Ernest Best Anane
8 December 2011
The ordinary share capital of the Asante Akyem Rural Bank has increased from GH ¢183,198 to GH ¢412,977, representing an increase of 125%.
Mr. Opuni Sekyere, Board Chairman of the Bank, revealed this in his report to the shareholders on the occasion of the 24th Annual General Meeting.
He explained that the government’s intention to achieve single digit inflation for 2010 financial year resulted in several policies which impacted on the bank’s operations.
Mr. Sekyere also indicated that the Treasury Bill rate was also reduced from13% in the first quarter to about 12.41% by the close of the year under review, while the inflation rate of 14.80% at the beginning of the year reduced to 13.22% by the end of the first quarter, and dropped further to 8.50% percent at the end of the year, which he said, resulted in a reduction in investment income and lending rates during the period.
According to him, the increase was a result of new share purchases by its distinguished shareholders, and transfer from development fund to share capital after the completion of the head office building.
As a result, a bonus share of GH ¢175,500 will be issued and distributed to shareholders, and appealed to the shareholders to increase their shares, to enable them achieve their aim of raising the share capital to GH ¢1,000,000, to further strengthen the capital base of the bank.
According to him, the total loans and advances increased from GH ¢3.642 million to GH ¢4.368 million during the year under review, representing a 19.93% growth.
He said the profit before tax increased from GH ¢253,422 in 2009, to GH ¢313,402 in 2010, recording a percentage increase of 23.66%, adding that new products had been introduced with the aim of generating more income to increase the profit level.
The Board Chairman indicated that total deposits also increased by 50.52% over the 2009 position of GH ¢4,867,754, to GH ¢8,853,119 in 2010, attributing the growth to customer’s confidence in the bank, and the deposits mobilisation strategy adopted by the management and the Board.
He announced that Savings Account constituted 66% of the total deposits, followed by Current Account 19%, Fixed Deposits 9% and Susu 6%.
He said the investment in government securities increased by 52.94% to record a total of GH ¢3,900,000 for the year under review, as compared to GH ¢2,550,000 for the previous year (2009), adding that the percentage of investment to total deposit was 44%, which he said, exceeds the Bank of Ghana’s secondary reserve requirement of 30%.
According to him, the Bank exceeded the primary reserve requirement of 13%, recording 16.5%, which he observed, are the strong financial indicators of the bank, and clearly give assurance to the customers that the bank was capable of meeting its liquidity needs at all times.
He announced a dividend of GH ¢30,000, representing an increase of 25% over the previous year’s figure of GH ¢24,000. The Board Chairman further announced that the bank had computerised all its branches under the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA).
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