GCB Bank resilient to navigate financial sector challenges — MD
The Managing Director of the GCB Bank, Kofi Adomakoh has given the assurance that the bank is well positioned to navigate the current banking sector challenges.
Advertisement
Addressing clients of the bank, he said the GCB bank’s first quarter (Q1) performance recently published was a testament of the bank’s strong financial position.
Mr Adomakoh gave the assurance when the management of the bank engaged some of its key corporate clients as part of the bank’s customer-interaction activities.
The engagement, dubbed “CEO’s Breakfast Meeting” afforded the bank the platform to educate clients on how to navigate through the current challenging times.
It was held on the theme, “Thriving in Uncertainty through Partnership and Collaboration”.
Moderated by the renowned Professor Noel Tagoe, the meeting brought together clients of the bank across various industries to deliberate the way forward to navigate the recent developments within the financial sector which has impacted the bank.
The bank had posted a loss after tax of GH¢593m among other below-expectation developments which were apparently brought about by its participation in the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).
The interactive session ,therefore, offered an opportunity for the management of the bank to engage its corporate clients and allay their fears as the bank is poised to retain its position as the banking industry leader following improvements in its financial results for Q1.
DDEP impact
Mr Adomakoh admitted that the DDEP, fuelled by rising interest rate, rapid currency depreciation, high debt GDP, high inflation amongst others had crippled the entire banking industry with the GCB as no exception and this has led to losses incurred by the bank.
He added that the repercussions from the DDEP have had a direct impact on the bank’s capital, liquidity, revenue and profitability, as well as resulting in significant losses in returns to clients and shareholders.
He shared some of the key highlights of the current performance which included the bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio, which in spite of the impact of the DDEP, stood at 17.6 per cent, which is well above the regulatory threshold of 10 per cent.
Moreover, the bank recorded a significant growth of 27.4 per cent in Non-Funded Income to Revenue, as well as an increase in total deposit base of GH¢20.12 billion within the period.
This and more showed the bank’s resilience against the current turbulence in the financial sector and how the bank is on the road to recovery.
Mr Adomakoh said, “customers play a cardinal role in the sustainability of every business and important engagements such as the CEO’s Breakfast Meeting helps to have a better understanding of what customer needs are”.
Cooperation
He intimated that the bank needed to work together with its clients in order 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 70-year rich history that we are resilient and are able to bounce back from any setback that comes our way.
We ,therefore, extend our hand of partnership to you because we believe that with your support, we can put the bank back on winning ways in the not-too-distant future”.
The Deputy Managing Director, Finance, Socrates Afram and the Executive Director, Wholesale and Investment Banking, Sam Aidoo, the Chief Digital and Marketing Officer, Eric Coffie and the Head of Corporate Banking, Linus Kumi were on hand to provide answers to questions posed by customers.