financial sector; and demanded the concerted efforts of all key stakeholders to assure the programme’s success and further, navigate the economy from near-recession to the path of recovery and sustained growth.

Specifically, implementation of the domestic debt exchange programme (DDEP) reined severe financial consequences in most banks and other institutions in the financial sector.

This recent restructuring of the country’s debt had a negative impact on the profitability and operations of most banks in the country. The profitability of the banking sector decreased by 13.5% to GH¢ 6.4 billion, from the GH¢ 7.4 billion recorded in the previous year.

The Republic of Ghana announced the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) on December 5th, 2022, which invited eligible bond holders to exchange approximately GH¢137.3 billion of domestic bonds for bouquet new bonds with reduced coupons and longer maturities.

This program was part of a broader initiative aimed at restoring debt sustainability. Banks held a huge chunk of government bonds on their books and their participation in the program was key to its success.

The debt exchange programme resulted in a 77% reduction in the settlement value of the indicative bonds. This led to significant losses that had a detrimental impact on the industry’s profitability which without the DDEP, the banks’ profit before tax was projected to increase by 11.4%.

A shareholder making a submission and reacting to an issue in one of the reports read to the shareholders

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Operational Performance

In spite of the unfavourable macroeconomic environment in which the bank operated during the 2023 reviewed year, the bank managed to pull yet another remarkable operational performance in all the financial indicators as shown in the table.

INDICATORS	2023 GH¢	2022 GH¢	PERCENTAGE CHANGE (%)
Deposits	161,448,713	124,264,551	29.92
Investment	104,641,362	63,821,317	63.96
Loans and Advances (Gross)	55,362,855	40,740,510	35.89
Fixed Assets (Gross)	11,594,448	9,203,972	25.97
Total Assets	184,482,657	137,782,072	33.89
Stated Capital	2,015,259	1,584,159	27.21
Shareholders Fund	12,138,991	5,654,941	114.66
Gross Income	39,574,002	23,930,198	65.37
Expenditure	31,079,878	22,034,848	41.05
Profit before tax	8,497,124	1,895,350	348.31

 

Corporate Social Responsibilities

The Bank continues to offer assistance to communities and institutions within its operational territories in terms of community development projects.

In the year under review the bank spent a substantial amount on corporate social responsibility activities towards the stakeholders with special focus on Education, Health, Security among others. The bank spent a total of GH¢171,995 in 2023 as against GH¢108,759 in 2022.

In addition, the Bank had completed a 1,000 capacity fully furnished ultra- modern social and community center with borehole for the people of Wiamoase and its environs at a total cost of around GH¢1 million.

The Way Forward

The CEO of the Bank, Paul Kwabena Oduro in an interview with Business & Financial Times said Management would continue to seek ways of strengthening and developing the Banks’ operations to maintain the confidence that customers and shareholders have gained in the Bank in recent times.

The Bank’s business model according to the CEO is still tailored for the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises and would push for more market penetration as they develop new and innovative products and trusted relationships with clients 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.

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