Mansa Nettey
STANDARD CHARTERED Bank Ghana has announced its operating income increased by 5 percent year-on-year to GH¢712.9 million from the 2017 record of GH¢676.8 million.
The bank also recorded a profit-before-tax of GH¢325.9 million for the 2018 financial year from GH¢422.3 million recorded for 2017.
Operating expenses increased by 17 per cent from GH¢244.9 million in 2017 to GH¢286.3 million in 2018 while net customer loans and advances decreased by 6 per cent from GH¢1.38 billion to GH¢1.30 billion.
This was attributable to loan write offs and de-risking of the bank’s loan portfolio.
Mansa Nettey, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Bank Ghana, who was speaking at the bank’s annual general meeting Thursday in Accra, said the bank began 2018 strongly with all its performance indicators trending positivly.
“However, challenges in the economy and the banking sector impacted on our performance in the second half of the year especially in its commercial banking business,” she noted.
The CEO said net impairment charge was GH¢100.8 million compared to the prior year’s of GH¢9.5 million due to its more stringent implementation of IFRS 9 related adjustments and the bank’s prudent internal risk guidelines, hence the decline in underlying profit by 23 per cent.
Going forward, she said “Our focus will be to concentrate on delivering our strategy through disciplined execution and driving our operational efficiency and productivity whiles positioning our business segments for growth.”
Commenting on trade and investment, Ms Nettey said Standard Chartered Bank’s corporate and institutional business, which served its global corporate clients and financial institutions, contributed 58 per cent of total revenue, translating into a growth of 8 per cent year on year.
Dr Emmanuel Oteng Kumah, board chairman of the bank, said Standard Chartered Bank’s capital adequacy ratio for the period was strong at 28.6 per cent which was above the statutory limit of 13 per cent (i.e. 10 per cent plus 3 per cent buffer).
The board recommended a dividend of GH¢1.04 per ordinary share for the 2018 financial year representing 20 per cent of total income.
A business desk report