Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) has said the 65 percent dip in profit last year was largely due to loans to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and high operational cost. GCB’s profits plummeted from about GH¢50 million in 2010 to GH¢17 million in 2011.
The Managing Director of GCB, Simon Dornoo, explained that there was a fall because the interests on loans from TOR have dropped significantly from about 25 percent to 12 percent because government converted the loans into bonds.
Meanwhile, the bank’s costs also went up from about GH? 192 million to GH¢251 million and this is as a result of the continuing restructuring program at the bank.
The first three months of the bank’s operations this year shot up by 18 percent. According to the Managing Director, this is an indication GCB will return to making more profits this year.
He told Citi Business News, the bank has made huge investments in governance which he believes will make bigger impact in the bank’s bottom line this year.
Mr Dornoo insisted even though profits for 2011 went down its net income went up from 260 million to 278 million which is a 7 percent increase. He stated the bank’s Risk Adjustment Basis was very good.
Source: Citifmonline.com
