Indigenous bank, CalBank has renewed its commitment to become a Tier 1 bank soon which is the core measure of a bank’s financial strength from a regulator’s point of view.

According to the bank, it will also leverage the foundation built in the first year of retail strategy to scale up its operations in the coming year. Meanwhile the Tier 1 is composed of core capital, which consists primarily of common stock and disclosed reserves, but may also include non-redeemable non-cumulative preferred stock.

Taking its turn at the Ghana Stock Exchange organised Fact’s Behind Figures Programme, Managing Director, Philip Owiredu said the bank will deepen its retail presence by leveraging innovation and customer centricity.

“We have remained resilient amid a global pandemic, thereby making some significant strides on our 3-year strategy. Our aggressive balance sheet growth resulted in the 8th position in the industry, from the 9th in the previous year.”
Philip Owiredu

The bank also intend creating a digital ecosystem around the bank through partnerships with financial technology firms, telecom firms and other businesses.

Meanwhile, profit before tax of the bank decreased by 6% over the GH¢255.6 million achieved the just ended financial year. This was as a result of an increase in operating expenses by 32.3% prior to 2021.

Total income increased by 10.3% over the previous year revenue of GH¢555.7 million. The performance for the period was primarily driven by improved credit business and channel performance.

Mr Owiredu also disclosed that, net impairment loss dropped from GH¢48.4 million to GH¢39.8 million which represents 18.3%. The improvement in credit loss expense, the bank said,was partly due to significant recoveries and the improved quality of the stock of new loans.

Since the bank announced the appointment of Carl Selasi Asem, as Deputy Managing Director of the Bank months ago, it has set an ambitious target plans for the near future.

Carl is responsible for leading and driving the Bank’s corporate business with a view to growing profitability through superior product and relationship management.

With his solid history of excellent performance in leadership positions in the banking industry in Ghana and across the West Africa sub-region, Carl’s appointment as Deputy Managing Director will serve to buttress CalBank’s strong standing in the industry.