Ahantaman Rural Bank earmarks GH¢45m to support customers
The Ahantaman Rural Bank at Agona Nkwanta in the Ahanta West District in the Western Region has earmarked GH¢45 million as loans to support customers in the country.
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Addressing the annual general meeting of the bank, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr Vincent Blaychie Essien, said the bank was ready to support clients to meet their financial needs.
“We want to call on all traders, contractors, farmers into oil palm, rubber, cocoa, rice and vegetables to wake up to the call that the bank is ready to support them to meet their financial needs,” he said.
He appealed to the government to consider channelling some of the funds earmarked for its flagship project, "Planting for Food and Jobs", for effective implementation to the bank.
In addition, he said the bank also expected the government to allocate some portions of the funds designated for the district industrialisation programme ‘one district, one factory and the US$1 million per constituency initiative to the rural banks.
“In fact, we expect the effective implementation of the government's new programmes as enshrined in the 2017 budget to have a positive impact on the operations of rural banks in the country,” Mr Essien said.
The bank posted a profit before tax of GH¢3.8 million in 2016 as against GH¢3.1 million in 2015.
The bank declared a net profit of GH¢3.3 million in 2016 as against GH¢2.9 million in 2015, saying: “Indeed, we at Ahantaman are ready to partner with the district assemblies and all stakeholders to manage all the funds that will come to Ahanta West and all other constituencies that we operate in.”
He explained that rural banks, by the nature of their business and the areas they operate in, would need the government’s interventions from time to time to sustain growth.
Financial performance
The chairman said the first quarter of the year was challenging as fuel prices and utility bills were relatively high, coupled with the 25 per cent Corporate Tax imposed on rural and community banks (RCBs).
He also noted that deposit mobilisation continued to be at a high cost to banks as interest rates still remained relatively high, saying, “These indicators have the tendencies to negatively affect the capacity building of rural banks.”
“I wish to add my voice to the call on government, the Minister of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority to consider reducing the 25 per cent Corporate Tax to enable rural banks to stay in business and continue to support the rural folks,” he said.
Mr Blaychie disclosed that total income recorded was GH¢18.9 million in 2016 as against GH¢14.8 million in 2015, representing an increase of 28.1 per cent while operating expenses also increased from GH¢12.9 in 2015 to GH¢16.3 in 2016.
He said as of December 31, 2016, the total paid-up capital stood at GH¢1, 630, 846.00, compared to GH¢1, 520, 744.00 the previous year, which showed a marginal increase of 7.2 per cent.
Total assets/advances
Mr Blaychie further indicated that total assets of the bank grew from GH¢52.6 million in 2015 to GH¢68.9 million in 2016.
He explained that that significant improvement of 31.1 per cent increase was mainly due to increases in short term investments, loans and advances, cash and bank balances and properties, as well as plants and equipment.
Dividend to shareholders
Mr Blaychie maintained that the bank's capital position remained strong with a capital adequacy ratio of 20.7 per cent at the end of December 31, 2016.
Based on that strength, he said, the board had proposed a dividend of GH¢0.050 per share, representing 67 per cent increase over year 2015; a cash dividend of GH¢0.040 per share and a bonus share of GH¢0.010 per share.
He explained that the total dividend amounted to GH¢1, 093, 282, representing 42 per cent of the profit after tax, saying: “The bonus shares declared is to help boost the bank's stated capital and the board and management have put strategic measures in place to sustain this sterling performance.”