Societe General Ghana (SG) Bank posted a profit after tax of GH¢44.61 million for the year ending 2015.
This shows a decrease of 11.67 per cent as against the GH¢49.81 million recorded in 2014.
The bank, however, declared dividend per share of GH¢0.07 for the year under review.
The Board Chairman of the bank, Mr Kofi Ampim, made this known at the bank’s 36th annual general meeting (AGM) in Accra.
Shareholders’ funds
The bank’s income, however, increased by 11.4 per cent while operating expenses grew by 26.4 per cent.
Additionally, its shareholders’ funds also increased from GH¢221.98 million to GH¢263.98 million, representing an increase of 18.9 per cent.
The shareholders also approved an increase in the bank’s stated capital from GH¢100 million to GH¢140 million.
Bright prospects
According to the Board Chairman, the bank had put the necessary mechanisms in place to make it the leader on the market in the years ahead, in spite of the challenges, to enable it to stand tall among its competitors.
“For Societe General Ghana, the year 2016 will be a year of transformation with new systems and processes being put in place to increase our bank’s market share in order to achieve sustained growth,” he said.
Commenting on whether the 2016 election year could have any implications on the bank’s operations, Mr Ampim noted that it would not be the case since as a financial institution, it always prepared itself ahead of time.
Notwithstanding that, the board chair stated that he believed this year’s elections would be organised in a free, fair and transparent manner.
Growth strategy
In his address, the Managing Director of SG Bank, Mr Sionle Yeo, said the bank, in October 2015, launched a growth strategy aimed at defining a clear strategic move which would take it to a competitive position by 2018.
The growth strategy, he said, would help the financial institution generate more revenue and improve profitability “that will eventually be redistributed to all the stakeholders of the bank.”
As a result, he expressed the confidence that the bank would make a lot of inroads in the country in the not-too-distant future.
“We intend to invest in 2016 and beyond in the development of our business, both for our retail and corporate customers,” he added.