Ghana Int. Bank Shows Healthy Sign

Ghana International Bank, (GIB), the only Ghanaian Bank in the United Kingdom, has for the first time achieved a balance sheet size of over $500 million.

In a statement issued by the bank after its annual general meeting held in Accra, the Board Chairman, Dr Paul Acquah, said the bank assets grew from £206 million ($391million) in 2005 to £309 million ($587 million) in 2006.

The statement said the bank achieved a forecast-beating full year profit before tax of £6.2 million in 2006 an increase of 56 per cent over the 2005 figure of £3.96 million.

“Pre-tax return on equity increased from 15.3 per cent to 17.4 per cent with cost to income ratio improving from 48 per cent to 43.7 per cent”, the statement said.

Dr Acquah said the outlook of the bank remained encouraging and commended management and staff for their high level of professionalism and dedication, which culminated in the achievement of such impressive results in one of the most competitive markets in the world, the statement said

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Mr Joe R. Mensah, said the record performance was due mainly to innovation, quality of service, quick and proactive response to evolving customer needs, development of new revenue streams and asset diversification strategy.

Again, he said cost management and operational efficiency continues to receive close attention.

Mr Mensah paid tribute to the bank's customers who he said, made the achievements possible. He said a new state-of-the-art banking platform was being implemented which will position the bank to meet the challenges of an increasingly competitive environment and demand for customer base, the statement concluded.