Investors who held GCB Bank stock throughout 2025 saw their shares more than triple in value, but the Ghana Stock Exchange-listed lender is already flagging a more difficult operating environment in 2026 as the sharp drop in interest rates begins to compress the lending margins that powered last year’s record earnings.
GCB Bank’s share price closed 2025 at GHS20.11, up from GHS6.37 at the start of the year, a capital gain of 215.7% that made it one of the standout performers on the local bourse. Earnings Per Share (EPS) reached GHS7.78 for the full year, underpinning the gains.
The numbers behind the share price surge were substantial. The bank posted a record Profit Before Tax (PBT) of GHS3.17 billion for the 2025 financial year, a 67.4% increase year on year, driven by a 56.8% expansion in the loan book to GHS16.39 billion, a sharp fall in bad debts, and an 81.8% surge in trading income.
The Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio fell to 10.3% from 15.1% in 2024, and the cost of risk, which measures provisions set aside against potential loan losses, dropped from 4.3% to 1.3%, directly boosting the bottom line.
But Managing Director Farihan Alhassan delivered a pointed forward warning alongside the results. The Bank of Ghana cut the policy rate by a cumulative 1,000 basis points to 18% during 2025, and further rate reductions are expected. That environment squeezes the spread between what banks earn on loans and what they pay on deposits, the core engine of traditional banking profitability.
“The 2026 financial year presents a new challenge from significant margin compression as interest rates fall sharply,” Alhassan said, adding that he believes the strategy, the team and the bank’s positioning are right to navigate it.
The bank’s response is already visible in last year’s numbers. Non-funded income, comprising fees, commissions and trading revenue, rose 58% and lifted its share of total revenue to 27.3% from 24.3% in 2024. Transaction-based income, which is less sensitive to rate movements, is being deliberately built up as a buffer against lending margin pressure.
GCB ended 2025 with a capital adequacy ratio of 18.0%, above the regulatory minimum of 13%, and liquid assets of GHS14.5 billion, equal to 27.5% of total assets, a balance sheet positioned for resilience rather than just growth.
The 2025–2028 medium-term strategy the bank is executing targets a structural shift toward wholesale, commercial and transaction banking, a repositioning that will be tested in earnest this year.
