ARB Apex Bank has increased its operating income from GH¢55.5 million in 2018 to GH¢64.96 million in 2019, representing a growth of 17 per cent.
The Bank’s assets also witnessed a significant growth of 47 per cent, growing from GH¢394.5 million to GH¢582.4 million over the same periods.
The growth in assets was attributed to a growth in deposits and revaluation of the head office building, which value went up by over GH¢23.7 million. Deposits also grew by 43 per cent from GH¢341.2 million in 2018 to GH¢488.9 million in 2019.
There was also corresponding growth of 64 per cent in loans and advances, rising from GH¢37.8 million in 2018 to GH¢62.1 million in 2019, due to the extension of more credit and liquidity support to “our RCBs for on-lending to their customers.”
The bank’s profit before tax also recorded a moderate growth of 10 per cent from GH¢0.91 million in the previous year to GH¢1.0 million.
Confident about the future
Speaking at the bank’s annual general meeting, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Tony Aubynn, said the board was optimistic about the future of the bank despite the COVID-19 pandemic which has disrupted business activities.
The AGM brought together Directors, Shareholders, and Shareholders’ representatives of the Bank on a virtual platform. Board members of the ARB Apex Bank converged at the head office of the Bank, while other participants joined the meeting through a virtual link.
Dr Aubynn encouraged shareholders of Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) which have not yet met the new Regulatory Minimum Capital of GHS1.0 million to work harder to shore up their capital reserves.
The Managing Director of the Bank, Mr Kojo Mattah also added that “…we continued with our push to launch our much-awaited World Bank-funded Agency Banking, which is in three phases. Phase one is the Data Centre upgrade, for which a contract has already been awarded. The second phase involves the procurement of equipment and has gone through the various stages and I can assure all Shareholders converged virtually that this project would culminate in phase three, which is the launch before the end of 2020.”
Again, Mr Mattah also took the opportunity to thank the previous Board “for the immense leadership and support they provided for the Bank. Their support for the many initiatives we took, including the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) project, the completion of an ultra-modern office building complex at Koforidua to house our Eastern Regional Office, and the Association of Rural Banks. This novel project, we believe, would go a long way in reducing our rental costs.”
He commended the immediate past Directors for pushing Management very hard to complete the Eastern Region project within one year.
Mr Mattah said “we could not commission the office as all of us were taken unawares by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. With permission from the new Board, I am confident that as soon as things normalize and the ban on large gatherings has been lifted, we shall be happy to invite the former Directors to also come and be part of the grand opening of the history they have helped to write in the annals of ARB Apex Bank and rural banking in general.”
ARB Apex Bank is the ‘mini’ central bank of the RCBs in Ghana. It was granted the banking license in June 2001 and admitted to the Bank of Ghana’s Clearing House in August 2001.
There are more than 144 RCBs and over 800 branches spread across all the 16 regions of the country. By this, it makes ARB Apex Bank and the RCBs the largest network of banks in Ghana.
