National Investment Bank pays ¢14.9bn dividend to Government

The Board of Directors and Management of National Investment Bank (NIB) Limited presented a cheque of ¢14.9 billion as 2006 dividend to the Government of Ghana in Accra last week.

The government of Ghana owned about 45 million shares, representing 86% of the total shares of the bank. The 2006-year was the first full year of the bank operations under its 2006 to 2008 strategic plan.

The Board Chairman, Dr. Charles Danyagri Jebuni, stated that in spite of the competition and falling interest rates, the bank managed to achieve satisfactory results. According to him, the bank recorded a profit before tax of about ¢33.8 billion before exceptional items in 2006.

However, this was 54.9% lower than the pre-tax profit of ¢74.94 billion in 2005.

The bank's total income increased by 13.6% from ¢221.69 billion as at December 31, 2005 to ¢251.86 billion at the end of December 2006.

The total deposit of the bank grew by 35.3% from ¢1.3 billion as at December 31, 2005 to ¢1.7 billion at the end of December 2006.

Total assets increased by 47.2% to ¢2.8 billion last year from ¢1.9 billion for previous the year. Shareholders funds increased by 71.3% to ¢392.4 billion in 2006, compared to ¢229 billion in 2005.

In spite of the reduced profitability, the bank proposes to maintain last year's dividend of ¢325 per share to its shareholders, bringing the total figure to ¢17.3 billion. The bank has taken the initiative to manage a number of projects this year. These include the oil palm and rubber projects in the Western and Central regions of Ghana, which were approved by government in 2006. Implementation is currently underway.

This year the bank will form a joint venture company, known as Bedrock Venture Capital Limited, with State Insurance Company Limited and Venture Fund Trust Company, with an initial stated capital of US$10 million.