The Managing Director of Consolidated Bank, Ghana (CBG), Mr Daniel Wilson Addo, has stated that the worst is over for the bank after the turbulence it encountered in its formative year in 2018.
The bank, he said, had so far stabilised its operations and integrated the staff and banking applications of all its 114 branches, adding that CBG had also started recording profits, with a strong balance sheet.
Mr Addo said this when he interacted with the Editorial conference of the Daily Graphic in Accra last Thursday.
He said from a very difficult position in 2018, complicated by a general loss of customer confidence in the country’s banking system, which resulted in depositors seeking to withdraw their funds, CBG worked hard to stabilise the bank.
The CBG was capitalised with GHc450 million in August 2018 by the Ministry of Finance, which later issued a bond of GHc7.6 billion in two tranches of GHc3.2 billion and GHc4.4 billion to cover the funding gap under a separate purchase and assumption agreement entered into with the Receiver, Vish Ashiagbor of PwC, an international audit and accounting firm.
By June 2019, the bank had recorded a net interest income of about 83 per cent, from GH?122 million at the end of 2018 to GH?223.8 million in the second quarter of 2019.
Total assets of the bank went up from GH?7.5 billion in 2018 to GH?8.3 billion in 2019, representing growth of 11 per cent.
It had also gained profit after tax of GH?41.1 million in 2019, representing about 280 per cent improvement over the 2018 financial performance.
“It was topsy-turvy in the initial period, but the worst is over and we are now profitable, with a better balance sheet, strong and liquid,” Mr Addo said.
He was confident that with the right environment, local banks could compete with foreign banks, which were generally thought to be better managed.
He attributed the success of the bank in the short period to the dedication and hard work of the staff, who he said had worked tirelessly to build a formidable brand.
He also commended customers of CBG for their loyalty in difficult times and gave an assurance that the bank would stand with its customers and grow with them.
Collapsed banks
The CBG was formed to take over the operations of five banks whose licences were withdrawn because of liquidity challenges.
They were the Sovereign Bank, The Royal Bank, the Beige Bank, the Construction Bank and uniBank.
The Heritage Bank and the Premium Bank were added in January 2019.
Mr Addo, who was at the Graphic Communications Group Limited to cement CBG’s partnership with the company’s brands, said having stabilised the liquidity challenges, the bank was now poised for growth through some marketing strategies it planned to roll out in the coming weeks.
Preferred bank
“We want to lay the foundation for a world-class bank and compete effectively with the foreign banks and become the preferred bank in the country,” he said.
The Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Kobby Asmah, assured the CBG team that the paper was prepared to partner the bank in its endeavours.
“We have followed your progress since your inception and we are willing to partner you to roll out some of your major activities,” he said.
Graphic