The Sefwiman Rural Bank (SRB) headquartered at Bibiani in the Ashanti region has announced the payment of GHS 290,353.84 as a dividend for the 2022 financial year at the rate of GHC0.04 per share.
Payment of the shares was in response to a request made by the management of SRB to the Bank of Ghana to ease the burden of the shareholders after the Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) directive (NOTICE NO. BG/GOV/SEC/2020/03) dated 20th April 2020 preventing Banks from paying dividend.
In compliance with the directives of the Bank of Ghana, the bank had since then not made any dividend to the shareholders of the bank leading to the request to the BoG.
Dr Francis Kwaku Aboagye-Otchere, the Board Chairman for Sefwiman Rural Bank, lauded the Bank of Ghana for hearing the cry of the shareholders as he encouraged them to use their dividends to buy additional shares to shore up the stated capital to reposition the bank to absorb any future shocks.
The outgoing Board Chairman announced this at the 17th annual general meeting of the Bank at Bibiani in the Western North region over the weekend.
The Bank notwithstanding the immense challenges occasioned by the full-blown macroeconomic crisis in 2022 which resulted in the decline of the Ghanaian economic growth during the year, made giant strides.
The bank’s gross earnings increased by 13 per cent from GHC9.36 million in 2021 to more than GHC 10.61 million at the end of 2022.
Again, Profit Before Tax which stood at GHC1,260,586 in 2022 increased to GHC1,442,633 representing a growth of 14 per cent over the previous year’, while Profit After Tax increased from GHC948,168 in 2021 by 13 per cent to GHC1,075,122 in 2022.
The total assets of the Bank at the end of 2022 were GHC 60.57 million, showing an increase of about 24 per cent compared to GHC 49.03 million in 2021, while investments increased from GHC 26.62 million in 2021 to GHC 36.30 million at the end of 2022 representing an increase of 36 per cent.
The Board Chairman Growth in loans and advances was up by 10% from GHC 14.84 million in 2021 to about GHC 16.26 million in 2022.
He attributed the gains made by the bank to its steadfast pursuit of robust growth and sustainable profitability anchored on a commitment to prudent risk management and sticking to the strategic direction of the Bank.
The Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, Alex Kwasi Awuah, in an address read for him lauded the Board and management of the bank for their dedication and hard work leading to improving the fortunes of the shareholders and other stakeholders of the bank.
He said “I wish to also commend the Directors and Management for spending a total of GHS31,275 on various corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives during the year. This is encouraging as it shows that the bank remains committed to supporting life-changing community development programmes”.
The Chief Executive of the Bank, Mr Richard Kwame Adjei, attributed the gains made by the back to the preparedness of the staff and management to liaise with the board to work as a team.
He pledged to continue to create a very conducive environment for all stakeholders towards easy operations that would meet the needs of all players in the industry.
