Republic Bank posts GHȼ89.87m profit in 2021 - Commits to SUStained profitability
The Managing Director of Republic Bank, Farid Antar, has assured shareholders of the bank that it will continue to remain profitable in the coming years.
He said the bank had prevailed in its quest to remain profitable and meet the needs of all stakeholders and would continue to do so going forward.
Advertisement
Mr Antar gave the assurance at the annual general meeting of the bank when he announced that the bank posted a profit after tax of GHȼ89.87 million.
This is up from the GHȼ58.95 million recorded in 2020.
Mr Antar said the increase in profit reflected robust growth across the bank’s non-interest revenue lines, particularly in trading fees and commission income.
He noted that the bank’s impairment loss on loans and advances was favourably low, thus offsetting the impact of expenses and taxes on profits.
He said the group also recorded GHȼ268.18 million in operating expenses, compared with the GHȼ242.52 million recorded in 2020.
Sustaining profitability
In an interview with the Graphic Business, the Board Chairman of Republic Bank, Charles William Zwennes, said the bank was committed to sustaining its profitability and the payment of dividend to its shareholders, after declaring its first dividend in six years.
The bank for the first time since 2014 declared a dividend of GH₵0.025 per share to its shareholders for the 2021 financial year after posting a profit of GH₵89.87 million.
“I am very pleased to say that in my last board meeting just before this AGM, our first quarter performance did come up and I am pleased to say that the performance has already shown that we have been more profitable in the first three months of this year than we were last year.
“If we continue on this trajectory, I expect that at the end of 2022, we will post a higher profit than we did in 2021,” he stated.
Exceptional strategies
Mr Zwennes said the bank had over the years deployed exceptional strategies to increase shareholders value with the aim to pay dividends at the opportune time.
“I am pleased to announce that for the first time since 2014, the Board of Directors, subject to the approval from Bank of Ghana, is recommending the payment of a dividend of GHȼ0.025 per share for the 2021 financial year.
“This is an important milestone for our bank and we look forward to more of such in the coming years,” he stated.
He said the bank had over the years strenuously and painstakingly put in place relevant and robust strategies to improve on the profitability and to deliver long-term value to the shareholders.
He said those strategies had started to yield the desired results, leading to improved financial performance and a positive net income surplus.
“The bank has now met all the statutory and regulatory requirements and also eliminated any other material impediment which could hinder its ability to declare dividends,” he stated.
Bank’s performance
Commenting on the bank’s performance, he said it performed creditably in 2021 despite the fiscal challenges in the economy.
“We were able to record profit and declare dividend despite the challenges, and the board is very pleased with that. This marks a new beginning in the performance of the bank. I believe that the bank is headed for more profitable years as we go ahead and shareholders should expect a high improvement of shareholder value,” he stated.
He said the bank had plans of introducing more exciting products that were tailored to meet the needs of customers.
“We also intend to go very hard into the area of internet banking which will improve the efficiency of the bank’s operations. We also expect to improve our earning not only from interest income but also from commissions,” he said.